Who is investing in crypto: The institutions to follow

It’s difficult to know what the cryptocurrency market might do – the volatility could send Bitcoin soaring or crashing over the course of a day and trying to predict what the direction might be might seem impossible.

It’s been advised by analysts that trend-spotters that instead of following the market, following the money – or rather, those with the money – offers more insight into what direction things might move in. This means keeping an eye on what whales, institutions and large scale investors are doing and how they’re responding to volatility in the market. Following the money is almost like a little cheat code to catch crypto trends.

What are the institutions doing while Bitcoin hovers?

MicroStrategy

Major institutional Bitcoin bull MicroStrategy has just announced that it will be adding another massive Bitcoin purchase to its current holdings. Taking advantage of the current dip, as Bitcoin sits at 43.7% less than it was in November, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor announced that a whopping 660 Bitcoin tokens will be purchased by the company, locking in nearly $25 million USD worth of cryptocurrency in one go.

MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 660 bitcoins for ~$25.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$37,865 per #bitcoin. As of 1/31/22 we #hodl ~125,051 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.78 billion at an average price of ~$30,200 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/bF6VImC0Qy

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) February 1, 2022

Tesla

In April last year, Tesla sold 10% of its cryptocurrency holdings – but the move was not a bearish one. Rather, as Elon Musk explained, it was to price the liquidity of the digital asset as an alternative asset to traditional fiat and holding cash on the company’s balance sheet. Since then, Tesla has not sold its crypto and is holding tight to the 42,000 Bitcoin it bought.

No, you do not. I have not sold any of my Bitcoin. Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2021

Galaxy Digital

Galaxy is the leading institutional holder of Bitcoin that is directly involved with the cryptocurrency industry. Staking its claims in the industry it’s involved in, Galaxy is reported to hold 16,400 BTC, according to bitcointreasuries.org. Founded by famous Bitcoin bull Michael Novogratz, the company is partnered with a number of blockchain and cryptocurrency-focused companies and foresee the future of finance in the world of blockchain.

Unsurprisingly, Galaxy has not made any moves to sell its Bitcoin holdings. Instead, just this month, a new Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Digital Asset Management, which oversees around $2.9 billion USD in assets, was hired. Former manager of Blackstone William Burt joined the Galaxy team. While the news might not be directly related to Bitcoin accumulation, any increase to the team represents confidence in the future of cryptocurrency, despite the dip.

Block (formerly Square)

The founder of Block Jack Dorsey, has expressed interest in the way Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can be used in the past. Block adding Bitcoin to its balance sheets stood as evidence of this. In October 2020, Block bought $50 million USD worth of cryptocurrency and it has been consistently adding to its crypto holdings. In the final quarter of 2020, Block added a further $170 million USD of crypto. Of the news, Dorsey stated that they did it “so others can do the same“.

More important than Square investing $50mm in #Bitcoin is sharing how we did it (so others can do the same): https://t.co/35ABYHuz4f

— jack⚡️ (@jack) October 8, 2020