Lightning increases holdings! US Bitcoin company purchases 416 BTC in one week, ranks among top institutional holders

American Bitcoin Corp. increased approximately 416 BTC to its reserves during the week of December 2 to 8.

This action brought its total holdings to 4,783 BTC, with a market value of about $440 million. As of December 12, the price of Bitcoin on Gate was $92,362.57, up 2.83% in 24 hours.

01 Event Highlights: Decisive Action by Institutional Investors

Recent news shows that an American Bitcoin company supported by well-known members of the Trump family has recently added 416 Bitcoin.

This increase brought the company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 4,783. This figure makes it the 22nd largest Bitcoin reserve holder globally, surpassing traditional companies like GameStop.

In terms of capital scale, this new holding is worth approximately $38.3 million. Co-founder Erik Trump described this expansion as part of the company’s “rapid accumulation strategy” implemented after its September IPO.

This move is not an isolated investment decision but part of a carefully designed long-term strategy.

02 Strategic Depth: A Unique Mining-First Model

Unlike traditional companies that directly purchase Bitcoin, American Bitcoin Corp adopts an integrated mining operation strategy.

This means that the company’s reserve expansion mainly relies on mining output rather than purely speculative purchases. Newly mined Bitcoins are directly added to reserves rather than flowing into market liquidity pools.

This “mining-first” model has significant advantages: during price increases, rising mining income accelerates reserve expansion; during price declines, the relative reward for mining equipment decreases, but operational profits remain stable.

This counter-cyclical operation feature provides a level of stability to corporate Bitcoin reserves that cannot be matched by financial purchases.

03 Institutional Wave: More Than Just Individual Company Choices

The increase in holdings by American Bitcoin Corp reflects a broader institutionalization trend. According to a joint report by Gemini and Glassnode, over the past decade, institutional-held Bitcoin has increased by 924%.

Currently, governments, ETFs, listed companies, and exchanges controlling “centralized reserves” hold nearly 31% of circulating Bitcoin, totaling over 6.1 million BTC worth approximately $668 billion.

Among them, Bitcoin ETFs are the dominant acquisition force, currently holding a total of 1,390,267 BTC worth about $150 billion. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ranks first with 665,638.1 BTC.

Publicly traded companies are also continuously increasing holdings, with a total of 763,479 BTC (around $82.38 billion). MicroStrategy remains the absolute leader, holding 582,000 BTC.

04 Market Impact: Tightening Supply and Price Support

When institutional entities choose to hold long-term rather than trade actively, the supply structure of the Bitcoin market is fundamentally changing.

American Bitcoin Corp clearly emphasizes mining output combined with strategic market purchases, reflecting a “hold primarily” approach rather than liquidity allocation.

This reserve model locks Bitcoin away from trading pools, reducing the circulating supply needed for marginal price discovery. Each newly added Bitcoin reserve permanently removes that Bitcoin from tradable circulation.

This supply constraint provides structural support for Bitcoin prices, a support level unaffected by short-term adoption rates or trading volume changes.

As institutional holdings concentrate on accumulation-like targets, effective circulating supply continues to decline, becoming a key fundamental support for Bitcoin prices.

05 Investor Insights: Seeking Opportunities Amid the Institutional Wave

For ordinary investors, understanding the importance of the institutionalization trend is crucial. Bitcoin’s price has risen alongside institutional growth: over the past decade, the number of Bitcoins held by institutions increased by 924%, while Bitcoin’s price surged from below $1,000 to over $100,000.

In the past year, Bitcoin’s price increased by 60.2%.

On December 12, the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate cut and unveiled a $40 billion short-term government bond purchase plan, which temporarily pushed Bitcoin up to a high of $94,601.

Currently, Bitcoin is seeking support near $90,000. Large holders are showing signs of deleveraging; whales cycling through long positions in WBTC began to de-leverage, selling 150 BTC at an average price of $92,276 within three hours.

Meanwhile, institutional capital continues to participate but at a divided pace, with NASDAQ-listed Lion Group investing $8 million to purchase 88.49 BTC.

Future Outlook

American Bitcoin Corp.’s stock price edged slightly higher during early Wednesday trading, but remains well below its recent high after a sharp sell-off earlier this month. On December 2, the stock fell about 50% during trading hours, as pre-merger private placement shares became freely tradable.

This highlights the subtle relationship between Bitcoin’s intrinsic value and the stock price of the listed company holding it. As more institutions view Bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset rather than a trading instrument, the amount of Bitcoin available on exchanges is continuously decreasing.

As market liquidity tightens, the rules of price discovery are being rewritten.