Author KHURRAM BADAR- November 21, 2025 — Let’s not sugarcoat this: Bitcoin is getting absolutely hammered right now.
As of today, Bitcoin is trading around $82,000-$86,000, down a brutal 33% from its all-time high of $126,080 just six weeks ago. That’s over $1 trillion wiped out from the crypto market. The Fear and Greed Index just hit 11 — the lowest reading since records began in 2023. Traders are getting liquidated by the billions. Even Michael Saylor’s Strategy stock is down 56% in the past six months.
If you’re feeling the pain, you’re not alone. This is officially Bitcoin’s worst performance since 2022, and the financial media is having a field day with headlines about crashes and capitulations.
But here’s the thing nobody’s talking about: while retail investors panic-sell, something fascinating is happening behind the scenes.
The Plot Twist: Weak Hands Out, Strong Hands In
Bitcoin isn’t dying—it’s changing owners. And if history tells us anything, this might be exactly the moment that sets up the next massive run.
Think about it: over 130 publicly traded companies now collectively hold about $87 billion worth of Bitcoin—roughly 3.2% of all the Bitcoin that will ever exist. That number has exploded 170% over the past year. These aren’t degenerate gamblers—these are corporations with billions in assets, boards of directors, and shareholders to answer to.
And many of them? They’re still buying right now, in the middle of this bloodbath.
Why would they do that? Because they’re playing a completely different game than retail traders. While day traders are checking their portfolios every five minutes and panic-selling at losses, these companies are accumulating Bitcoin like it’s the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
Their thesis is simple: holding cash means watching it slowly melt away to inflation. Holding Bitcoin—even volatile Bitcoin—means owning the hardest, most scarce digital asset ever created. And right now, it’s on sale.
Let’s meet the players who are diamond-handing through this crash:
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy): The OG Bitcoin Maximalist
Bitcoin Holdings: 649,870 BTC (as of November 2025)
When They Started: August 11, 2020
The Story: This is where it all began, folks.
Back in August 2020, when Michael Saylor announced that his software company MicroStrategy would start buying Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset, most people thought he’d lost his mind. Plot twist: he might be a genius.
Strategy (they rebranded in early 2025 because “MicroStrategy” didn’t scream “Bitcoin company” enough) started with a $250 million purchase at around $11,654 per Bitcoin. Since then, Saylor has been on an absolute buying spree. In late 2024 alone, they bought over 234,000 BTC—nearly 60% of their total holdings.
The company’s market cap now sits at over $100 billion, worth 1.6 times the value of the Bitcoin it actually holds. That premium exists because investors believe in the “infinite money glitch”—the company raises money to buy Bitcoin, the stock price goes up, they raise more money, rinse and repeat.
Saylor’s famous words? “Our business strategy is 100% Bitcoin. Forever.” He’s so confident he’s claimed the company wouldn’t collapse even if Bitcoin crashed 90% and stayed there for four years. (Shareholders would feel it though, he admits.)
Fun fact: Strategy has been buying Bitcoin almost every single week. In July 2025, they scooped up 4,225 BTC at an average price of $111,827. When you believe, you believe.
Current reality check (November 2025): Strategy’s stock is down 56% in the past six months, and 41% in just the past month. Some analysts are warning that the “infinite money glitch” could break if Bitcoin stays this low. But Saylor remains unfazed, continuing to buy even as the price crashes. The ultimate diamond hands test is happening right now.
Tesla: Elon’s Crypto Rollercoaster
Bitcoin Holdings: 11,509 BTC
When They Started: January 2021
The Story: Ah, Tesla. Never a dull moment.
In February 2021, Elon Musk shocked the world by announcing Tesla had bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. The purchase was made in January at an average price of around $38,000 per coin. Bitcoin’s price immediately shot up by 20% just from Elon adding “#bitcoin” to his Twitter bio. That’s the Musk effect, baby.
Tesla even started accepting Bitcoin payments for cars in March 2021, with Musk promising they’d hold the Bitcoin and not convert it to fiat. Then came May 2021, when Musk suddenly reversed course, citing environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining. The crypto world was not amused.
Things got messier in Q2 2022 when Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings at around $31,615 per coin during the market downturn—significantly lower than their purchase price. If Tesla had held onto that Bitcoin? At today’s prices above $100,000, they’d be sitting on an extra $3 billion. Oops.
Despite the turbulent history, Tesla still holds a respectable 11,509 BTC and reported a $600 million accounting gain last year thanks to new rules that let them mark up the value. Sometimes the best move is just… holding.
Metaplanet: Japan’s Bitcoin Hotel Empire
Bitcoin Holdings: 30,823 BTC (as of October 2025)
When They Started: April 2024
The Story: This one’s a wild transformation story.
Metaplanet was a struggling hotel company in Tokyo. Nothing exciting—just hotels doing hotel things, with a stock price that reflected it. Then in April 2024, new CEO Simon Gerovich said, “You know what? Let’s become Japan’s MicroStrategy.”
They started with just 117.7 BTC in May 2024. By the end of that year, they had 1,762 BTC. Fast forward to October 2025, and they’re sitting on over 30,000 BTC. Their stock price? Up 1,744% in just over a year.
The company’s transformation is complete: 88% of their revenue now comes from Bitcoin-related activities (selling options, accumulating coins), while their hotels contribute a measly 12%. They even rebranded one property as “The Bitcoin Hotel” because why not lean all the way in?
Their ambitious goal? Acquire 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027, which would make them the second-largest corporate holder behind Strategy. They’re well on their way, having posted a mind-bending 309% BTC Yield in late 2024—meaning their per-share Bitcoin exposure more than tripled.
