The history of Bitcoin has always been one of evolution.
What started as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system has steadily grown to become the world’s leading digital reserve asset. Along the way, Bitcoin has attracted not only cypherpunks and technologists, but also institutions, public companies, and financial services providers looking to incorporate it into their balance sheets and operations.
This edition, The financial question, explores one of the most significant and complex chapters in Bitcoin’s ongoing journey: its integration into the world of corporate treasuries and traditional finance. In recent years, adoption by listed companies, asset managers and fintech platforms has changed the narrative. Bitcoin is no longer discussed exclusively as a speculative investment or ideological project; it is increasingly valued as a strategic reserve, a treasury diversification tool and a component of broader financial engineering.
The numbers speak for this momentum. In just over two years, the number of public companies holding Bitcoin has increased fivefold, with nearly 200 such companies now collectively holding over a million BTC. Together, they represent more than $110 billion in value, an amount that rivals the reserves of some nation states. This institutional embrace highlights a trend that few could have predicted a decade ago:
Bitcoin is moving from the periphery of finance to its center.
With this growth comes important questions. What does it mean for Bitcoin to be further drawn into traditional financial structures? Does Treasury adoption stabilize the asset and reduce volatility, or risk exposing Bitcoin to the same systemic vulnerabilities it was designed to protect against? How should investors, policymakers, and Bitcoiners themselves interpret the intersection of grassroots innovation and Wall Street adoption?
This issue brings together a diverse group of contributors – macroeconomists, analysts, corporate treasurers and market observers – to examine both the opportunities and risks that financialization presents. Their insights shed light on the strategic decisions shaping corporate balance sheets today and the potential consequences for Bitcoin’s monetary future.
As financial history shows, moments of rapid integration often coincide with periods of greater uncertainty. But they also mark stages of maturity. Whether you view this shift with optimism or caution, there is no denying that Bitcoin is now integrated into the global financial system in ways that will shape its trajectory for decades to come.
We invite you to explore these themes with us in the following pages.
Welcome to The Financial Question.
— Marco Massone
Don’t miss your chance to own it The financial question – with an exclusive interview and photo series with Michael Saylor at his estate.
This piece is the letter from the editor featured in the latest print edition of Bitcoin Magazine, The Finance Issue. We’re sharing it here as a first look at the ideas explored in the entire issue.