Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet: Why Companies Are Doing This and What the Risks Are

More and more companies are putting bitcoin on their balance sheets. According to figures previously cited by Crypto Insiders, the number of companies with bitcoin on their balance sheets grew from 41 to about 196 since the beginning of 2024. The reasons vary: preserving corporate assets or fully pivoting the business strategy around bitcoin.

In short:

• Companies use bitcoin as a reserve, receive the currency from their activities, or make building a stockpile their main strategy.

• New shares or loans can finance additional purchases but can also dilute the interests of existing shareholders.

• Investors face not only bitcoin risk but also risks related to interest expenses, dividend obligations, and a declining valuation of the company.

Why Are Companies Buying Bitcoin?

A balance sheet shows what a company owns. Money that is not immediately needed for salaries, bills, or investments can remain in cash or be partially converted into other assets.

Some boards choose bitcoin because they believe that the scarcity of a maximum of 21 million coins better protects against currency devaluation in the long term than regular currencies. This is not a certainty: bitcoin can drop sharply.

Not every company follows the same model. Fidelity distinguishes between miners who earn bitcoin through their work, ordinary companies that invest part of their cash in the currency, and companies that make accumulating bitcoin their main goal.

Strategy and Strive belong to the latter group. In its annual report for 2025, Strategy states that it intends to hold bitcoin indefinitely. The stock thus provides investors with indirect exposure to bitcoin through the regular stock market.

Through shares and loans, Strategy can raise much more capital than with just its software profits. Strive applies a similar strategy.

Stockpiles Worth Billions

Strategy owned 848,000 bitcoin at its last update, as reported by Crypto Insiders on October 5. Strive reported a stockpile of 32,773 bitcoin after a new purchase of 3,311 coins on October 13.

With a bitcoin price of about $83,650 on October 14, Strategy's stockpile represented approximately $70.9 billion. Strive's was worth about $2.7 billion. These amounts continuously fluctuate with the price.

This financing model can be advantageous when the company sells new shares at a high valuation and uses the proceeds to buy relatively large amounts of bitcoin.

Strive purchased 3,311 bitcoin between October 5 and 9, according to an official stock exchange announcement. The bitcoin stock increased by over 11 percent, while the effective number of ordinary shares rose by over 9 percent. Thus, the amount of bitcoin per share slightly increased.

This result is not guaranteed. Strategy sold about 58.5 million ordinary shares in the first half of 2026, according to the half-year figures. New issuances make each existing share a smaller piece of the company unless the bitcoin stock grows faster.

Shareholders Face Additional Risks

The recent purchases by Strategy and Strive show that both companies continue to invest in this model. However, such a share does not move exactly in line with bitcoin. The stock price can be higher or lower than the value of the underlying coins.

There are also financing obligations to consider. Interest expenses and dividend obligations can continue to weigh on the financial position when bitcoin declines.

For instance, Strategy sold a total of 3,588 bitcoin for about $216 million at the end of June and early July, according to an official stock exchange announcement. The proceeds were used for distributions on preferred shares and to replenish the dollar reserve for that purpose.

Bitcoin on the balance sheet offers companies opportunities but also brings risks. For shareholders, it is particularly important whether the bitcoin stock per share grows, without financing costs and dilution negating the benefits.

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