Nickel: Bitcoin will increasingly be adopted by publicly listed companies
Bitcoin will be increasingly used as a reserve asset on the balance sheets of publicly listed companies underlining its growing acceptance as an asset class, according to Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel).
The study with organisations already invested in the sector found 75% believe publicly listed companies should hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets with 26% strongly supporting the major digital asset’s use case as a reserve asset.
Analysis by Nickel shows currently around 42 listed companies hold over $20 billion worth of Bitcoin. This represents a nearly 200% increase in the value of their holdings compared to a year ago when the corresponding figure was $7.2 billion. The trend was started by MicroStrategy which purchased 21,454 BTC in August 2020 and has increased its holdings to 226,500 as of August 2024.
Collectively, listed companies hold around 335,000 BTC, equating to 1.6% of the total Bitcoin supply cap, which is pegged at 21 million.
Nickel’s research with institutional investors and wealth managers in the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates who collectively manage around $1.7 trillion in assets found institutional investors and wealth managers expect strong growth in that number over the next five years.
Nearly six out of 10 (58%) questioned believe 10% or more of listed companies will hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets within five years. Around one in 12 (8%) forecast 25% or more of listed companies will have Bitcoin on their balance sheets.
