Europe Charts Its Own Bitcoin Treasury Path, Leaving Saylor’s Playbook Behind

European companies adopting Bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategies are building around local capital markets and regulatory limits instead of replicating the debt-driven model used by Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

Thomas Vogel, a partner at Latham & Watkins in Paris and Frankfurt, said European issuers face different limits when raising capital. 

He said convertible issuance from a French or broader European balance sheet does not offer the same flexibility as in the US, citing weaker market depth, tighter regulation and different investor behaviour.

That has produced a fragmented field of listed Bitcoin holders across Europe, concentrated in smaller public companies rather than large-cap issuers. Data from BitcoinTreasuries.net shows Germany’s Bitcoin Group SE as the largest listed holder in the region with 3,605 BTC worth about US$268 million (AU$375.2 million).

Read more: CoW Swap Hit by DNS Attack, Users Urged to Stay Away Amid Ongoing Exploit

Way Below The US Market

The scale remains far below the US market, as Strategy bought 13,927 BTC for about US$1 billion (AU$1.4 billion) in a single week, lifting its total holdings to 780,897 BTC, well above the combined Bitcoin holdings of Europe’s listed public companies.

Alexandre Laizet, who leads Bitcoin strategy at Capital B, said European firms are instead using local market infrastructure, including French public markets and Luxembourg-based structures, to raise capital linked to Bitcoin exposure.

That means more conservative treasury positions that are aligned with local regulation and market conditions. It also (probably) means lower BTC accumulation.

Related: Japanese Giants Unite to Build the Brain Behind the World’s Machines