Public bitcoin companies underperform gold, S&P in 2025

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—by Protos Staff

Over the past month, the world’s 10 largest public companies that own over 1,000 bitcoins (BTC) have all underperformed the S&P 500 index. Zooming out to a year-to-date timeframe yields the same result: no outperformance by BTC-owning companies since January 1.

The strongest member of the top 10 cohort, Norway-based Aker ASA, is trading flat since it closed trading to start the year. The weakest, Galaxy Digital, has underperformed the S&P 500 by 25% over the same period.

No BTC-owning company has outperformed the S&P 500 since January 1.

Bitcoin treasury companies even underperform gold

Switching the benchmark from the S&P 500 to gold reveals even worse underperformance for public executives who administer a BTC treasury. Since January 1, gold has outperformed each of the 10 largest public companies that own at least 1,000 BTC.

The strongest member of the top 10, Japan-based MetaPlanet, has underperformed gold by 7% this year. The worst member, Galaxy Digital, has underperformed by a dismal 43%.

Since January, gold has outperformed the 10 largest public companies that own at least 1,000 BTC.

Read more: Trump’s crypto reserve conveniently mirrors David Sacks-backed fund

Bitwise Asset Management, a company once proudly backed by Yammer founder-turned-US Crypto Czar David Sacks, launched an ETF this week that owns shares in global markets’ 10 largest BTC-owning companies.

Namely, its constituents are Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), MARA (formerly Marathon) Holdings, CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, Boyaa Interactive, Metaplanet, Aker ASA, BitFarms, BitFuFu, and Galaxy Digital.

Although these companies have had periods of outperformance in prior years, 2025 has been a disappointment. In comparison to benchmark equity and wealth stores of value, BTC treasury managers have failed to keep pace.

As the largest BTC-owning company with 499,096 coins on its balance sheet, Strategy founder Michael Saylor is a vocal proponent of BTC treasuries for public companies. He hosts the Bitcoin for Corporations conference and has tried to convince public company executives to buy BTC for years.

So far, in 2025, his strategy hasn’t paid off.

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