Corporate treasury holds 1.2 million BTC: Bitcoin circulating supply shrinks and scarcity structure reevaluated

Bitcoin’s price trend is never just about up-and-down moves on a K-line chart. Every BTC circulating in the market reflects a battle between supply and demand. And the changes taking place in 2026 are rewriting this basic equation: corporate treasuries of listed companies are gobbling up the circulating supply of Bitcoin at an unprecedented pace.

According to Gate Market data, as of May 9, 2026, Bitcoin’s price is $80,465.7, with a market cap of approximately $1.61 trillion and a 24-hour gain of 1.27%. Market sentiment shows as neutral. However, the price data masks a deeper structural shift: by the end of Q1 2026, global listed companies collectively held about 1,217,574 BTC, with a market value of roughly $9.782 billion, accounting for 5.798% of the total supply. Meanwhile, according to Bitwise’s data methodology, in the same period corporate Bitcoin holdings reached 1.15 million BTC, or 5.47% of the total supply. No matter which metric is used, the conclusion is the same: companies are becoming one of the largest buying forces behind Bitcoin’s circulating supply.

1.15 Million to 1.22 Million BTC Locked by Companies

In May 2026, Bitwise Asset Management released a report stating that in Q1 2026, listed companies’ net purchases totaled 50,351 BTC, up 4.59% quarter over quarter. Total corporate Bitcoin holdings hit a record high. Over the same period, it is estimated that total corporate holdings—including non-listed companies—have surpassed 1.2 million BTC, or about 5.7% of the total supply.

This growth unfolded in an extremely volatile market environment. In Q1 2026, energy supply shocks triggered by geopolitical conflicts, combined with Bitcoin’s decline of more than 20%, resulted in a quarterly closing price of only $67,805. Yet it was precisely during this period of price pressure that some companies did not just avoid reducing positions—they accelerated their accumulation.

At the same time, Bitcoin exchange supply continued to shrink. According to CoinGlass data as of May 8, 2026, total Bitcoin reserves on major centralized exchanges were about 2,451,555 BTC. Binance’s reserves fell from nearly 670,000 BTC on February 21 to about 620,000 BTC on May 7. Since February 2026, Binance, OKX, and Gemini together have lost nearly 100,000 BTC, bringing exchange reserves to their lowest level since the end of 2023. The continued decline in exchange available inventories, paired with the rise in corporate holdings, creates a sharp supply-demand “scissor gap.”

A Balance-Sheet Revolution That Began in 2020

Corporate-level Bitcoin holdings are not new, but the current phase’s scale and structural characteristics are markedly different from those of previous cycles. Below is a factual timeline of key milestones:

August 2020: MicroStrategy (now renamed Strategy) first announced that it would treat Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset, opening the door for an enterprise-level BTC reserves strategy. At the time, no one could have predicted that a company that began as a business intelligence software firm would, within six years, reinvent itself into an enterprise entity centered on Bitcoin.

2020 to 2025: Strategy continued to accumulate Bitcoin through cash reserves, debt financing, convertible notes, and equity financing, building up to a cumulative high. More listed companies began to emulate this approach, forming the first wave of “corporate hodlers,” mainly tech firms and Bitcoin mining companies. By the end of 2025, Strategy achieved a BTC Yield of 22.8% for the year, adding about 101,873 BTC equivalents, and launched the STRC perpetual preferred stock product to broaden funding sources.

December 2024: The Financial Accounting Standards Board of the United States officially implemented fair value measurement rules for crypto assets. Companies were required to revalue Bitcoin and other digital assets at the market price as of each quarter-end, and to reflect changes directly in the income statement. This accounting rule change brought brand-new challenges to corporate hodling behavior in financial reporting.

2025: The U.S. federal government passed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve framework, incorporating confiscated Bitcoin into reserve assets.

Q1 2026: Strategy purchased about 89,600 BTC, costing roughly $5.5 billion—its second-largest single-quarter purchase in the company’s history. Japan’s listed company Metaplanet increased holdings by about 5,075 BTC, bringing its holdings to 40,177 BTC and placing it among the world’s top three corporate holders. GameStop completed the issuance of $1.5 billion in convertible notes, explicitly directing the use of funds toward Bitcoin purchases. Meanwhile, listed mining companies collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in Q1—exceeding the total amount of BTC sold by miners throughout all of 2025—and setting a record for the highest single-quarter level.

