Companies around the world are on a bitcoin buying spree, as executives — often in industries that have nothing to do with cryptocurrency — mimic a stockpiling strategy that has produced explosive share price growth.

Over the past year, the number of bitcoin held by companies has jumped nearly 170 per cent. A total of about 130 listed firms hold a combined $87bn of bitcoin, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net, equivalent to about 3.2 per cent of all the bitcoins that will ever exist.

They are following a trail blazed by billionaire Michael Saylor, who made software company MicroStrategy — now known as Strategy — a $100bn company by turning it into a bitcoin-buying vehicle whose market capitalisation is 1.6 times the value of the crypto it holds.

While Saylor’s firm still accounts for the lion’s share of corporate holdings, companies in the US, Japan and France are following his lead in selling shares and bonds and ploughing the proceeds into bitcoin. This has turned corporate holders into a major force in crypto markets, helping propel the token’s price to a record high above $110,000 in recent weeks.

Among those pivoting to a “bitcoin treasury” strategy is the Trump family media firm, joining the rush to capitalise on the president’s pledge to make the US “the crypto capital of the world”. While some firms’ main focus is on buying bitcoin, others are hoarding it while still running other, larger business lines.

Many of these firms — like Strategy — are worth much more than the value of the crypto they own. That premium is a sign of investors’ faith that these companies can raise money to buy bitcoin, drive their stock prices higher and raise more money — a virtuous circle dubbed an “infinite money glitch” by some proponents.

But bitcoin treasuries are yet to be tested by a prolonged downturn in the cryptocurrency’s price, which could leave some firms struggling to repay debt they have taken on to build up their stockpiles.

Below are the companies that hold the most bitcoin, according to a Financial Times analysis of regulatory filings and website Bitcointreasuries.net. Crypto companies that hold large amounts of the token as part of their business operations, such as exchanges or miners, have been excluded.

Strategy

Few took Michael Saylor, co-founder and then chief executive of MicroStrategy, seriously when in August 2020 he said his company would sell new equity to buy and hold bitcoin as its primary reserve asset. To the surprise of many, Strategy’s market capitalisation soared faster than bitcoin itself as its bet paid off. Saylor then upped the pace of purchases from October last year, unveiling plans to raise $42bn, split equally between equity and debt over three years. Posting on X last week that the firm’s “business strategy is 100 per cent Bitcoin. Forever,” he has said he was confident that Strategy would not collapse even if there was a 90 per cent fall in the bitcoin price and it then stayed around those levels for four years. Shareholders would, however, be hit, he admits.

Twenty One Capital

Created in May through a merger between Cantor Equity Partners — run by Brandon Lutnick, son of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick — and a special purpose acquisition vehicle, Twenty One has the ambitious goal of supplanting Strategy as the pre-eminent listed bitcoin acquisition company. The firm is backed by stablecoin operator Tether and Japan’s SoftBank. When the deal is concluded it will begin with 42,000 bitcoin that Tether is buying on Twenty One’s behalf. So far it has bought more than 37,000, worth nearly $3.9bn.

Tesla

Tesla first bought $1.5bn in bitcoin in 2021 as it prepared to begin accepting payments in the cryptocurrency. Chief executive Elon Musk subsequently abandoned those plans, ditching 75 per cent of the company’s bitcoin the following year, but the electric vehicle maker has once again become a significant holder after adding to its stockpile more recently. Tesla last year reported a $600mn mark-to-market income boost on its crypto hoard, owing to a change in accounting rules.

Metaplanet

Once a hotel developer, Tokyo-based Metaplanet underwent “a strategic pivot” last year, according to company president Simon Gerovich, and has emerged as one of the most enthusiastic imitators of Strategy’s model. The firm counts Eric Trump, son of the US president, as a strategic adviser and has plans to increase its bitcoin holdings to 210,000 by the end of 2027. It has inspired other small companies to use new shares to accumulate bitcoin, including KindlyMD, a US firm that is merging with BTC Inc to form Nakamoto Holdings.

Block

Co-founded and chaired by former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, Block first bought bitcoin in October 2020 when the payments company was known as Square. But just over a year ago it set out to systematically invest 10 per cent of its monthly gross profits from its bitcoin products back into the token as an investment. Dorsey has said he believes bitcoin will “ultimately become the native currency of the internet” and has published details of its buying programme so other companies can follow suit.

Next Technology Holding

The Chinese AI software company, once known as WeTrade Group, has used bitcoin purchases to provide an immediate boost to its share price. In April, US stock market operator Nasdaq warned that it was in danger of being kicked off the exchange because its stock was failing to comply with minimum price levels. At the end of last year, it held just 833 bitcoins but the numbers swelled in the first quarter of this year after it issued shares and warrants to pay for a 2023 deal it had struck with an unnamed seller to buy bitcoin.

Gamestop

It was only at the end of May that the video game retailer, synonymous with 2021’s memestock craze, made its first purchase of bitcoin. The $512mn acquisition was made possible by a private offering of $1.3bn in convertible bonds. Although its shares tumbled more than 10 per cent in the wake of the announcement, it returned to the market this month with another convertible bond offering, of $1.75bn, and managed to increase this to $2.25bn.

Semler Scientific

The US healthcare technology group is the exception to the theory that buying bitcoin will put a company’s share price on a premium akin to Strategy’s. Semler adopted the cryptocurrency as its primary treasury reserve in May last year, using excess cash to fund purchases, and increased the pace of buying from November 2024, using its cash as well as newly issued shares and $100mn of convertible bonds. While its shares are higher than when it announced its plan, it has not enjoyed the same boost as some other bitcoin buyers, with its market capitalisation roughly the same as the net asset value of its bitcoin.

Trump Media & Technology Group

Bitcoin is “an apex instrument of financial freedom”, according to the media group behind the Truth Social app, which is planning to raise $2.5bn to create a bitcoin treasury. Although it has yet to lay out the timings of any purchases, at current prices it could become one of the largest corporate holders of the currency. The move comes as the Trump administration establishes a regulatory framework for the crypto industry that is expected to support its growth.