Institutional appetite for BTC picks up

Corporate BTC uptick reshapes crypto trading activity: Companies worldwide — many unrelated to crypto — are upping their BTC trading volumes, mirroring a strategy that ignited explosive stock rallies for early adopters. The uptick of holdings by institutions is evidenced through the decline in BTC trading transactions despite a sustained rise in settlement values, Bloomberg reports.

By the numbers: Network transactions this year are down from as much as 700k per day in 2024 to 500k per day, the business news information service said, citing data from Glassnode analysts, but the value traded is roughly the same, with 2025 seeing about USD 7 bn traded everyday. This points to less people trading more, and signals institutional dominance.

“[A] lot of appetite from all types of institutions from family offices to asset managers to pension funds to sovereign wealth fund[s],” are behind the uptick, XBTO Trading LLC trader George Mandres. Opting into an ETF is more likely when it comes to individual investors, he added.

The cryptocurrency has clawed back post-tariff losses from the spring and has climbed over 50% since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Financial Times reports. The salmon-colored paper also noted its rising popularity and acceptance amongst investors and regulators, making the case for it being classified as a “mainstream asset.”

Elsewhere, the FT reported a 170% uptick over the past year in the number of BTC tokens held by firms, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net. A handful of companies, like software firm MicroStrategy, account for the majority of this, though it’s yet to be seen whether the holdings would weather a sustained price downturn. Companies using debt to buy BTC could be especially susceptible to potential price pressures.

The big names: Today, over 130 public companies hold USD 87 bn worth of the token, or about 3.2% of BTC’s eventual total supply. Tesla, Twenty One Capital, Metaplanet, and — predictably — Trump Media & Technology Group, which is planning a USD 2.5 bn BTC treasure, are also among the global firms with the largest numbers of BTC holdings.

REMEMBER- Investors here at home are also going big on BTC. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala picked up a USD 437 mn stake in BlackRock’s iShares BTC Trust (IBIT) ETF, giving it a holding of 8.23 mn shares of IBIT and making it the seventh largest holder of shares in the ETF.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are firmly in the red amid fears of a wider conflict following the US’ attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. South Korea’s Kospi leads losses with a 1.05% decline, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.6% and China’s CSI 300 sank 0.4%. Over on Wall Street, futures are also declining following the weekend’s events.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX rose 1.0% on Friday on turnover of AED 1.7 bn. The index is up 1.0% YTD.

In the green: Phoenix Group (+9.1%), Al Khaleej Investment (+8.0%) and Abu Dhabi National Co. for Building Materials (+6.7%).

In the red: Ins. House (-10.0%), E7 Group PJSC Warrants (-9.5%) and National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (-6.8%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 1.6% AED 904.3 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was up 1.8%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Union Ins. will reduce its capital by 30.5% at the end of the month, after securing final sign-off from the Securities and Commodities Authority, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf). The firm will cancel 100.94 mn shares, bringing the insurer’s capital down to AED 230 mn from AED 330.9 mn. Trading will be suspended on 25 and 26 June to carry out the adjustment, with the revised capital structure effective ahead of the market open on 30 June.

REFRESHER- Shareholders approved the capital cut at the company’s general assembly in April as part of efforts to wipe out accumulated losses of AED 142.7 mn. Around AED 41.8 mn of those losses will be offset using legal and statutory reserves, with the rest cleared through the share cancellation.