Oh, and they have Eric Trump as a strategic advisor. Because 2025.
Block (formerly Square): Jack Dorsey’s Steady Bet
Bitcoin Holdings: 8,584 BTC
When They Started: October 2020
The Story: Less flash, more consistency.
Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter CEO and current Block chairman, is a true Bitcoin believer. He’s called Bitcoin “the native currency of the internet” and has been quietly accumulating since 2020.
Block’s approach is methodical: they invest 10% of their monthly gross profits from Bitcoin products back into buying more Bitcoin. It’s like a corporate DCA (dollar-cost averaging) strategy.
They’ve even published the details of their buying program so other companies can copy it. Classic open-source mindset from the tech world.
GameStop: The Meme Stock Goes Bitcoin
Bitcoin Holdings: 4,710 BTC
When They Started: May 2025
The Story: Yes, that GameStop.
The video game retailer that became synonymous with the 2021 meme stock frenzy waited until May 2025 to make its move. They dropped $512 million on Bitcoin in their first purchase, funded by selling $1.3 billion in convertible bonds.
The stock initially tumbled 10% on the news (classic GameStop volatility), but they came back for more in November with another $2.25 billion bond offering. Apparently, once you go Bitcoin, you don’t go back.
Trump Media & Technology Group: The Latest Convert
Bitcoin Holdings: 0 BTC (for now)
Plans: Raise $2.5 billion for Bitcoin purchases
The Story: Plot twist incoming.
The company behind Truth Social has announced plans to create a Bitcoin treasury, calling Bitcoin “an apex instrument of financial freedom.” With Trump in office and the administration creating crypto-friendly regulations, they’re positioning to become one of the largest corporate holders.
At current prices, $2.5 billion could buy them a lot of Bitcoin. Watch this space.
Why This Crash Might Be the Best Thing That Could Happen
Here’s the uncomfortable truth about Bitcoin crashes: they’re features, not bugs.
Every major Bitcoin crash has done the same thing—it shakes out the weak hands (retail traders who bought at the top) and consolidates Bitcoin into the hands of long-term believers and institutions. It’s a brutal transfer of wealth from the impatient to the patient.
Look at what’s happening right now:
- Retail panic: Individual investors are selling at losses, liquidating positions, swearing off crypto forever
- Institutional accumulation: Companies like Strategy are still buying weekly, even at these prices
- Corporate conviction: Metaplanet just announced a new $600M preferred stock offering to buy more Bitcoin—during the crash
One analyst put it perfectly: “This dumping is the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin.” Why? Because every Bitcoin that moves from a panicked retail trader to a long-term corporate treasury is a Bitcoin that won’t be sold during the next rally.
The Math That Changes Everything
Here’s what makes this moment potentially historic: Bitcoin’s maximum supply is capped at 21 million coins. Ever. These corporate treasuries now control 3.2% of that finite supply—and they’re not selling. Strategy’s Michael Saylor has repeatedly said he’ll never sell, calling it a “forever” hold.
If even 5-10% of Bitcoin ends up permanently locked in corporate treasuries, what happens to the price when demand returns? Basic supply and demand suggests something… interesting.
The Current Moment: Fear or Opportunity?
Yes, Bitcoin is down 33% from its highs. Yes, it’s painful. Yes, the Fear Index is at record lows.
But consider this:
- Bitcoin’s weekly RSI just hit oversold levels only seen at the 2018 bear bottom, the COVID crash, and the 2022 $18k bottom
- Yet Bitcoin is still trading at $82,000—4x higher than those previous bottoms
- Corporate buying hasn’t stopped
- The long-term uptrend structure remains intact
Some veteran analysts are calling this “the wildest move in nearly a decade”—not because of where Bitcoin is going, but because of how low the fear is while the price remains relatively high.
The Real Value Proposition: Distribution of Power
What’s really happening isn’t just companies buying Bitcoin. It’s a fundamental redistribution of this asset from short-term speculators to long-term institutional holders.
Every crash does this:
- Weak hands sell at a loss during fear
- Strong hands accumulate at discounted prices
- Supply tightens as more Bitcoin moves to holders who won’t sell
- Next rally is stronger because there’s less selling pressure
This time, the “strong hands” include multi-billion dollar corporations with publicly stated strategies to never sell. That’s never happened before in Bitcoin’s history at this scale.
The Bottom Line: A Transfer, Not a Death
Whether you’re celebrating this crash or crying over your portfolio depends entirely on your time horizon.
If you’re trading on leverage with a 24-hour time frame, this crash is devastating. If you’re a corporation with a 5-10 year view treating Bitcoin as a treasury reserve? This is just noise—and maybe even a buying opportunity.
The era of Bitcoin being dominated by retail speculators may be ending. What’s emerging is something stranger: a global digital asset that’s increasingly held by corporations who view it not as a trade, but as a permanent store of value superior to cash.
When a Japanese hotel company owns more Bitcoin than El Salvador (a country that made it legal tender), when Strategy controls 3% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist, and when even during brutal 33% crashes these companies keep buying—we’re watching something unprecedented unfold.
Bitcoin isn’t dying. It’s just changing hands from gamblers to believers.
And history suggests that when the dust settles from these violent shakeouts, the next chapter tends to be… explosive.
Buckle up. This ride is far from over.
Note: This article was written on November 21, 2025, during a significant Bitcoin price correction (BTC trading around $82,000-$86,000, down 33% from all-time highs). Bitcoin and crypto markets are extremely volatile. Holdings and prices fluctuate constantly. Do your own research before making any investment decisions. This article is for informational purposes only and not financial advice.