Beyond Tech: These Unexpected Industries Are Now Eyeing Bitcoin Treasury Strategies | 2025 Outlook

Forget Silicon Valley—Bitcoin's corporate adoption story just got mainstream.

Manufacturing giants, healthcare conglomerates, and even agricultural firms are quietly building BTC reserves. They're not just hedging against inflation; they're rewriting corporate treasury playbooks entirely.

Why the shift? Traditional assets yield diminishing returns while Bitcoin's scarcity model offers something rare: actual upside potential. These aren't speculative bets—they're strategic allocations from CFOs who've done the math.

One mining executive put it bluntly: 'Our Bitcoin treasury outperformed our entire bond portfolio last quarter. Wall Street analysts still don't get it—they're too busy charging 2% management fees on underperforming funds.'

The movement accelerates as regulatory clarity emerges and custody solutions mature. This isn't fringe finance anymore; it's the new corporate standard.

Watch legacy institutions scramble to catch up while these pioneers bank gains. Sometimes the best investment strategy involves ignoring the supposed experts.

The expansion of Bitcoin treasury interest

Bitcoin is now being actively discussed in boardrooms of companies with slow-growing revenues, large international shareholder bases, and underutilized cash sitting on balance sheets.

For these firms, Bitcoin represents a way to reframe capital allocation: not just about yield, but about resilience. If you’re a publicly traded company with a global footprint and a stagnant stock price, a Bitcoin treasury strategy might be one of the few bold moves left to consider.

Much of this is made possible by progress on the infrastructure side. Custody is no longer a technical science experiment. Major accounting firms now advise on Bitcoin treatment. Policy clarity, particularly in jurisdictions like the U.S., Japan, and parts of Europe, has turned what was once a regulatory minefield into a manageable risk category.

As a result, Bitcoin exposure is finally becoming genuinely viable — not just for crypto-native or tech firms, but for any company with a balance sheet and strategic foresight.

Macroeconomic headwinds are accelerating the shift. Inflation is no longer just a developing-world problem, and even traditionally stable currencies are showing signs of stress. In this environment, the appeal of a scarce, non-sovereign asset like Bitcoin becomes less ideological and more strategic.

For companies operating across volatile economies, Bitcoin offers an escape hatch from capital erosion. It can serve as a counterweight against currency devaluation, a tool for managing foreign exchange (FX) exposure, and even a reserve asset to build trust with international investors.

Manufacturers in Latin America or Southeast Asia aren’t betting on Bitcoin to deliver 10x returns. They’re trying to ensure that next quarter’s input costs don’t spiral out of control. Bitcoin, in that context, isn’t speculation. It’s insulation.

We’re already seeing early signs of this play out. Brazil-based Méliuz has emerged as Latin America’s most aggressive corporate holder of Bitcoin, adding hundreds of BTC to its balance sheet in 2024 as part of a long-term treasury strategy. Mercado Libre, Latin America’s e-commerce leader, also holds Bitcoin and ethereum (ETH) as part of its reserve structure. In Southeast Asia, companies like Singapore’s Genius Group are incorporating Bitcoin to preserve capital in a macro climate where traditional hedging tools are increasingly unreliable.

Which companies are likely next?

Media companies with cash-rich operations and IP-heavy portfolios are quietly weighing Bitcoin exposure. They don’t need to chase returns in risky growth projects. They need assets that hold value. Sony, with its vast entertainment empire and strong cash flows, hasn’t made a MOVE yet, but it sits in a market where companies in adjacent sectors are already stepping in.

Nexon — a major Japanese game developer — allocated $100 million to Bitcoin back in 2021. That wasn’t a marketing stunt. It was a deliberate capital decision, made in a market where monetary uncertainty was real and institutional access to BTC was limited. The reputational and financial upside of being early in this cycle is hard to ignore.

Cross-border operators, too, are natural fits. In politically unstable regions or multi-currency markets, Bitcoin offers neutrality. It’s not tied to Washington or Brussels. For a logistics network spread across Africa or Asia, that neutrality isn’t ideological; it’s operational.

And in regions without access to Bitcoin ETFs, such as Japan, South Korea, or Southeast Asia, companies are going direct. Metaplanet’s accumulation strategy in Japan is a prime example. The absence of investment infrastructure isn’t slowing them down. It’s speeding them up.

Why now? 

With sovereign debt ballooning and fiat systems under stress, idle cash starts to look irresponsible. Bitcoin, for all its volatility, has a clear long-term thesis: digitally scarce, censorship-resistant value. That message is resonating, especially with younger shareholders and global investors.

Some companies are feeling heat from their own investors. Metaplanet and smaller firms like DeFi Technologies have seen their valuations spike alongside their Bitcoin holdings. Others are starting to wonder: what are we leaving on the table?

Done right, Bitcoin exposure doesn’t scream recklessness. It signals agility. Paired with smart capital strategy and on-chain yield tools, it says: we’re not here to watch from the sidelines.

Bitcoin is moving from curiosity to a category. What started as a high-conviction play by a few tech CEOs is now being modeled across sectors. It’s not about hype. It’s not about headlines. It’s about capital strategy in a new era of monetary uncertainty.

Spencer Yang is a general partner at BSF Capital, a fund purpose-built to identify, invest in, and help create the next generation of CAPs.