Public companies bought 110,000 bitcoin in Q2 as ETF outflows persist

Publicly listed companies accumulated 110,000 bitcoin in the second quarter, the largest quarterly corporate buying spree on record, even as spot ETF outflows hit nearly $5 billion.

Public companies bought 110,000 bitcoin in Q2 2026, the largest quarterly corporate accumulation on record, even as spot ETF outflows persisted, data from BitcoinTreasuries.net shows.

"Corporate treasuries are treating bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, not a trading position," said Mark Zalan, CEO of GoMining, the world's largest tokenized retail mining platform. "The ETF outflows tell you about short-term allocators rotating into AI trades. The corporate buying tells you about long-duration conviction."

The 110,000 BTC purchased by public companies in Q2 dwarfs the roughly 27,000 BTC mined during the same period, creating a significant supply-demand imbalance. Over 130 public companies now hold bitcoin on their balance sheets, with total corporate holdings reaching about 1.26 million BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries. Spot bitcoin ETFs, by contrast, hold about 641,400 BTC in net assets, or roughly $73 billion.

The divergence between corporate buying and ETF outflows suggests a structural shift in how institutions gain bitcoin exposure — moving from paper proxies toward direct custody — even as macro headwinds from elevated Treasury yields and cautious Fed messaging keep risk appetite subdued. Bitcoin traded at $63,234 as of 14:30 UTC on July 9, down about 50% from its October 2025 all-time high of $126,173.

Corporate Treasuries Lead the Charge

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, remains the largest corporate holder, though the firm sold a portion of its bitcoin holdings for the first time in Q2 to fund dividend payments, according to QCP Capital. Other public companies across sectors — from Japanese firm Metaplanet, which plans to quintuple its reserves to 10,000 BTC, to newly disclosed corporate buyers — have stepped in to fill the gap.

The buying accelerated even as broader liquidity conditions tightened. Redemption requests in the $2 trillion private credit market surged to $15.6 billion in Q2, breaching standard 5% quarterly caps at most business development companies, Fitch data shows. The simultaneous rush for liquidity in private credit and bitcoin ETFs — which saw nearly $5 billion in outflows — points to broader caution around risk appetite, analysts said.

Supply Dynamics Shift

Bitcoin's exchange supply has fallen to 6.6% of circulating supply, the lowest since 2017, according to Santiment. But analysts caution the metric no longer carries the same bullish signal it once did, as large amounts of bitcoin have shifted into institutional custody, ETF trust structures and DeFi protocols rather than long-term cold storage.

"Assets are leaving trading venues for two destinations: regulated custody on one side, productive onchain positions on the other," said Ben Nadareski, CEO of Solstice.

Still, the accumulation by corporate treasuries is real. Combined with nearly 7 million bitcoin in dormant wallets and holdings by ETFs, governments and protocols, about 56.5% of the circulating supply of roughly 20.05 million bitcoin sits outside active trade, per BitcoinTreasuries data.

The next catalyst for bitcoin could come from regulatory clarity. A new version of the crypto Clarity Act may be introduced as soon as next week, sources told CoinDesk. Meanwhile, the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile — announced earlier this year — remain in development, with no detailed expansion plans yet disclosed.

Bitcoin's next key support sits at $63,000, with resistance at $70,000, a level it last held in early February before breaking lower. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index remains in Extreme Fear territory at mid-teens, suggesting sentiment has room to recover if macro conditions improve.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.