Corporate Bitcoin Hoarding Goes Global—TradFi Plays Catch-Up With MicroStrategy’s $10B Bet

Wall Street’s late to the party—again. While retail traders got memecoin rug-pulled, blue-chip firms are quietly building Bitcoin reserves that’d make even Michael Saylor blush. Here’s how the land grab unfolded.

The Saylor Effect: MicroStrategy’s 200,000+ BTC stash wasn’t an outlier—it was a blueprint. Now, cash-flush corporations from Tokyo to Zurich are converting their treasuries into digital hard assets.

Balance Sheet Arms Race: Private ETFs? Too mainstream. The new flex is self-custodied BTC, with CFOs suddenly discovering ‘long-term hodl’ strategies after a decade of mocking crypto Bros.

Irony Alert: These are the same institutions that once called Bitcoin a ‘fraud’—now they’re scrambling for exposure while pretending it’s about ‘portfolio diversification.’ Sure, Jan.

When the suits start FOMO-buying, you know we’re either at the peak… or just getting started. Place your bets.

TradFi Money Flows Into Crypto Market With Bitcoin Buys

On May 15, Brazilian-listed fintech company Méliuz became the country’s first firm to include BTC in its treasury.

“Historic day! Our shareholders have approved, by a wide majority, the transformation of Méliuz into the first bitcoin Treasury Company listed in Brazil,” Méliuz’s chairman, Israel Salmen, posted on X.

The firm also acquired 274.52 BTC for $28.4 million, achieving a BTC yield of 600%. The average purchase price was $103,604. On March 6, Méliuz spent $4.1 million to buy 45.72 Bitcoin at $90,296 per coin. The firm now holds a total of 320.2 BTC, worth $33.3 million at current market prices.

In the Middle East, Al Abraaj Restaurants Group, a publicly listed firm in Bahrain, has followed suit. With the acquisition of 5 BTC, it became the first company in the region to adopt a Bitcoin reserve strategy. 

The firm announced in an official press release that it has partnered with US-based investment manager 10X Capital to become the ‘MicroStrategy of the Middle East.’ Additionally, it plans to raise more capital to expand its initial Bitcoin buy. The firm aims to increase the new KPI of Bitcoin per share.

“Our initiative towards becoming a Bitcoin Treasury Company reflects our forward-thinking approach and dedication to maximizing shareholder value. We believe that Bitcoin will play a pivotal role in the future of finance, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation in the Kingdom of Bahrain,”​ Abdulla Isa, Chairman of Al Abraaj’s Bitcoin Treasury Committee, stated.

Further cementing the trend, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, increased its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) investment in Q1 2025. According to a 13 F filing with the SEC, the firm owns 8.7 million shares of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, up from 8.2 million in Q4 2024.

Meanwhile, London-based venture capital firm Coinsilium Group Limited raised $1.6 million (£1.25 million) to develop its Bitcoin treasury subsidiary, Forza (Gibraltar) Limited.

“Coinsilium Group Limited (AQUIS:COIN, OTCQB:CINGF), the Web3 investor, advisor, and venture builder is pleased to announce that it has raised GBP 1.25 million gross via a broker led placing of 41,666,657 new ordinary shares of no par value (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 3 pence per share (the “Placing”). The Placing was oversubscribed,” the press release read.

In Asia, a Japanese energy management system development firm, Remixpoint, invested $3.4 million to increase its BTC holdings. The firm disclosed that it purchased 32.83 BTC on May 13. 

This latest MOVE brings its tidal holdings to 648.82 BTC. This incremental acquisition reflects a steady commitment to Bitcoin as a store of value. 

BeInCrypto also reported that a Chinese firm is discussing acquiring up to 8,000 Bitcoins from ‘substantial and influential’ holders. However, a binding agreement has not been finalized yet.

US Firms Accelerate Bitcoin Adoption

Notably, firms in the US are not lagging in the Bitcoin adoption trend. Cross-border e-commerce company DDC Enterprise announced a Bitcoin reserve strategy targeting 5,000 BTC within 36 months. 

Founder and CEO Norma Chu emphasized that the initiative is key to the company’s strategy to create long-term value.

“Bitcoin’s unique properties as a store of value and hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty align perfectly with our vision to diversify reserves and enhance shareholder returns,” Chu remarked. 

Previously, in late April, Cantor Fitzgerald, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex collaborated to launch a Bitcoin investment vehicle called 21 Capital. On May 13, the newly established firm made its first purchase and bought 4,812 Bitcoins worth $458.7 million.

Beyond Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies are also attracting TradFi interest. For instance, blockchain tech firm BTCS plans to allocate $57.8 million to Ethereum (ETH), opting for the second-largest cryptocurrency over Bitcoin. 

These developments signal a maturing market in which blockchain firms are attracting substantial capital to bridge the gap between TradFi and crypto ecosystems.