May 2026: Strive disclosed that it increased holdings by 444 BTC, worth about $33.9 million. Total holdings surpassed 15,000 BTC; the QTD return was 4.3% and the YTD return was 18.7%. Strategy also disclosed that its paper gain on Bitcoin as of 2026 to date reached $5.1 billion.

A Full Picture of Holdings and Quantitative Evidence of Supply Contraction

Corporate Holdings Panorama

Corporate Bitcoin holdings exhibit a highly concentrated pattern. Below is a breakdown of major global listed companies’ BTC holdings as of early May 2026 (data compiled from Bitwise reports, Glassnode, corporate SEC filings, and public disclosures):

Rankings of Major Global Listed Companies by Bitcoin Holdings (as of early May 2026)

Data sources: Glassnode, Bitwise, corporate SEC filings, and public disclosures

Key Findings:

First, holdings are highly concentrated. Strategy alone holds about 818,334 BTC, or roughly 67% of all listed corporate holdings. If the top five companies are included, concentration exceeds 80%.

Second, corporate types are diversifying. Early corporate hodlers were mainly tech companies and miners, but by 2026, non-traditional participants such as retail businesses (GameStop) and social media companies (Trump Media) have joined.

Third, both accumulation and reduction coexist. According to LaikaLabs analysis, Strategy accounted for about 93% of the total corporate net accumulation of roughly 68,500 BTC in Q1, while buying strength from most other companies has fallen substantially. This divergence reveals that the funding sources and intentions behind “corporate Bitcoin holdings” are fundamentally heterogeneous: a small number of core hoarders dominate the demand side, while many smaller holders are waiting—or even reducing.

Quantitative Framework of Supply Contraction

The growth in corporate holdings is only one aspect of the supply contraction story. If multiple dimensions of “non-liquid supply” are layered together, the actual amount of Bitcoin available for trading is far lower than what one might intuitively expect.

Exchange inventories keep declining. According to CoinGlass data as of May 8, 2026, total Bitcoin reserves on major centralized exchanges are about 2,451,555 BTC. Under the CryptoQuant methodology, all exchange reserves have fallen to about 2.21 million BTC, the lowest level since early 2018. Since February 2026, Binance, OKX, and Gemini together have lost nearly 100,000 BTC. Simultaneously, according to CryptoQuant data, the amount of Bitcoin controlled by long-term holders (holding for more than 155 days) continues to rise. Recently, about 354,000 BTC was added, and roughly $55 million worth of BTC per day flowed out of Binance.

Irrecoverable lost coins: an often-overlooked deduction. Estimates by institutions such as Chainalysis and River Financial suggest that roughly 2.3 million to 3 million BTC are permanently inaccessible due to lost private keys, forgotten wallets, and similar reasons—accounting for 11% to 15% of the total 21 million BTC supply.

ETF lock-in effect. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs hold about 1,329,881 BTC (as of May 7), corresponding to approximately 6.5%–7% of circulating supply in terms of asset size. Among them, BlackRock IBIT holds 813,953.5 BTC on its own. On just May 1, spot ETFs recorded a new net inflow of +$345.4 million.

Expansion of sovereign holdings. The U.S. government holds about 328,372 BTC in confiscated Bitcoin, making it the largest known sovereign holder globally—about 1.56% of circulating supply.

When the above factors are combined: corporate holdings (about 1.22 million BTC) + ETF holdings (about 1.33 million BTC) + U.S. government holdings (about 330k BTC) + long-term holder lockups (about 4.37 million BTC) + permanent loss (about 2.65 million BTC at the median estimate)—these “non-freely circulating” Bitcoins total roughly 9.9 million BTC, while Bitcoin’s current total circulating supply is about 19.8 million BTC. This implies that the amount of Bitcoin actually available for free trading in the market may be less than 50% of the circulating total.

It should be noted that the figures above are rough estimates based on multiple data sources, and there may be some overlap among different types of holdings (for example, some of Strategy’s holdings may be counted in both corporate holdings and long-term holder statistics). The actual numbers should be confirmed through more precise cross-verification. But the direction is clear: Bitcoin’s effective circulating supply is experiencing a historic structural contraction.

Breaking Down the Viewpoints: Three Interpretations of the Corporate Hoarding Wave

Three main viewpoints have emerged around the continued growth in corporate Bitcoin holdings.

