Editor's Note: On May 28th, GameStop announced the purchase of 4,710 Bitcoins, causing its stock price to plummet by nearly 11%. Prior to this, the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) had also announced a $25 billion All In Bitcoin investment. The Republican Vivek Ramaswamy-founded Strive announced a $750 million funding round to create a "Bitcoin Treasury Company," and further raised $750 million through Asset Entities acquisitions to continue stacking BTC. On the other side, SharpLink Gaming raised $425 million to establish an ETH Treasury. All signs indicate that the "BTC Fentanyl" is rapidly infiltrating the stock market. This article (penned on April 18th) will delve into the potential impact of this wave of "institutional hodling frenzy" on the traditional financial market.

Imagine this scenario: when your company is facing a crisis, all you need to do is issue more shares to buy Bitcoin, or simply announce that Bitcoin will be held as an asset reserve, allowing you to easily defeat pesky short sellers, transition from the brink of collapse back to the center of market attention. If this were true, would you do it?

As $MSTR once again becomes the buzzword in the investment circle, Bitcoin is rapidly taking over the balance sheets of global enterprises. In this new capital game revolving around Bitcoin, some are following the trend, some are clumsily imitating, and some are discovering new business opportunities, transforming into the orchestrators behind the scenes creating "price miracles."

MSTR's Journey to the World

By 2024, MSTR's stock price surged by 477%, ranking second among US tech companies with a market value of over $5 billion, second only to AppLovin. The Bitcoin investment also brought the company an unrealized gain of up to $13.14 billion, driving the market value to temporarily exceed $100 billion, making it a star company in the US stock market.

As of April 2025, the company holds a total of 528,185 BTC, with a holding cost of approximately $33.14 billion, an average purchase price of $66,385. Based on Bitcoin's current price of around $81,400, the total market value is about $43 billion, accounting for over 2.5% of the global circulation.

Related Reading: "The "Debt-Issuance-to-Buy-Bitcoin" Strategy Remains Unchanged, So Why Did MSTR's Premium Suddenly Soar?"

As early as August 2020, when the crypto market was at the tail end of a bear market, MicroStrategy made its first Bitcoin purchase of 21,454 BTC in the $10,000 price range, kicking off its "Bitcoin Treasury Reserve Strategy" and becoming the first publicly traded company to inject a large amount of corporate funds into Bitcoin.

Subsequently, the company continued to accumulate during the bear market, spanning from 2020 to 2022, and steadily increased its holdings in 2023. After Bitcoin entered a bull market from 2024 to 2025, MicroStrategy further accelerated its accumulation, forming a clear operational path of "buying the dip in a bear market and accelerating in a bull market." The frenzy in the stock price was like throwing a stone into a pond, creating ripples. Companies all began to ask themselves: If we can't outperform Bitcoin, why not just buy it?

According to data from Bitcointreasuries, as of April 16, 2025, a total of 178 entities collectively hold over 3.16 million BTC, with publicly listed companies holding approximately 665,636 BTC, and this number is rapidly growing. This "micro" trend has swept the globe, involving 26 U.S. listed companies, 22 Canadian listed companies, and 8 Chinese (including Hong Kong) listed companies, including some previously undervalued, less noticed edge companies.

Image Source: bitcointreasuries.net

Represented by Hongya Group Holding, a group of traditional enterprises originally on the edge are restructuring their business narratives through Bitcoin allocation.

It was originally a low-profile edge company mainly engaged in wholesale and retail of prepaid products (such as SIM cards and vouchers). In February 2025, the company spent $96,150 to purchase 1 Bitcoin for the first time, and following the news, the company's stock price surged by 93%.

After tasting the benefits, Hongya continued to accumulate for three consecutive days, becoming the first publicly listed company in Greater China to officially include Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

GameStop, the retailer that gained fame during the 2021 "retail investor battle," announced a $1.3 billion zero-coupon convertible bond issuance to purchase Bitcoin on March 27, 2025, causing its stock price to surge over 18% in pre-market trading due to the related rumors. Japan's Metaplanet also made significant moves; since emulating MicroStrategy's Bitcoin purchase in April 2024, its stock price has soared by about 4000%, with a 2025 target set at 10,000 Bitcoins.

