Bitwise: Corporate Bitcoin (BTC) Buying Slumped Over 80% in Q3

Corporate Buying Down Over 80% in Q3

Corporate accumulation of Bitcoin (BTC) slowed sharply in the third quarter, with corporate Bitcoin buying down more than 80% from the previous quarter, according to Bitwise's October market report. Strategy, the largest corporate holder, added a net 1,666 BTC between July and September, its filings show, down from 83,901 BTC in the second quarter. Every other listed company combined added a net 5,617 BTC, against 45,725 BTC in the quarter before. The Bitcoin (BTC) price sits near $82,142 at publication time, essentially flat over the past 24 hours, so the report lands while the market consolidates between well-defined technical levels.

Our composite Bitcoin technical analysis frames the immediate range: support at $81,356 scored 90 out of 100 from the indicators stacked there, resistance at $84,404 scored 89, and spot trades at $82,142 between them. Positioning gives no sign of stress, with perp funding at 0.0056% and open interest near $15.9 billion, so the dip in corporate demand has not been met by leveraged unwinding. The Fear and Greed Index reads 55, mildly greedy. A break below $81,356 would put the next support band in play and sharpen the question of when corporate buyers return; a sustained move through $84,404 would suggest the market can absorb the missing bid.

The mechanism behind the stall dates to the 2025 reserve boom. Listed companies raised capital by issuing shares at a premium to the value of their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, then recycled the proceeds into more coins, lifting exposure per share. That funding loop worked only while the premium held. As premiums narrowed, and in some cases slipped below the net asset value of the coins on balance sheets, new issuance lost its appeal and capped further buying. Bitwise research head Ryan Rasmussen said the deceleration was unmistakable in the filing data, and he expects corporate purchase activity could reaccelerate as early as this year, or progressively through late 2026 and 2027, if the price strengthens. Jag Kooner, head of derivatives at Bitfinex, attaches a condition: a revival depends on both the price path and whether financing terms for strategic Bitcoin reserve companies improve. The report's base case is not a repeat of 2025, when capital chased reserve companies of every size regardless of their structure.

Twelve Reserve Firms Sold Out

The retreat extends past slower buying. Bitwise's October report records a smaller population of Bitcoin (BTC) reserve companies in the third quarter, driven mainly by smaller firms abandoning the strategy altogether. Rasmussen said about 12 companies that entered during the 2025 boom have since sold their entire coin holdings, with proceeds used mostly to repay debt or return cash to shareholders. Once the share premium disappeared, these firms could no longer raise equity on acceptable terms, and exiting beat accumulating.

The screening standard for survivors has changed. Kooner noted that after watching premiums compress and some companies liquidate coins into weakness, investors now weigh financing costs, balance-sheet discipline and Bitcoin held per share, rather than the raw accumulation counts and HODL framing that attracted capital in 2025. If corporate bids do restart, he expects capital to reach larger incumbents with liquid shares and a documented financing record first, putting late entrants at a disadvantage. Rasmussen added that big buyers outside Strategy mostly purchase with cash flow from existing operations, a smaller demand source but a sturdier one. A new wave of reserve-company listings, in Kooner's view, waits until a sustained rally re-widens share premiums, which by then would leave the market at a later stage of the cycle.

Offsetting demand still exists. Rasmussen pointed to $6.4 billion in net inflows for US spot ETF products in the third quarter as evidence that institutions can still fund the market through the wrapper. Kooner cautioned that part of that flow likely reflects basis trades that can unwind quickly, so ETF inflows are not automatically durable buying. SoSoValue data shows US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted roughly $229 million in net outflows last week, a second straight week of withdrawals. Our whale-wallet tracking, for its part, shows whale wallets added 88,987 BTC over the past month to reach a six-month high, while daily fund-flow data most recently recorded $30.02 million in daily fund inflows. If corporate reserves stop supplying price-insensitive demand, Kooner argues, the market leans harder on institutional allocators, whose positioning shifts with the macro backdrop. The next round of corporate accumulation, on the field both analysts draw, belongs to the large, well-financed incumbents; the small 2025 cohort has largely already left it.