Bitwise CIO says companies like MicroStrategy buying bitcoin is an 'overlooked megatrend'

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan outlined why he believes companies such as MicroStrategy buying bitcoin is an “overlooked megatrend.”

“This is a much bigger trend than most people realize,” Hougan wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. “In fact, I think it’s a bona fide megatrend. We’ll see hundreds of companies buy bitcoin for their treasuries over the next 12-18 months, and their purchases will lift the entire bitcoin market substantially higher.”

MicroStrategy has bought 450,000 BTC worth over $43 billion since embarking on its bitcoin acquisition plan in 2020, with its latest 2,530 BTC set of purchases announced on Monday. To put that in perspective, MicroStrategy holds around 2.1% of bitcoin’s total 21 million supply.

While MicroStrategy and co-founder Michael Saylor’s corporate bitcoin treasury model is no stranger to media coverage, Hougan suggested that what the firm is doing still doesn’t get enough attention, with most investors he spoke to seeing it as a one-off.

Even if that were the case, MicroStrategy is larger than people think, Hougan said. Though MicroStrategy is currently ranked 220th by global market cap, it bought around 257,000 BTC in 2024 alone — more than the total 218,829 BTC mined during the year.

“A company the size of Chipotle bought more than 100% of the entire new supply of bitcoin in 2024,” he emphasized, adding that MicroStrategy’s ongoing $42 billion capital raise plan for bitcoin acquisitions is equivalent to around 2.6 years’ worth of new supply.

However, MicroStrategy is not a one-off, with 70 public companies now embarking on similar bitcoin corporate treasury models, Hougan noted, driven by similar reasons as individual investors. Some hope it will drive their stock prices higher, some are worried about debasement of the dollar and some want to be part of the “bitcoin tribe,” but the demand trajectory is clear, Hougan said.

Well-known public crypto companies such as Coinbase and MARA, as well as other firms like Block, Tesla, Semlar Scientific and Mercado Libre, own 141,302 BTC combined. Private companies, including SpaceX and Block.one, own at least 368,043 BTC, according to Bitcoin Treasuries. Bitwise also owns bitcoin on its balance sheet, in addition to managing clients’ assets via its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

“What happens if really big companies start to take a page from MicroStrategy’s book?” Hougan said. “Meta — which is currently considering a shareholder suggestion to add bitcoin to its balance sheet — is 20x the size of MicroStrategy.”

Number of corporate bitcoin holders ‘poised to explode’

Hougan said the number of corporate bitcoin holders is “poised to explode,” driven by significantly reduced reputational risk, with Washington embracing crypto at the highest levels post-U.S. election — a factor that could double the number of companies buying bitcoin alone.

Furthermore, in December, the Financial Accounting Standards Board implemented a new rule, ASU 2023-08, changing how bitcoin is accounted for under GAAP, Hougan noted. Previously, bitcoin was treated as an "intangible asset" subject to impairment testing, meaning companies had to write down its value if the price fell but couldn't adjust it upward if the price rose. Under the new rule, companies can now mark bitcoin to market and book profits if its price increases. 

“If 70 companies were willing to add bitcoin to their balance sheets when, from an accounting perspective, it literally could only go down, imagine how many will add it to their balance sheet now,” he wrote. “Two hundred? Five hundred? A thousand?”

“MicroStrategy is less than 50% of the corporate bitcoin market,” Hougan added. “I suspect it’ll be a small fraction of it eventually.”