In addition to high-profile companies like GameStop, Hongyun Holdings, and Metaplanet, more and more publicly traded companies worldwide, originally unrelated to the crypto field, are quietly replicating MicroStrategy's model. They are making a bold bet on Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a wager on the future.

For example, Eric Semler, the CEO of the US medical company Semler Scientific, bluntly stated that "not holding Bitcoin is irresponsible to shareholders." In India, the board of directors of Jerking company unanimously decided to heavily invest in Bitcoin. KULR Technology directly used 90% of the company's cash reserves to gradually purchase coins, while the Canadian cannabis company LEEF Brands issued a $5 million bond to support Bitcoin, and Hong Kong's Boyaa swapped $50 million worth of Ethereum for Bitcoin.

Related Reading: "Publicly Traded Companies Flocking to Buy BTC: Revealing the Top 15 Profit Leaders, Who Has Grown Nearly 30x?"

From healthcare to cannabis, from North America to Asia, companies from different industries are being swept up by the same trend, diving headfirst into a field they may have been completely unfamiliar with. Thus, Bitcoin is becoming the "new star" on the balance sheets of more and more companies.

The "Golden Finger" Behind the Price Miracle

When capital meets political leverage, many "price miracles" are always staged. This trend represented by MicroStrategy is far more than simple on the surface. Starting from the market frenzy sparked by the re-election of the "Cryptocurrency President" Trump, everything began to heat up rapidly.

With the Trump administration pushing forward the Bitcoin strategic reserve plan and the SEC repeatedly loosening crypto regulations, these policies acted as a tailwind, driving the Bitcoin price close to its historical high of nearly $110,000. When the crypto industry and politicians arbitrage each other, the underlying currents often remain unknown to many.

Amidst this global stock market undertow and the frenzy of the crypto market, UTXO Management and Sora Ventures seized the opportunity and transformed into the "market makers" of the capital market, successively propelling a series of "meme stocks" to the forefront of the wave.

Leverage Effect

If you have recently been following the Hong Kong or Japanese stock markets, you may be puzzled by the sudden skyrocketing of several peculiar companies.

An operator of budget hotels, a game developer relying on Texas Hold'em, and an old telco company selling data SIM cards, all of which seemingly have no standout business highlights, have seen their stock prices surge several times or even thousands of percentage points in a short period. These originally bottom-of-the-barrel "distressed stocks," what on earth have they taken to achieve this feat?

Let's first look at the most typical case, Metaplanet. This company originally known as Red Planet was an operator of budget hotels. In 2024, CEO Simon, a Harvard graduate and former senior executive at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, renamed the company Metaplanet after selling off most of the hotel business. This CEO concurrently serves as the Chairman of Red Planet Hotels and the head of a Thai real estate company.

In addition to its core BTC strategy, Metaplanet is redeveloping its remaining hotel into "The Bitcoin Hotel" and is set to open in the third quarter of 2025, aiming to provide a one-stop service to companies ranging from financial provision and operations to Bitcoin education.

Metaplanet Business Scope (holding BTC, BTC education, BTC-themed hotel), Image Source: Metaplanet

Through this series of capital operations, Metaplanet has become the "first publicly traded holding BTC company in Japan," accumulating approximately 3050 BTC in a short period and issuing a 2 billion yen bond in 2024 for continuous accumulation. Its stock price has also skyrocketed over 4000% from its long-term slump of below 50 yen.

In April 2024, Jason Fang, the founder of Sora Ventures, wrote on his personal Twitter account, Metaplanet is the "first MicroStrategy in Asia", and through partnerships with UTXO Management, Mark Yusko, among others, helped Metaplanet include Bitcoin in its balance sheet, becoming Japan's first publicly traded holding BTC company.

This is Jason Fang's first time bringing Sora Venture to the forefront as a Metaplanet board member. In fact, on the "Microstrategy Replication" path, Sora has been very aggressive.

