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Bitcoin ($BTC) treasury companies reached a record holding of 840,000 $BTC in August, but underlying data reveal weakening institutional demand.
According to a Sept. 5 report by CryptoQuant, purchase volumes and transaction sizes plummeted to multi-year lows.
Strategy led corporate Bitcoin accumulation with 637,000 $BTC, representing 76% of total treasury holdings. At the same time, 32 other companies control the remaining 203,000 $BTC.
Holdings surged following the November 2024 US Presidential Election, with Strategy more than doubling its position from 279,000 to 637,000 $BTC and other companies expanding their holdings 13-fold from 15,000 to 203,000 $BTC.
Declining purchase volumes
Strategy acquired 3,700 $BTC in August, down dramatically from 134,000 $BTC purchased in November 2024. Other treasury companies purchased 14,800 $BTC, which is below the 2025 average of 24,000 $BTC and significantly lower than their June peak of 66,000 $BTC.
The average Bitcoin per transaction dropped to 1,200 for Strategy and 343 for other companies, down 86% from early 2025 highs. The report attributed the smaller transaction sizes to liquidity constraints or potential market hesitation among institutional buyers.
Monthly holdings growth decelerated sharply for Strategy, falling from 44% in December 2024 to just 5% in August. Other treasury companies experienced similar patterns, with monthly growth dropping from 163% in March to 8% in August.
Despite recording 53 purchase transactions in June and maintaining elevated activity through August with 46 transactions, the frequency masks declining institutional appetite. Treasury companies completed only 14 transactions in November 2024, making current levels appear robust by comparison.
The report focused on pure-play, publicly-traded Bitcoin treasury companies holding 1,000 $BTC or more, excluding mining companies and firms with substantial operating businesses like Tesla and Coinbase.
Regulatory and market pressures mount
The treasury market faces new regulatory headwinds as Nasdaq implements shareholder approval requirements for equity issuances used to purchase crypto.
The rule change targets the crypto-treasury playbook, where public companies sell equity or convertibles to fund token purchases. As a result, this change could slow the rapid capital deployment that characterized 2025.
In addition, Sequans Communications became the first Bitcoin treasury company to execute a reverse stock split, adjusting its American Depositary Shares structure to maintain NYSE listing requirements.
The company controls 3,205 $BTC, valued at approximately $355 million, but its stock declined 75% this year, raising concerns about potential asset sales to defend share prices.
The report concluded by revealing patterns similar to the 2020-2021 cycle, when Strategy’s holdings growth peaked at 78% before declining to 6% a year later. The current setup suggests institutional Bitcoin accumulation may be entering a similar deceleration phase.