Last week, the cryptocurrency market reached a historic threshold as Bitcoin broke through the much-anticipated $100,000 mark for the first time.
The price rally has spurred a new wave of bullishness among investors and institutions, with record outflows from exchanges and all-cash purchases of substantial amounts of BTC by major corporate holders. This collective behavior across almost all types of Bitcoin investors suggests a mounting accumulation phase—one that increasingly looks, in the eyes of many, like a confidence buildup in the cryptocurrency’s long-term store-of-value narrative.
As Bitcoin crossed $100K last week, exchange flows turned negative. Over $550 million was withdrawn on Friday alone, signaling strong accumulation pressure. pic.twitter.com/oiLHmwZ5IQ
— Sentora (previously IntoTheBlock) (@SentoraHQ) May 12, 2025
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Exchange Outflows Signal Strong Accumulation
As Bitcoin attained a price well above $100,000, on-chain data signaled a distinct change in flows to and from exchanges. On Friday, more then $550 million worth of BTC was moved off of centralized exchanges, an action that is almost universally interpreted as accumulation. These large withdrawals are only done when the investor is in for the long haul and is moving his or her assets to cold storage.
Investors, both retail and institutional, seem to think the rally will keep going, and the latest data from trading platforms push the narrative into clearer focus. How so? The weekly net exchange flows into trading platforms turned negative. That means way more Bitcoin was moved onto trading platforms from wallets, as compared to the reverse. Historically, when bearish exchange flows happen during a bullish rally, it has aligned with continued upward price action.
MicroStrategy Deepens Its Bet on Bitcoin
Once again at the forefront is MicroStrategy, the U.S.-based business intelligence firm that has become a Bitcoin mega-holder. Last week, it announced a fresh purchase of 13,390 BTC, spending approximately $1.34 billion at an average price of $99,856 per coin. This latest buy reaffirms MicroStrategy’s aggressive acquisition of Bitcoin, even as the price of the asset appears to be reaching a new all-time high.
MicroStrategy(@Strategy) bought another 13,390 $BTC($1.34B) at an average price of $99,856 last week.#Strategy currently holds 568,840 $BTC($59.08B), with an average buying price of $69,287 and an unrealized profit of $19.66B.https://t.co/ftbyrbNB96 pic.twitter.com/tpGyfvAten
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 12, 2025
After this newest buy, MicroStrategy is swimming in Bitcoin—568,840 of them, to be exact. They’re worth around $59 billion right now, and the price that MicroStrategy has paid to acquire its trove divides out to $69,287 per coin. So yes, if these Bitcoin never returned to the under-$20,000 prices they sported a year ago, this is a phenomenally profitable move for MicroStrategy. And it’s a move, by the way, with no parallel in the history of public companies.
MicroStrategy’s unyielding dedication to Bitcoin as a principal treasury reserve asset has become one of the mainstays of its corporate identity. Its nearly daily purchases of Bitcoin serve as a beacon influencing market sentiment. Each new buy bolsters the image of Bitcoin as a strategic, long-term investment.
Metaplanet Joins the Bitcoin Bull Run
Following closely in the institutional race is Metaplanet, a publicly listed Japanese investment firm that has been making moves to call itself Asia’s answer to MicroStrategy. Metaplanet announced last week that it had added another 1,241 BTC to its balance sheet, spending $125.3 million at an average price of $100,967 per coin. That’s not far behind the 15,000 BTC MicroStrategy holds.
Metaplanet(@Metaplanet_JP) bought another 1,241 $BTC($125.3M) at $100,967.
Metaplanet currently holds 6,796 $BTC($613.3M), with an average buying price of $90,243.https://t.co/LRlXDODQYc pic.twitter.com/o34vsOXJEB
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 12, 2025
By acquiring Bitcoin, Metaplanet has now surged to a total of 6,796 BTC, which is equivalent to approximately $613.3 million. The company’s average cost basis for the purchase is just over $90,000, which means that Metaplanet is currently sitting on some unrealized gains that have profit written all over them. Measured in Satoshis, it is not as much as what MicroStrategy has, but in Asian financial markets, Bitcoin is starting to be treated like a real asset.
The company’s focus on Bitcoin has not just boosted its international profile; it has also made it a player in the almost conspiratorial-sounding Bitcoin-as-hedge narrative that is gaining currency.
Conclusion
When Bitcoin surged above $100,000, the hype and hope surrounding it had almost turned it into a ridiculous yoke. But it could be that institutional investors really have settled into a perspective of trying to “understand” the asset. MicroStrategy and Metaplanet, two firms that have amassed Bitcoin, were brought up here as examples. I remember the course those firms have taken with regard to Bitcoin.
Such developments suggest that Bitcoin is now much more than a simple speculative asset. Compared to just a few years ago, it is increasingly being seen as a strategic store of value. This is, of course, the vault where all the value is stored—institutional or otherwise—that has made Bitcoin anything but dead since its birth over a decade ago.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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