A similar operation seemingly occurred in the same year with the Hong Kong-listed gaming company Boyaa Interactive.

Founded in 2004, Boyaa focuses on poker and other card games. Founder Zhang Wei, a graduate of Shenzhen University, saw the stock price rise from 5.35 Hong Kong dollars to 15.16 Hong Kong dollars fueled by Chinese gamers' enthusiasm. However, as the hype waned, the company quickly plummeted, lingering below 1 Hong Kong dollar for years. On November 14, 2023, Boyaa announced a $100 million investment in cryptocurrency, focusing on Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In November 2024, the company suddenly announced a high-profile move to convert 14,200 ETH on its balance sheet to 515 BTC, increasing its total holdings to 3,183 BTC, surpassing Japan's Metaplanet in one fell swoop, causing its stock price to surge 9x in a year. Subsequently, in December, Sora Venture revealed its establishment of a $150 million fund dedicated to driving Asian public companies to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy, with Boyaa Interactive as its first pilot.

Another notable detail is that in July 2024, Boyaa publicly announced an investment of $1 million in UTXO Management's Bitcoin Ecosystem Fund, hoping to increase Boyaa's exposure to the transformation through resources from BTC Inc. such as "Bitcoin Magazine".

It's not just Sora Ventures walking the "Replication Road." In the two cases mentioned above, we can see the shadow of another "good helper" — UTXO Management.

Behind the push for Metaplanet to adopt a Bitcoin strategy, UTXO Management also played a key role, with its partner Dylan LeClair serving as Metaplanet's Bitcoin Strategy Director, Tyler Evans as an Independent Director of Metaplanet, and UTXO being a major investor in Metaplanet.

And this year, the two institutions joined forces once again, carrying out another "price miracle" in the Hong Kong stock market.

In early 2025, Sora Ventures and UTXO Management joined forces to invest approximately 126 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire over 70% of the shares of Hong Asia Holdings, officially taking control.

Hong Asia Holdings was originally a company that sold data cards and operated in traditional distribution, with extremely low profits. It had long been relegated to the status of a "penny stock" on the Hong Kong stock market (with a stock price below 1 Hong Kong dollar). After the acquisition was completed, the company was renamed Moon Inc., underwent a thorough "encryption-oriented" transformation from the board to the management team, and quickly established a "Bitcoin-centric" financial strategy.

Image Source: http://1723.HK

However, as of the time of writing, the company only holds 28.88 BTC in its account. Hong Kong financial commentator Li Ming bluntly stated, "With such a small position, it doesn't even qualify as a probe." Nevertheless, after the company first announced the purchase of 1 BTC, the stock price quickly rose from 0.29 Hong Kong dollars to 0.38 Hong Kong dollars, an increase of about 31%. As of April 17, 2025, the stock closed at 4.84 Hong Kong dollars, down 32.5% from its 52-week high, but still up about 1669% from the beginning of the year at 0.29 Hong Kong dollars.

Companies on the brink of collapse are often low-cost, high-return transformation targets. Metaplanet, Hong Asia Holdings, these "junk shell companies" saw prolonged depressed stock prices before the Bitcoin strategy was implemented. Sora and UTXO are not interested in these companies' businesses; rather, they focus on their inexpensive shell resources and the potential for amplified capital.

The Hidden Figure Behind Trump's Pro-Crypto Policy

In the 2024 global stock market, Sora Ventures and UTXO Management, like two highly skilled chess players, made frequent moves.

In 2024, Sora Ventures, in collaboration with UTXO Management, launched the $2 million Sora TTP Fund, betting on the TTP ecosystem under the Ordinals protocol, becoming the world's first decentralized index fund based on Ordinals, attracting participants such as the founders of BTSE and Origin Protocol. With the help of UTXO and Bitcoin Magazine's promotion, the $PIPE token skyrocketed by 150% within a month.

Sora Ventures' story began in Hong Kong in 2017, where founder Jason Fang, with rich experience at the BTSE exchange, established this investment firm focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem. Initially, Sora mainly focused on early-stage Web3 investments, managing over $1 billion. By 2024, the company's ambition began to show: actively pushing for Asian listed companies to adopt Bitcoin as a core treasury strategy.

