Recently, Bitcoin (BTC) has become a global financial instrument attracting attention not only from ordinary people and financial organizations but even from governments. In 2024, publicly traded companies became active supporters of Bitcoin for various reasons.
MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy (MSTR), a company engaged in business analytics and software development, is the most well-known supporter of Bitcoin and also the largest holder among publicly traded companies.
As of December 3, the company holds 402,100 BTC on its balance sheet. In total, MicroStrategy has spent about $23.4 billion on BTC at an average purchase price of $58,263 per Bitcoin. At the current rate of $94,400, the company's holdings are worth about $38 billion.
MARA Holdings (MARA)
MARA (formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings) is the largest mining company in the USA. MARA operates 14 data centers with a total computational power of 40.2 EH/s (about 5% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate).
As of December 3, it holds 34,959 BTC worth over $3.3 billion on its balance sheet. Since 2024, MARA has adopted a Bitcoin strategy similar to MicroStrategy — the organization issues debt securities. From the proceeds of selling such liabilities, it partially repays previous debts and invests in Bitcoin. For example, in early December, MARA announced it would issue bonds totaling $700 million with a maturity date until 2031 as part of a 'private offering for qualified institutional buyers.' The company plans to allocate up to $50 million from the proceeds of the new offering to repurchase some previously issued bonds. The remaining funds from the new issue will be used to acquire additional Bitcoins for its balance, to finance company activities, and to repay debt obligations. The price of MARA shares has hardly changed since the beginning of 2024, standing at $25.4.
The company began investing in Bitcoin in 2020, and since then its shares have increased by around 2,500%. Since the beginning of 2024, the price of MSTR has risen by almost 500%, according to data from December 3.
Galaxy Digital Holdings
Galaxy Digital (GLXY) is an investment bank founded in 2018 by billionaire Mike Novogratz, which holds 15,449 BTC, valued at approximately $1.44 billion at current market prices.
Mike Novogratz is known for purchasing around 500,000 ETH at $0.99 per coin in late 2015 from Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. It is unknown if he still holds these crypto assets. Shares of the investment bank GLXY rose roughly 140% in 2024.
Tesla
The American company Tesla (TSLA) is an electric vehicle manufacturer led by Elon Musk. Tesla has one of the largest Bitcoin holdings among publicly traded companies after MicroStrategy and the mining company MARA.
Unlike MicroStrategy and MARA, Tesla has never disclosed the exact number of Bitcoins it has acquired, nor the prices at which it purchased the first cryptocurrency coins. It is only known that the company bought an undisclosed amount of Bitcoins worth $1.5 billion in February 2021. In April 2021, Tesla reported that it sold part of its coins, making a profit of $101 million for the first quarter of 2021. In the second quarter of 2022, the company 'disposed' of 75% of all its Bitcoins. Tesla is also known for adding the ability to pay for its products with Bitcoins in March 2021. However, in mid-May of the same year, the company abandoned this initiative. Elon Musk has periodically mentioned the cryptocurrency Dogecoin in his messages and speeches since 2019, calling it his 'favorite coin.'
Thus, Tesla is perceived by investors as a supporter of Bitcoin, at least since 2021. According to Coingecko, the company holds 11,500 BTC or approximately $1.1 billion.
Coinbase
The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in 2012, is the fifth largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. According to CoinGecko, Coinbase owns 9,183 BTC, which is worth around $850 million at current market prices.
Coinbase went public in 2021. Since trading began, its share price has fallen by about 20%. However, from the low in 2023, COIN shares have increased by nearly 1,000%.
