Bitcoin (BTC) is increasingly being consolidated into the hands of centralized institutions. The influence, from publicly traded companies and private firms to governments and regulated financial platforms, continues to grow.
New developments this week suggest the trend is accelerating, raising both opportunities and concerns for the future of Bitcoin.
Mercurity Fintech, Evertz Pharma Reveal Bitcoin Reserve Plans
US-listed Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. recently announced plans to raise $800 million to build a long-term Bitcoin treasury reserve.
According to the company, the funds will transition part of its corporate treasury into Bitcoin and integrate it into a blockchain-native digital reserve system.
In its official statement, Mercurity aims to establish a yield-generating, blockchain-aligned reserve structure. This would reinforce a long-duration asset exposure and balance sheet resilience.
The initiative includes deploying institutional-grade custody, liquidity protocols, and staking-enabled capital efficiency tools.
“We’re building this Bitcoin treasury reserve based on our belief that Bitcoin will become an essential component of the future financial infrastructure,” said CEO Shi Qiu.
The announcement coincides with Mercurity’s preliminary inclusion in the Russell 2000 Index, which could increase institutional exposure.
The company’s stock surged following the news, reflecting growing investor appetite for firms integrating Bitcoin into their business models.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Evertz Pharma became the first German company to officially hold strategic Bitcoin reserves, purchasing an additional 100 BTC in May, worth roughly €10 million ($11.5 million).
The cosmetics company began accumulating Bitcoin in December 2020 and allocated corporate profits to BTC.
According to company management, Bitcoin’s scarcity, storage-free nature, and inflation hedge potential make it a superior reserve asset to gold.
“Bitcoin is a strategic component of our stable business vision,” PANews reported, citing the firm.
One-Third of Bitcoin Now Held by Centralized Entities
A new report by Gemini and Glassnode reveals that centralized treasuries, including governments, ETFs, and public companies, control 30.9% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. This marks a significant milestone in the institutionalization of the pioneer crypto.
Additionally, over 75% of adjusted Bitcoin transfer volume now occurs through centralized exchanges, US spot ETFs (exchange-traded funds), and regulated derivatives platforms. The report highlights this as a stark contrast to the asset’s early peer-to-peer (P2P) roots.
This institutional dominance has led to declining volatility, with annualized realized volatility decreasing since 2018.
“I still wish Bitcoin never got an ETF. It moves slower than most stocks and has lost it’s appeal to trade. We replaced exciting volatility with boring stability, just what the suits and institutions wanted,” analyst IncomeSharks said recently.
While Bitcoin is still a risk-on asset, its integration into traditional finance (TradFi) has made price action more stable and less speculative.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to explore a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, further cementing BTC’s role in sovereign finance.
According to Gemini, each $1 invested by such entities could generate up to $25 in short-term market cap expansion and roughly $1.70 in long-term structural value.
These developments highlight a critical point for Bitcoin. As large institutions and governments take control of more BTC, the network’s original ethos of decentralization faces pressure.
Yet, for many market participants, this trend represents a necessary growth legitimizing Bitcoin as a strategic macro asset.
With public companies like MicroStrategy (now Strategy) and Tesla setting early examples, and newcomers like Mercurity and Evertz Pharma joining, the Bitcoin accumulation wave appears far from over.
Taken together, the report’s findings suggest that Bitcoin is moving beyond its retail-driven experiment status to becoming embedded within the global financial system. However, this comes at the cost of growing centralization.
“There once was a dream that was Bitcoin… this is not it,” one user on X lamented.
The concern is that institutional dominance contradicts Bitcoin’s founding ethos of decentralization. With growing institutional influence, TradFi players risk centralizing control in a space designed to empower individuals over institutions.
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