Left: Eric and Simon's photo, Right: Core members of Metaplanet; Image source: X, Metaplanet

Now, what's the story behind UTXO?

UTXO Management's story begins in Tennessee, USA, as the investment arm of BTC Inc. (publisher of Bitcoin Magazine and organizer of the Bitcoin Conference). They initially focused on allocating Bitcoin assets for high-net-worth clients, having invested in over 60 mining and early-stage project companies as early as 2013.

With the approval of a Bitcoin ETF in 2024 (BlackRock recommended a 5% allocation, signaling to traditional capital that Bitcoin is "allocatable"), UTXO immediately sensed the opportunity of institutional capital and began to transform. UTXO's hedge fund 210k Capital emerged as a star in this transformation, achieving a 164% annual return with heavy positions in Strategy and "Bitcoin Treasury Stocks" like Metaplanet, ranking in the top five of HFR.

Its Chief Investment Officer, Tyler Evans, proudly stated: "80% of our portfolio is concentrated in Bitcoin-related stocks, with Metaplanet and Strategy being the main sources of return." These companies have provided institutional investors (such as the Wisconsin State Teachers' Retirement Fund and the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund) with the most comfortable entry into Bitcoin through "Bitcoin Security Tokenization."

Meanwhile, The Smarter Web Company, invested in by UTXO Management, plans to IPO on the UK's Aquis Exchange, known as the "UK version of Metaplanet," as its Bitcoin treasury model penetrates the European market. This series of moves by UTXO all trace back to its well-resourced parent company, BTC Inc.

As early as the 2024 campaign period, Trump publicly endorsed the crypto industry for the first time as a presidential candidate at the Bitcoin 2024 conference hosted by BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey organized a high-profile fundraising dinner with tickets priced at $844,600 per person, raising $25 million in campaign funds.

In his speech, Trump praised BTC Inc., calling it "a pillar of the Bitcoin community." During the campaign, BTC Inc. continuously reported on Trump's crypto policy stance through Bitcoin Magazine, garnering significant support from the crypto industry voters.

As the organizer of Bitcoin Magazine and the world's largest Bitcoin conference, BTC Inc., leveraging its influence in the industry, further supported the government in forming more strategic directions around Bitcoin development during Trump's campaign.

Following a successful campaign, BTC Inc. continued to provide a platform for crypto policy through its hosted conferences. From December 9 to 10, 2024, the Abu Dhabi Bitcoin MENA Conference featured Eric Trump, Trump's son, as the keynote speaker, predicting Bitcoin to reach $1 million and emphasizing his father's role as the "most crypto-supportive president in history."

From support for Bitcoin policy during the campaign, to public appearances at various conferences, to the landing layout of mining and financial projects, the two parties maintain a close cooperation in the Bitcoin ecosystem. This long-term, complementary interaction has become a noteworthy phenomenon in the current crypto industry.

「The Rise of MicroStrategy in the Stock Market」

As Michael Saylor has mentioned, the stock market is also witnessing an increasing number of "microstrategy" companies. Upon closer examination of these "microstrategy" companies, it is evident that their underlying motivations are not the same. Not every company is deeply integrating Sora and UTXO like Metaplanet; some companies are more like "coin holders," optimizing their balance sheets by holding Bitcoin or acting out of market value management considerations.

Why Are Stock Market Companies Buying Bitcoin?

Among the cohort of stock market companies purchasing Bitcoin, GameStop may be a typical representative. The former offline gaming retail giant is attempting to prolong its existence through a "holding transformation," using Bitcoin hedge to alleviate inflationary pressures and improve unattractive financial data. It is more of a "want to buy" rather than a "have to buy" situation.

The announcement of buying Bitcoin through a $1.5 billion convertible bond and CEO Ryan Cohen's $10.7 million stock purchase both initially boosted the stock price, but it quickly receded. While the $1.5 billion investment is substantial, it pales in comparison to GameStop's over $100 million loss in the 2024 financial report, making it seem insignificant.

