Why Corporate Treasuries Are Betting Big on Bitcoin on Balance Sheets

By Heath Muchena | Decentralised News | 24 Mar 2025

Not too long ago the idea of holding Bitcoin on a corporate balance sheet would have sounded like a Silicon Valley fever dream. Suggesting Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset would most likely get you strange looks in a boardroom. It was considered risky, speculative, maybe even reckless. Today? It’s practically strategic genius.

And we can thank Michael Saylor and his juggernaut of a company, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), for kicking off this corporate Bitcoin revolution. Since 2020, Saylor has been on a mission - one that’s turned his software firm into something akin to a publicly traded Bitcoin ETF. With over 499,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, worth more than $42 billion at current prices, Strategy’s bold bet has propelled its stock to all-time highs and Saylor to near rockstar status in both crypto and corporate circles.

But what’s fascinating isn’t just Strategy’s windfall - it’s how their playbook has gone viral across the business world.

From Outlier to Blueprint

What was once written off as financial eccentricity is now being emulated by some of the most recognizable names in corporate America. Tesla, Block (the payments giant formerly known as Square), video platform Rumble, and a whole host of other public companies have followed Strategy’s lead. Collectively, over 70 publicly traded firms are now stacking Bitcoin, transforming how they think about liquidity, risk, and value creation.

Tesla, for instance, quietly sits on over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin, weathering the market’s infamous volatility without blinking. Block has integrated Bitcoin into the very DNA of its business, buying over 8,000 BTC and now committing to reinvest 10% of its Bitcoin profits back into more Bitcoin - a kind of corporate dollar-cost averaging strategy. Even smaller, unlikely players like medical tech firm Semler Scientific and auto parts maker Worksport have joined the fray.

It’s no longer niche; it’s becoming the norm.

Why the Rush to Bitcoin?

So why are companies pivoting away from traditional “safe” assets like treasury bonds and parking their capital in Bitcoin? One word: scarcity. Bitcoin has a hard cap - 21 million coins, ever. No Federal Reserve, no central bank can print more. And in a world where governments have pumped trillions into the global economy, leading to stubborn inflation and currency debasement, that kind of predictability is priceless.

Corporations, historically cautious with their reserves, are realizing something sobering: sitting on cash isn't the shield it used to be. Inflation erodes its value. Interest rate hikes increase borrowing costs and reduce margins. Treasury bills might feel secure, but their real returns often lag behind rising prices. Bitcoin, for all its ups and downs, offers something different - a hedge against chaos.

New Rules, New Era

It also helps that the regulatory and accounting environment has caught up. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently changed the game by allowing companies to report Bitcoin holdings at fair market value. Gone are the days when firms had to markdown their assets but couldn’t show gains on paper. Suddenly, Bitcoin doesn’t just hedge against inflation - it improves the balance sheet, too.

And with the SEC greenlighting Bitcoin ETFs and governments like the U.S. making moves toward Bitcoin reserves, there’s more confidence at the institutional level. What was murky a few years ago is now maturing into something concrete, giving CFOs and treasurers fewer excuses to sit on the sidelines.

Risks? Sure. But What’s the Bigger Risk?

Of course, Bitcoin isn’t without its headaches. Price swings can be violent. Regulatory frameworks are still evolving. And there’s always the PR risk of being seen as overexposed to a volatile asset. But here’s the kicker: doing nothing might actually be riskier.

In a world where cash burns value quietly and central banks can shift policies overnight, forward-thinking companies see Bitcoin not just as a gamble - but as a defensive move. As Strategy’s Saylor puts it, holding large amounts of fiat in this environment is like sitting on a “melting ice cube.” Bitcoin offers an exit ramp.

The Next Berkshire Hathaways?

This corporate Bitcoin wave isn’t slowing down. It’s morphing into a new financial era where companies aren’t just adopting Bitcoin to be trendy; they’re using it to rethink what a corporate treasury can and should be.

There’s a real chance that early movers - those who understood Bitcoin’s asymmetric upside and scarcity appeal - might one day be viewed the same way early internet or tech adopters were decades ago. The Apples and Amazons of Bitcoin-era corporate finance.

It’s not hyperbole. It’s the logical conclusion of a world waking up to digital scarcity, fiscal instability, and technological inevitability.

In the meantime, the question facing boardrooms everywhere is simple: Will you hold Bitcoin - or will you watch others reap the rewards?

Originally published on Decentralised News

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