The volume of Bitcoin reserves held by companies reached an unprecedented 840,000 BTC in August, highlighting a significant accumulation of the cryptocurrency. However, recent data from CryptoQuant suggests that the number of purchases and transactions has fallen to its lowest levels in the past year.
Notably, the primary holder of this vast treasury is Michael Saylor’s investment firm, Strategy, which owns a staggering 637,000 BTC—making up 76% of the total corporate holdings. The remaining 203,000 BTC are distributed among 32 other companies. The surge in reserves began following the U.S. presidential elections in November 2024, during which Strategy more than doubled its Bitcoin holdings from 279,000 to 637,000 BTC in just one month. Other firms also saw substantial growth during this time, increasing their collective assets from 15,000 BTC to 203,000 BTC.
Despite these record figures, actual purchase activity has sharply declined. In August, Strategy acquired just 3,700 BTC, while other entities in the sector together purchased a mere 14,800 BTC. This represents a significant drop from the average monthly purchases of approximately 24,000 BTC recorded since the start of the year and a stark contrast to the peak of 66,000 BTC in June.
The average transaction size has also seen a considerable reduction, decreasing to 1,200 BTC for Saylor’s company and 343 BTC for others—an 86% decrease from the highs observed earlier in the year. The growth rate of Strategy’s assets has slowed dramatically from 44% in December to just 5% by August. Similarly, the broader trend for other companies indicates a decline from a 163% growth in March to only 8% in August.
Despite continuing transactions—53 purchases in July and 46 in August—these numbers are low compared to the 14 transactions that took place in November 2024. Analysts at CryptoQuant have pointed out that the smaller, more cautious transactions suggest a weakening of institutional demand, despite the positive numbers on corporate reserves.
The report specifically considers companies solely focused on accumulating and holding Bitcoin, excluding miners and major enterprises with extensive operational businesses, such as Tesla or Coinbase. Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole, has expressed concerns about the potential risks of a large-scale asset sell-off due to the slowdown in corporate purchasing activities. Additionally, Galaxy Digital has likened the trend of companies amassing Bitcoin reserves to the investment trust bubble that occurred in the United States during the 1920s.
