Publicly listed companies spent much of the past two years raising capital to buy BTC while positioning their shares as leveraged alternatives to holding Bitcoin directly. Many issued convertible notes or additional equity to fund purchases, building a model that depended on sustained investor appetite for Bitcoin exposure through a corporate wrapper.

For a time, that model appeared to work. Shares in several Bitcoin treasury companies traded well above the value of the BTC held on their balance sheets, and some firms recorded substantial growth within months. The premium to net asset value let some companies issue shares at a markup, use the proceeds to buy more BTC, and repeat the cycle. That phase has now shifted, as a number of companies have begun selling, pausing purchases, or reconsidering how their treasury strategies create value beyond BTC exposure. The approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 gave investors a more direct way to hold BTC without corporate overhead, reducing one of the key rationales for treasury vehicles.

Which Companies Are Selling?

Strategy remains central to the corporate Bitcoin treasury story. The company is still the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin and is widely viewed as the pioneer of the public-company BTC accumulation model. It began buying BTC roughly six years ago and accelerated the pace and scale of its purchases after the US presidential elections in late 2024.

For months, the market became accustomed to Strategy announcing new multi-million-dollar, and at times billion-dollar, Bitcoin purchases almost every Monday. That pattern changed after a small sale in the second quarter and a much larger sale in early July involving more than 3,500 BTC. The company has not announced any new Bitcoin acquisitions for several weeks and has instead focused on rebuilding its US dollar reserve. It also has not sold BTC in the past couple of weeks.

Analysts have said the first sale altered how investors view corporate Bitcoin accumulation, even though Strategy has not, at least for now, abandoned Bitcoin as part of its balance sheet strategy. The company carries significant debt from years of convertible-note issuance, and managing those obligations alongside its BTC position has become a closer focus for investors.

Satsuma Technologies has taken a more decisive step away from the model. The UK-listed Bitcoin treasury company proposed selling all of its remaining BTC, returning most of the proceeds to shareholders, delisting from the London Stock Exchange, and effectively dismantling the treasury vehicle. The firm had already sold 579 BTC in December last year, raising approximately $50 million to address convertible loan obligations. Shareholders have now approved plans to dispose of the remaining 668 BTC, according to a regulatory notice:

Recent reports have also indicated that Bitcoin miners sold a record 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of the year, adding to broader selling pressure from industry participants. Miner selling typically reflects operational costs and post-halving economics, and the scale of first-quarter sales added another source of BTC supply to the market alongside treasury-company sales.

Separately, Jack Mallers stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital earlier this week to focus on Strike. His departure does not necessarily mean Twenty One Capital will sell its BTC holdings, but the company had originally promoted itself as a passive Bitcoin holder. Mallers said there were too many differences between himself and the company's Board of Directors, pointing to a significant restructuring at another major Bitcoin treasury vehicle. His X post is available here: https://x.com/jackmallers/status/2079543739815497742

The move underscores how some treasury-focused companies are being pushed to rethink how they generate value beyond simple exposure to BTC.

Which Companies Could Be Next?

Metaplanet, often described as Asia's version of Strategy, joined the corporate Bitcoin treasury trend a couple of years ago and made several major BTC acquisitions. Its stock benefited sharply as the company's business model shifted toward Bitcoin accumulation. However, the late 2025 market crash and the following bear cycle weighed heavily on the shares, which at one point fell by nearly 90%.

Metaplanet paused Bitcoin purchases for several months before returning to the market with a 2,823 BTC acquisition in early July. The company has remained quiet since then, but there is currently no indication that its strategy has changed or that it may soon need to sell part of its crypto holdings.

The most vulnerable treasury companies may be smaller firms trading below net asset value, carrying costly debt, lacking meaningful operating revenue, or facing shareholder pressure to unlock the value of their crypto reserves. When shares trade at a discount to the BTC they represent, shareholders may push for liquidation or restructuring rather than continued accumulation. Nakamoto Inc. is one such example. The company already sold about 5% of its BTC position in March and sold another 600 BTC in June.

The recent change in behavior does not mean the corporate Bitcoin treasury model is over. It does, however, mark the end of a period in which treasury announcements were almost always associated with new purchases. The current environment is more uncertain, and the companies best positioned to continue may be those with operating revenue and better-managed liabilities. Weaker firms may be forced to sell assets and restructure. Upcoming debt maturities across the sector and the pace of any further BTC price declines are among the factors likely to determine which companies can sustain their positions and which may be next to sell.