Viewpoint 1: Institutionalization is an irreversible long-term trend. Supporters argue that adding Bitcoin to the balance sheet is a rational choice to hedge fiat currency depreciation and optimize capital allocation. The active participation of non-U.S. companies such as Metaplanet is viewed as a microcosm of “de-dollarization” at the corporate level—Asian companies using Bitcoin to hedge the risk of local-currency depreciation are accelerating.

Viewpoint 2: Overconcentration in holdings breeds systemic risk. Critics point out that the high concentration of corporate holdings means that a change in behavior by a key player could cause dramatic market volatility. In May 2026, discussions surrounding Strategy became the focus of this concern—because its 818,334 BTC gives it the ability to influence market expectations. More importantly, LaikaLabs’ analysis shows that, excluding Strategy’s own purchases, corporate-level demand for Bitcoin in Q1 has already shrunk sharply; the entire supply-demand narrative is almost entirely dependent on a single company.

Viewpoint 3: There is a gap between “paper demand” and real buying. JPMorgan analysts noted in April 2026 that total crypto inflows in Q1 were only about $11 billion—about one-third of the level in the same period of 2025. Analysts believe the current market structure is “fragile” because it relies on a few large corporate buyers rather than a broad base of participants. In other words, behind the 1.15 million BTC corporate holdings figure, the accumulation motivation is highly concentrated among a handful of entities.

Evolution of the Model: From “Never Sell” to “Dynamic Management”

Within the corporate Bitcoin holdings narrative, an influential story—“never sell”—is now being reexamined.

In Q1 2026, publicly listed mining companies became the largest seller group. According to TheEnergyMag data, mining companies such as MARA, CleanSpark, Riot, Cango, Core Scientific, and Bitdeer collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC. This exceeded the total amount of miners’ BTC sales throughout all of 2025 and set a historical quarterly high. Specifically, MARA sold 15,133 BTC, and Riot Platforms sold 3,778 BTC. Miners’ selling has financial necessity: when Bitcoin prices fall, mining profits are compressed, and debt repayments and operating expenditures require cash coverage.

Even more signaling is Strategy’s subtle shift. In May 2026, after recording losses for three consecutive quarters, the company’s Executive Chairman Michael Saylor publicly said it could sell part of its Bitcoin to meet its preferred-share dividend obligations. Although this statement does not imply a large-scale liquidation, it breaks the company’s prior “never sell” image. The company reported a net loss of $12.54 billion in Q1, including $14.46 billion in unrealized fair value losses on digital assets.

This is not evidence that a “hoarding strategy has failed,” but rather a sign of maturation. Corporate Bitcoin holdings strategies are evolving from a single pattern of “buy and hold” into a more complex model of “dynamic management of assets and liabilities.” Between debt maturities, dividend payments, and market price fluctuations, companies must weigh “belief” against “survival.”

Industry Impact: Escalating Competition From Corporate Balance Sheets to National Reserves

The growth in corporate holdings is spreading to broader levels, with the most notable direction being competition over Bitcoin reserves at the sovereign level.

At the U.S. federal level, the BITCOIN Act led forward by Senator Cynthia Lummis proposes a clear framework: purchase a cumulative 1 million BTC within five years and incorporate confiscated Bitcoin already held by the government into strategic reserves. At the state level, Texas has passed a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill, and states such as Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina are also advancing similar legislation.

Internationally, Brazil’s Congress has reintroduced the RESBit bill, planning to accumulate up to 1 million BTC over five years. The Czech National Bank has begun studying allocating up to 5% of foreign exchange reserves to Bitcoin. In its 2026 outlook, Fidelity describes it as a “cross-country Bitcoin arms race.”

If sovereign allocations become reality, their impact on the supply landscape would be geometrically amplified. The corporate-level 1.22 million BTC has already sparked supply-tightness discussions, and sovereign-level purchase demand in the million-unit range would inject an entirely new long-term driver into Bitcoin’s scarcity narrative.

Conclusion

The fact that corporate treasuries hold 1.2 million BTC does not mean Bitcoin is about to “run out.” But it does mean that the underlying parameters governing market operations have changed: circulating supply is undergoing a structural contraction, while the buyer base is becoming more and more concentrated upward.

The term “Bitcoin scarcity crisis” itself deserves careful handling. Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million BTC is a known constant. Scarcity has always been a design attribute rather than a newly emerged “crisis.” What has truly changed is that, along the path to this final state, the share of holders that are less sensitive to price (companies, ETFs, sovereign funds) is systematically rising. This means that an equal amount of buyer demand could drive more significant price movements.