In the Last Three Months, Companies Bought Way More Bitcoin Than ETFs – What Does This Mean? Experts Explain

Institutional interest in Bitcoin is shifting. Public companies are buying more Bitcoin than exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the third quarter in a row, continuing to embrace the strategy pioneered by MicroStrategy.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, public companies purchased approximately 131,000 $BTC in the second quarter of 2025, increasing their total assets by 18%, while ETFs purchased 111,000 $BTC in the same period, with an 8% growth.

According to Nick Marie, research director at Ecoinometrics, the motivation for companies to buy Bitcoin is quite different from ETF investors: “These companies accumulate $BTC with the goal of increasing shareholder value. They are more focused on the amount of $BTC in their vaults than the price level.”

Marie noted that public companies increased their Bitcoin holdings by 4% in April, while this increase in ETFs remained at 2% during the same period. During this period, the market was volatile due to President Donald Trump’s first tariff announcements.

Although ETFs are still the largest institutional Bitcoin investors with a total of 1.4 million $BTC (6.8% of the maximum supply), the amount held by public companies has reached 855,000 $BTC (4%).

This trend also coincides with the regulatory easing seen in the cryptocurrency sector during the Trump administration. An executive order signed in March announced the creation of the official US Bitcoin reserve. The last time ETFs bought more $BTC from public companies was in the third quarter of 2024, before Trump’s re-election.

Some notable company moves in the second quarter also drew attention: GameStop adopted Bitcoin as a reserve asset with the approval of its board of directors and began purchasing it. Health technology company KindlyMD merged with Bitcoin investment company Nakamoto. Famous investor Anthony Pompliano’s company ProCap launched its own $BTC purchasing program while entering the process of going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

The pioneer of this trend and still the largest representative, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) is in the lead with 597,000 $BTC. It is followed by Bitcoin mining company Mara Holdings with around 50,000 $BTC. Ben Werkman, investment director at Swan Bitcoin, notes that Strategy’s scale will not be easy to catch up with: “They will continue to be an attractive destination for institutional capital due to their high liquidity.”

By contrast, Werkman said smaller companies offer high-yield potential for individual investors and small-cap funds. These companies have the capacity to accumulate Bitcoin on a scale that individual investors cannot, thanks to their access to public capital markets.

Nick Marie, on the other hand, thinks that this trend may not be long-lasting: “After 10 years, the number of companies that adhere to this strategy may have decreased. Because as the category expands, the impact of individual companies will be diluted. Also, $BTC may have completely normalized by then.”

Investor interest remains strong. These companies offer attractive leveraged investment vehicles for investors who already believe in Bitcoin, according to Werkman. “These companies offer not just Bitcoin, but Bitcoin-backed appreciation backed by operating income. That’s what makes them unique,” he says.

*This is not investment advice.