In the first three months of 2025, companies around the world added almost 91.8 thousand (more than $7.7 billion at the rate on April 2) bitcoin coins to their corporate accounts. However, such colossal demand from organizations did not have a positive effect on the price of the main cryptocurrency, which has lost about 10% since the beginning of January. The analytical company CryptoQuant suggested that the reason for the fall with such demand was the sale of bitcoin by long-term investors and the outflow of capital from BTC-based exchange-traded funds. This is reported by RBC Crypto.
Software provider and the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, Strategy, owned by Michael Saylor, added more than 81.7 thousand BTC to its balance. Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin USDT, added 8.9 thousand BTC. Japanese investment company Metaplanet – 2.3 thousand BTC, healthcare technology organization Semler Scientific – 1.1 thousand BTC, crypto company Blockchain – 605 BTC. In the first quarter of 2025, these companies collectively added 91.8 thousand BTC to their balances, or $7.7 billion.
However, high demand could not prevent the price of bitcoin from losing about 10% since the beginning of January. As of April 2, 17:00 Moscow time, bitcoin quotes are at about $85.8 thousand, according to Binance.
CryptoQuant specializes in analyzing on-chain data from the Bitcoin blockchain and other cryptocurrencies. So-called on-chain analytics is a type of research into information obtained from public blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchain technology is an open ledger of information with the entire history of transactions, allowing any competent person from anywhere in the world to view these transactions at any time and draw their own conclusions. CryptoQuant is one of the flagship analytics companies in the field of on-chain data analysis, along with Glassnode and Santiment. Based on their own metrics, the companies try to identify behavioral and price patterns and use them for forecasting.
One of the reasons for the fall in the price of bitcoin in the first quarter was the sale of coins by long-term holders. According to CryptoQuant estimates, blockchain data indicated a reduction in the balances of this group of investors by 178 thousand BTC (about $15 billion) in the first quarter. This is what leveled out corporate purchases, creating additional pressure on the price.
Another major reason for the Bitcoin price decline, experts said, was the $4.8 billion in outflows from Bitcoin ETFs since the beginning of the year, which increased the pressure on BTC.
Long-term Bitcoin investors are blockchain addresses that have held Bitcoin for more than 155 days. This category of investors is considered the most resilient to market stress. It is generally accepted that they bought Bitcoin at prices significantly lower than the current one, and sales on their part may indicate a change in trend.
Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide investors with legal access to the cryptocurrency through the NASDAQ and NYSE exchanges in the form of shares. The issuance of new shares requires the funds to actually deliver (purchase) Bitcoin. Demand from such ETFs has provided the crypto market with a significant influx of capital and has become a driver of its growth in 2024.
Low demand
In mid-March, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju expressed his opinion that the market is facing six to 12 months of bearish or sideways price movement. At that time, Ju cited the reasons for his opinion as a lack of demand for Bitcoin in the context of ongoing capital outflow.
The weak demand data is consistent with the forecast of another blockchain analytics company, Glassnode. Their information as of mid-March correlates with the findings of CryptoQuant – Bitcoin, according to their metrics, also shows weak signs of accumulation and fading demand since January.
“This reversal suggests that macroeconomic uncertainty has spooked demand, reducing new inflows and possibly increasing the likelihood of further selling pressure and a prolonged correction,” Glassnode said in a report.
Who plans to buy?
In addition to the companies that have announced the addition of Bitcoin to their balance sheets, CryptoQuant named two more organizations that plan to do so. These are the largest American mining company MARA, as well as the American retail chain for the sale of game consoles, computer games, and gaming accessories GameStop.
Both companies are raising debt capital through the issuance of securities with the aim of acquiring bitcoin with the proceeds. On March 31, MARA filed documents to issue $2 billion in debt – MARA currently has 46,374 BTC (about $3.8 billion) on its balance sheet, the second-largest amount among public companies after Strategy.
GameStop, in turn, already completed the sale of such securities on April 1. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company raised $1.5 billion. And at least some of it will be used to buy bitcoin.
Источник: cryptocurrency.tech