GameStop's series of actions appear more like an attempt to recreate the glory of the 2021 meme stock frenzy through the Bitcoin craze, leaning more towards capital market maneuvers rather than business transformation.

Cohen's stock purchase seems more like a short-term stimulus. Based on his history of selling the pet e-commerce Chewy for $3.2 billion, Ryan Cohen's style has always carried a strong e-commerce marketing flavor.

According to media reports, while GameStop's total assets amount to $5.875 billion, nearly 81% of which is in cash reserves, the operating cash flow is only $146 million, clearly indicating the difficulty the company faces in profiting from its core business. Allocating a quarter of its assets to Bitcoin actually highlights GameStop's reliance on speculative strategies and failure to address its core business.

Another company in a similar situation with a stagnant stock price and abundant cash is Semler Scientific. Chairman Eric Semler joined the board two years ago, calling himself the "board's radical." He described Semler at the time as a "money-making zombie company unappreciated by the market," with an asset structure very similar to MicroStrategy in 2020: high cash reserves, low growth, and low valuation.

Semler did not opt for mergers and acquisitions or drastic business reforms, but instead drove the company to incorporate Bitcoin into its treasury strategy, becoming the second publicly traded U.S. company to do so after MicroStrategy. This move triggered a reevaluation of its value in the market and also brought long-overdue attention to its previously neglected business.

However, not all companies blindly followed the "MicroStrategy-style" Bitcoin treasury operation trend. In October 2024, Microsoft seriously debated during a shareholder meeting whether to include Bitcoin on its balance sheet but ultimately the proposal was overwhelmingly voted down. The primary concern was centered around Bitcoin's high volatility potentially disrupting the company's financial stability. Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, Amy Hood, also clearly stated, "Our capital allocation is more inclined to focus on core growth areas such as AI and cloud computing, rather than getting involved in speculative assets."

Can Anyone Be Like MicroStrategy?

Comparing these companies, we can easily see that MicroStrategy deeply integrated Bitcoin into its financial structure for the long term, being All in. On the other hand, other companies, some are attempting to use Bitcoin for self-rescue (Kangya), some are using it as a financial hedge (Metaplanet), and some may just be seeking alpha (GameStop).

It would be incorrect to say that they are "poor students" imitating top students. A more accurate statement is: they all want to do something with Bitcoin, just in different directions.

Currently, MicroStrategy's holdings are 27,987 times that of Kangya Holdings, 125 times that of Metaplanet, 30 times that of GameStop, and a number of other small companies have very small holdings. The difference in holdings between MicroStrategy and these companies is quite significant, and small-scale holdings cannot truly create a hedging effect.

The more critical difference lies in the overwhelming financing capabilities. MicroStrategy is like having unlimited ammunition, with the ability to issue bonds and very low borrowing rates, resulting in a relatively low overall cost of Bitcoin when averaged out.

Since 2020, by fundraising through debt and stock issuance exceeding $10 billion, issuing an additional $1 billion in stock in 2024 to continue buying, raising a total of $7.69 billion in the first quarter of 2025, with $4.4 billion used to purchase Bitcoin, this ongoing financing capability has enabled MicroStrategy to continue buying the dip in Bitcoin price.

In contrast, Kangya Holdings, its Bitcoin purchasing funds only came from the acquisitions by Sora Ventures and UTXO Management (for a cost of 126 million RMB), with virtually zero subsequent financing capabilities. Although Metaplanet raised funds through the issuance of zero-coupon bonds, the total investment is only about $250 million, far below the scale of MicroStrategy. GameStop issued $1.5 billion in convertible bonds, but after the announcement, the stock price plummeted by 22.1%, indicating a clear lack of market confidence in its financing.

From a stock market perspective, the US stock market has strong liquidity, and Saylor's actions often quickly reflect in the stock price. In contrast, Hongya Holding is limited by the low liquidity of the Hong Kong stock market, where small-cap stocks are easily manipulated, and the trend is more influenced by retail investor sentiment. Metaplanet, on the other hand, is constrained by Japan's market ceiling, with relatively limited growth potential.

