Resume:
- BlackRock, Bank of America and Fidelity have all massively increased their holdings of MicroStrategy stock, Bitcoin’s largest corporate holder.
- Buying MSTR seems to be a path to BTC exposure rather than directly buying crypto’s top coin.
- Canada’s sixth-largest bank also spent a significant amount of money purchasing MicroStrategy stock in 2023.
- The hunger for MSTR stock comes at a time when the US Securities and Exchange Commission is cracking down on crypto activity in America.
Major banks and financial institutions in the US appear to be increasing their exposure to Bitcoin by accumulating massive holdings of MicroStrategy stock, the same company that is currently the largest corporate holder of BTC with treasuries worth more than $3 billion at current prices.
Three giants in particular – BlackRock, Bank of America and Fidelity – have collectively spent more than $200 million to purchase MicroStrategy’s MSTR.
Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the US with a value of more than $200 billion and more than $3 trillion in assets under management (AUM), spent $59.5 million to expand its 2. 3% in Michael Saylor’s company.
Fidelity has spent more than $25 million with its $4.5 trillion AUM portfolio to secure a 1% stake in MSTR, while Canada’s sixth-largest financial institution, the National Bank of Canada, spent more than half a million dollars buying MicroStrategy stock this year.
Perhaps the most high-profile MSTR buyer with over $150 million in equity is the world’s largest asset manager with $10 trillion in assets under management – BlackRock. BlackRock owns a massive 6% stake in MicroStrategy. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, recent reports of CoinDesk say BlackRock plans to file a Bitcoin ETF.
Notably, the US SEC has historically denied Bitcoin ETF applications previously filed by companies like Grayscale. It’s unclear if BlackRock could succeed where others have failed.
MSTR offers Bitcoin exposure
It is possible that US banking and finance giants will monkey MSTR stocks, as the company owns Bitcoin, providing exposure to crypto’s leading coin by market capitalization. Indeed, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy is Bitcoin’s largest corporate holder at the time of writing with over 140,000 BTC worth over $3 billion at current prices.
Aside from leading the crypto industry as the top coin by market capitalization, Bitcoin is on a short list of digital assets not considered an unregistered security by the SEC.
Analysis and forecasts from various stakeholders, including the $700 billion strong Standard Chartered, agree that BTC will appreciate in value by 2024. This potentially makes BTC an attractive investment for America’s largest institutions, with MSTR providing a regulated way for these banks to hold Bitcoin.
Bitcoin traded around $25,000 on Thursday after falling in price amid a broader crypto market downturn that followed the SEC’s enforcement action against Binance and Coinbase.
