The Role of Bitcoin As a Treasury Asset
January 17, 2025





Throughout its history, Bitcoin has gone through various stages, starting as “magic Internet money” to becoming the “currency of the Internet,” and then evolving into a gold-like store of value and investment asset.
In 2020, Bitcoin entered a new phase when Michael Saylor announced that his company, MicroStrategy, would be buying and “HODLing” Bitcoin as a treasury asset. Saylor justified his decision to put Bitcoin on the balance sheet as a hedge to protect his shareholders. The strategy has worked so far, and since then, Bitcoin has established itself as an alternative to traditional cash reserves on corporate balance sheets.
Read on to learn why Bitcoin makes sense as a treasury asset and which companies followed in MicroStrategy's footsteps.
What Is a Treasury Asset?
A treasury asset refers to assets on a company’s balance sheet that are strategically chosen to optimize the company’s liquidity, mitigate financial risks, protect the company’s shareholders, and generate returns on excess cash.
Treasury assets are critical in maintaining the company's financial health and stability.
Typically, most treasury assets come in the form of government-issued securities, such as high-rated short- and long-term government debt, as these are considered the safest investments.
However, recent rate hikes and record-high inflation rates post-Covid forced companies to look for alternative treasury assets. In the past, they’ve held Treasury Bonds, Notes, or T-bills (all with different time maturities, risk profiles, and yields), commodities such as gold, or, in some cases, stocks.
Today, Bitcoin has also made it onto corporate balance sheets.
Why Bitcoin Makes Sense as a Treasury Asset
There are several reasons why Bitcoin makes sense as a treasury asset. Let’s take a look at them.
Potential for Long-Term Price Appreciation
Thanks to the hard cap of 21 million coins, Bitcoin's scarcity ensures that the currency is disinflationary and sets the premise for Bitcoin’s price to potentially appreciate with every halving (provided demand for the digital currency continues to remain high).
Historically, Bitcoin's price has increased as the rate of new supply entering circulation has decreased with every Bitcoin halving event.
Granted, Bitcoin is still in its teenage years and remains volatile. However, that volatility has decreased over the years, while its average annual returns have outperformed most traditional asset classes in the past ten years.
Diversification
In addition to the above-average expected returns, Bitcoin’s historically low correlation with traditional assets is another reason why an increasing number of corporations are adding “digital gold” to their balance sheets.
Especially during times of geopolitical turmoil, Bitcoin has shown safe haven and diversification properties, helping investors to reduce losses during challenging times.
Global Accessibility and Liquidity
Bitcoin’s borderless nature and 24/7 accessibility allow investors and companies to access the asset whenever needed.
This can be useful if the company decides to sell fast. It also opens up the opportunity to do business internationally with low costs, as the digital currency can be used seamlessly for cross-border payments.
Additionally, Bitcoin's decentralized nature ensures that no single entity controls its network, reducing counterparty risk and enhancing trust in its value as a treasury asset.
Notable Companies With Bitcoin on Their Balance Sheets
Although Bitcoin is only 15 years old, a few companies have already decided to include Bitcoin on their balance sheets and use it as a treasury asset.
MicroStrategy
The business intelligence software company is the largest public company with Bitcoin on its balance sheet. Its chairman, Michael Saylor, announced its first Bitcoin purchase in August 2020. The idea was initially to hedge against inflation and the Fed's arguably excessive money printing. However, it quickly emerged as a core strategy for the company. MicroStrategy currently holds 446,400 BTC.
Block
The parent company of Cash App, Square, and Tidal has been one of the earlier Bitcoin adopters. It mainly holds Bitcoin as a treasury asset and offers a retail Bitcoin brokerage with its popular Cash App. Block reserves a portion of its treasury for the Cash App services and sets aside another portion of its stack for long-term HODLing. The company currently holds 8,027 BTC.
Tether
The largest stablecoin issuer in the world is also a Bitcoin HODLer. In late 2023, the company announced that it would use 15% of its quarterly revenue to buy BTC and keep it on its balance sheet. This strategy has been immensely profitable for the company, which further expanded by entering the Bitcoin mining industry. Tether currently holds 83,759 BTC.
Metaplanet
In April 2024, Metaplanet – a publicly traded company in Japan – announced the strategic allocation of Bitcoin to counteract the rapid decrease in the Japanese Yen. Since the announcement, the company has accumulated a total of 1,761.98 BTC.
Samara Asset Group
Bitcoin has always been at the center of attention for Samara Asset Group. We’ve been buying and holding Bitcoin on our balance sheet for several years.
In October 2024, we decided to go a step further and follow the MicroStrategy playbook by issuing a Nordic bond to use the proceeds to expand Samara’s diversified investment portfolio by acquiring additional LP stakes in alternative investment funds and increase our position in Bitcoin. We currently hold 520 BTC.
Use Case: Microstrategy and Why HODLing Bitcoin Has Been Beneficial for the Company
MicroStrategy started buying Bitcoin in August 2020. Michael Saylor’s goal was straightforward: to use an asset with the same, if not better, characteristics than gold and deflate it over time.
This move would allow Michael to protect the company's stock and its shareholder value in the future. Back then, MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock traded at $96 and was experiencing a decline. The newly implemented strategy couldn’t have come at a better time.
It was the beginning of what was to become the Bitcoin bull market of 2020 and 2021, and with the continuous Bitcoin buying spree, the MSTR stock quickly turned into a “Bitcoin stock.” Fellow institutions and funds bought the stock to gain exposure to Bitcoin without holding the asset outright.

With the bear market in 2022, the company seized the opportunity to buy Bitcoin at lower prices, a move that paid off in late 2023 and into 2024. Today (at the time of writing), MSTR trades at over $300 following a 10:1 stock split, reaching a new all-time high in November 2024.

Within four years, the company accumulated over 2% of the total Bitcoin supply and outperformed some of the best hedge funds on the market. Since its first Bitcoin purchase in 2020, MicroStrategy’s stock price has increased by more than 2,000%.
Conclusion
Bitcoin has many different use cases, from borderless payments to efficient mining and energy harvesting or as a store of value for the foreseeable future. However, one of the most exciting ones is as a treasury asset.
Not only did MicroStrategy prove this with its Bitcoin strategy, but other companies have gotten on board and are currently benefitting from it.
Thanks to Bitcoin's scarcity and appreciation over time, this strategy could become the Gold standard in treasury management.