Public Companies Bought More Bitcoin in Q1 2026 Than Any Quarter on Record
- Public companies bought over 50,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, a new record, according to a new Bitwise report.
- The crypto market shed nearly $1 trillion in Q1 as BTC dropped 22% while Ethereum lost nearly 30%.
The first quarter of 2026 was a mixed bag for the crypto industry, a new report has revealed. While public companies bought more Bitcoin than ever before, most cryptos lost over 20% of their value in a bear market that started in February.
The Bitwise Crypto Market Review for Q1 2026 revealed that publicly listed companies added 50,351 BTC to their holdings, a 4.59% rise quarter-on-quarter to bring their total holdings to 1.15 million coins, worth $77 billion. These companies now hold 5.47% of the 21 million total BTC supply. Collectively, 187 public companies now hold BTC on their balance sheets.
Data courtesy of Bitwise.
While the figures are impressive, they are skewed by Strategy, which went on another buying spree in Q1. The software company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, purchased 89,000 BTC in the first three months, taking its total to 762,099.
Since then, Strategy has added even more Bitcoin. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, it now holds 818,334 BTC, and its buying was so large that by the end of January it accounted for 97.5% of all new net BTC purchases by public companies.
Metaplanet, which has earned the moniker ‘Japanese MicroStrategy’ for its bullish Bitcoin buys, purchased just over 5,000 BTC, while Strive added 13,600 BTC, both from open market buys and its acquisition of Semler Scientific, a medtech firm that also doubled as a Bitcoin treasury.
Metaplanet currently sits third with 40,000 BTC, with Twenty One Capital ranking second with 43,500 coins. MARA Holdings is still in the top five despite selling off 15,000 BTC in March to raise $1.1 billion. Before the selloff, it held over 53,000 tokens.
Besides Bitcoin, public companies have also been accumulating Ethereum. In Q1, they collectively bought 626,000 Ether, bringing the total holdings to 6.7 million ETH, worth $14 billion.
Crypto Market Loses $1 Trillion in Q1
While the holdings went up, the prices came crashing down, Bitwise notes. In Q1, the market wiped out around $1 trillion in value, with major-cap cryptos leading the crash. This dip was especially notable as most other assets made massive gains in Q1 due to the conflict in Iran. Gold shot up 8%, while US REITs gained 5%. Commodities were the biggest gainers at 30%.
The Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, which tracks 10 of the most popular cryptos, dipped 24.5%. Individually, Bitcoin was the best performer, despite dipping 22%. Cardano was down 27%, while Ethereum dripped 30%. The biggest loser was Sui at 37%.
Data courtesy of Bitwise
Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer at Bitwise, commented:
Stablecoin Volume Skyrockets
While most metrics were bleak, stablecoins stood out as the sector’s key growth avenue. Stablecoin transactions doubled from the previous quarter to hit 23 trillion, with Circle’s USDC taking a surprising dominant lead over Tether’s USDT. Tether, however, still dominates on the market cap charts at more than twice that of USDC.
Data courtesy of Bitwise.
One metric the industry has observed keenly is stablecoin volume vs. Visa volume. Stablecoins first flipped Visa in 2024, and last year, processed more than twice the volume. This trend continued in Q1.
Despite some of the data pointing toward a bleak short-term future, Hougan says it’s “exactly what it feels like toward the end of bear markets.” He added:
The post Public Companies Bought More Bitcoin in Q1 2026 Than Any Quarter on Record appeared first on ETHNews.
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