When companies stop buying BTC: only Strategy remains the sole leader

Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

In the past month, the Bitcoin market has exhibited a highly unusual phenomenon.

Compared to the crypto treasury boom a few months ago, BTC has now emerged from a state of collective buying.

Buyers are basically left with only Strategy.

1. Only Strategy is still buying

According to analysis from CryptoQuant, the demand for Bitcoin treasuries is currently entirely driven by Strategy. In the past 30 days, Strategy has purchased 45,000 Bitcoins, while other companies combined have only bought about 1,000, a 99% decrease from before, reducing their share of total purchases to 2%, indicating that new demand has almost completely vanished. Currently, Strategy holds about 76% of the Bitcoin treasury share, indicating a high concentration in the industry with a lack of broad corporate demand.

Strategy bought BTC four times in March, with the most recent purchase on March 23.

Currently holding 762,099 BTC, maintaining the top position, accounting for 3.629% of the total 21 million.

Furthermore, seemingly in order to continue increasing its BTC holdings, Strategy announced a new $21 billion STRC equity issuance plan and a new $21 billion MSTR equity issuance plan on March 23. The total fundraising scale reaches a staggering $42 billion.

The revised ATM equity plan allows Strategy to gradually sell more shares to the public market, rather than raising less capital from external investors through convertible bonds as before. Strategy’s preferred shares, such as STRC and STRK, pay dividends to investors monthly while enabling Strategy to increase its Bitcoin holdings without issuing additional MSTR common stock.

Corporate buying of BTC has evolved from multiple companies purchasing together to almost exclusively Strategy buying, with corporate demand for BTC treasuries nearly disappearing instantly.

Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, pointed out at the beginning of the year: “Most newly entered corporate Bitcoin buyers only made one or two purchases before stopping trading, failing to provide ongoing price support.” Compared to the expansion phase of 2023-2024, the year-on-year demand growth for BTC has significantly slowed. Currently, this metric is below the historical trend line, indicating that capital is contracting rather than the usual adoption wave that drives bull markets.

2. Why aren’t other companies buying?

1. Decreased Risk Appetite

The expectation of continued interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve is uncertain, and with current high interest rates, the cost of capital is elevated, with stable returns available through U.S. Treasuries. Therefore, allocating to crypto assets has become a non-preferred option.

In addition, with the global economic downturn and frequent geopolitical conflicts, most companies are likely to adopt conservative financial strategies in this context.

2. Crypto Market Turns Bearish

In 2025, a large number of cryptocurrency treasury companies emerged, providing Wall Street investors with another way to invest in cryptocurrencies. As Bitcoin continued to rise and peaked in October, the stock prices of many companies also soared. However, the subsequent overall decline in the crypto market led to a hit in these companies’ valuations.

Altan Tutar, co-founder and CEO of MoreMarkets, made a pessimistic prediction about crypto treasury companies last year: “Most Bitcoin treasury companies will disappear like other DATs.”

After October last year, the crypto market began a downward trend, with new demand in the crypto market slowing down, even showing signs of “demand exhaustion.” For most companies, crypto treasury reserves are no longer a good choice, as volatility and downward trends directly undermine most companies’ buying confidence.

Previously, many companies hoarded various cryptocurrencies, as this could create a positive cycle. After issuing stock, they would buy a certain coin; holding that coin would attract more market attention, thereby boosting stock prices; they would continue to buy after financing…

This left-foot-on-right-foot take-off model requires the market to remain in a bull phase, but when the crypto market declines significantly, this model fails. A downturn leads to a reduction in companies’ book earnings, undermining investor confidence, putting pressure on stock prices, and affecting companies’ financing abilities, ultimately leaving them with no spare cash to buy…

For instance, at the end of February, the Ethereum treasury FG Nexus again reduced its holdings by 7,550 ETH, worth approximately $14.06 million. The reason for the reduction was losses: the company had purchased 50,600 ETH during the DAT company boom in August-September 2025, at an average price of approximately $3,940, totaling $200 million. Now, FGNexus has incurred a cumulative loss of $86.98 million from its ETH investment.

As BTC prices continue to fluctuate downwards, many crypto treasury companies will stop buying cryptocurrencies and shift towards a preference for more conservative cash and low-risk asset management.

Companies crowded into the market due to the bull market’s arrival, only to scatter in a rush when the bear market came. Stable buyers have turned into cyclical participants.

3. Why is Strategy still a seasoned player?

When most companies choose to exit, Strategy is a clear exception.

Firstly, for most companies, BTC and other cryptocurrencies are part of asset allocation, but for Strategy, BTC is the source of the company’s valuation logic, a core asset, and the foundation of the company’s narrative—Strategy has consistently played the role of BTC bull in both bull and bear markets.

Secondly, for Strategy, BTC has become a belief. Michael Saylor positions Bitcoin as “Digital Capital,” calling it the ultimate reserve asset of the 21st century. On March 22, Saylor stated: “The orange march continues.” Despite a market crash over the weekend that resulted in a 10% loss on the company’s Bitcoin investment, the company still increased its Bitcoin holdings.

Finally, Strategy has become deeply bound to BTC. Investors buying Strategy’s stock are essentially buying BTC exposure. Strategy has transformed itself into an ETF + leveraged structured product. Therefore, when the market is not favorable, Strategy needs to continue to accumulate.

In summary, even though the overall crypto market is not doing well, driven by long-term belief, counter-cyclical accumulation, and a continuous reinforcement of BTC exposure, Strategy continues to buy BTC even in a downward market.

Bernstein analysts believe: “Strategy plays the role of the ‘last safe haven bank for Bitcoin,’ while Bitcoin ETFs are attracting more resilient (and less speculative) sources of funding. Bitcoin’s robust capital foundation is continuously growing.”

4. The impact of Strategy’s “lone bloom”

In the short term, Strategy’s continued buying will have a positive effect on BTC prices. When other companies stop buying, Strategy’s stable purchases will alleviate market selling pressure, preventing a cliff-like drop in BTC prices. However, this support is also contingent on Strategy: factors like underperforming financing and slowing accumulation will weaken Strategy’s ability to increase its holdings, which could further lead to a downturn in BTC prices.

In the long term, BTC becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a single company is detrimental to the market’s risk resilience. Should Strategy adjust its strategy, it will further impact confidence in the crypto market.

Strategy is no longer just a participant but a key variable affecting the stability of the crypto market.