From a corporate equity standpoint, Metaplanet, Hongya Holding, and GameStop exhibit a highly diversified ownership structure, with a large number of small and retail investors as shareholders, rather than a single or a few dominant large shareholders. For example, approximately 40% of GameStop's shares are held by retail investors, and a single post on Reddit or Twitter can cause its stock price to jump by tens of percentage points, with emotions driving rapid movements.

For secondary market investors, perhaps they are more like a leveraged BTC concept stock.

Illustration: Metaplanet's shareholder count continues to soar

On the other hand, MicroStrategy is backed by stable large asset management companies like BlackRock and Vanguard, and its founder Saylor holds 20% of the company's shares, making it much more stable overall. One is like a cryptocurrency trading group, and the other is like a government bond fund—it's not about which one is better, but rather whether you want to chase a trend or establish a position.

In terms of market attention and significance, by 2024, MicroStrategy was included in the Nasdaq 100 Index, with institutional holdings reaching 60%. Defiance and T-REX subsequently launched leveraged ETFs for both long and short positions in MicroStrategy (such as MSTX, SMST, MSTU). Currently, MicroStrategy is held by 216 ETFs, with VanEck having the heaviest allocation, and its ETF aura is comparable to the "Big Seven" of the US stock market.

On the other hand, other "momentum players" like GameStop, Metaplanet, and Hongya Holding do not have exclusive ETF products, and may not even be widely held by mainstream ETFs. In this elite club, without the backing of a stock index like Nasdaq, it is challenging to receive the "halo effect" of the capital markets.

"Fentanyl Addiction": The Risk of Stock Market Systemic Collapse

As of April 7, 2025, due to Trump's announcement of tariff increases, the global market experienced severe volatility, with Bitcoin's price drop feeling like a cold wind blowing across the markets, causing the stock prices of Hong Kong 1723 (Hongya Holding), GameStop, Metaplanet, and MicroStrategy to all plummet simultaneously.

These companies' stock prices being highly correlated with the price of Bitcoin has exposed a glaring risk: they are like the same kind of tree planted on the same mountainside, inevitably falling together when a storm hits. This "copycat-style" Bitcoin strategy seems to have brought short-term prosperity, but it has also laid the groundwork for systemic collapse.

By betting their fate on a single Bitcoin asset, companies lack diversified support. Once the Bitcoin market sentiment shifts or regulations tighten, a chain reaction of broken funding, debt pressure, and market confidence collapse may occur one after another.

While MicroStrategy appears somewhat stable due to its scale and first-mover advantage, the high leverage financing behind its holding of over 440,000 BTC poses a significant risk of debt default. On the other hand, companies like HK1723, GameStop, and Metaplanet with smaller capitalization have nearly zero risk resilience. The essence of this strategy is to amplify speculation to the extreme but fails to build a moat around their core business.

Further reading: "How much selling pressure would MicroStrategy's forced BTC sale bring to the market?"

The deeper issue lies in the fact that most of these companies are not doing "real things." HKY Holdings' SIM card business growth is hopeless, GameStop's physical retail is on the decline, Metaplanet's Web3 transformation is all talk and no substance, and even MicroStrategy's software business has long been marginalized.

They choose Bitcoin not because it synergizes with their core business but because they see it as a "life-saving straw" in the capital markets. If companies in the stock market abandon real industries to chase speculative trends like BTC, one can hardly imagine how the entire economic ecosystem might become imbalanced.

Imagine if giants like Microsoft and Apple also give up technological innovation to hoard Bitcoin, where would the foundation of the global industry lie? Industries are the backbone of the economy; they create value, address needs, rather than relying solely on financial leverage to build bubbles.

In conclusion, now, slowed down by tariff impact, as the tide recedes, companies without solid business support are destined to be exposed. The capital markets should reward companies that are grounded and create long-term value, rather than blindly chasing speculative stories. After all, a healthy forest requires a diverse range of tree species, not just a single speculative tree.

Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:

Telegram Subscription Group: https://t.me/theblockbeats

Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App

Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia