Key Points

• XRP is seeing good uptake among banks and large investing groups.

• Strategy's unique approach to buying Bitcoin is delivering leveraged returns.

• One of these assets is more likely to keep you up at night than the other.

• 10 stocks we like better than XRP ›

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) both soared during crypto's 2025 revival, with the fintech coin rising by 46% and the crypto treasury company climbing by 49% this year so far (as of July 18).

Yet one earns its keep by processing real transactions for banks and institutions, while the other is a listed company whose sole trick is piling more Bitcoin onto an already mountainous stack.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

But which route is going to lead to higher returns for investors with a moderately sized amount of starting capital to invest -- say, $5,000?

XRP is building utility today, and it's working

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is gradually turning into an institutional finance support layer as a result of the consistent development work performed by its issuing company, Ripple.

Last month, Ripple and Circle ported Circle's stablecoin onto the XRPL to grease the wheels of on‑chain payments for users in the traditional financial sector, as well as for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. The overarching strategy here is to beef up the chain's platforms for stablecoins, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and other real-world assets (RWAs), and then build out the compliance and identity-tracking features that banks and asset managers crave. The idea is that once the financial and regulatory infrastructure is in good condition, the target users will be heavily incentivized to show up because there aren't other blockchains that are as carefully tailored to their particular needs.

Why does that matter for those considering an investment in XRP?

Image source: Getty Images.

Each ledger transfer requires a sliver of XRP crypto that is permanently burned upon the transaction's completion. The busier the network, the scarcer the coin becomes. If stablecoin liquidity and real-world asset settlement grow in volume, demand for fees and for escrow collateral should keep pace, creating a modest-to-moderate upward pressure on the coin's price.

Legal overhang is fading too, which lowers the risk of making an investment now.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signaled that it would abandon its appeal in its long-running lawsuit against Ripple, effectively ending a four‑year skirmish that once scared away institutions and a number of rightly cautious investors. Regulatory clarity doesn't directly feed through into short-term price appreciation, but it takes away the largest known tripwire for adoption, so it removes a significant drag on the asset's long-term potential.

Strategy is a levered bet on Bitcoin

Strategy is the corporate embodiment of the stereotypical diehard Bitcoin evangelical (some would say cultist) crowd. This means that it's all about buying as much Bitcoin as it can possibly afford, including by issuing new stock and taking out fresh debt, regardless of the coin's price.

As of July 14, it held about 601,550 bitcoins, purchased for $42.9 billion at an average cost of $71,268 each. At today's Bitcoin price of about $119,000, that holding is worth roughly $72 billion.

To expand the stack, management keeps issuing zero‑coupon convertible notes, including another $2  billion in February alone. It's going to continue in this same pattern until the cows come home.

For shareholders, that has paid off fairly well during the past five years.

MSTR data by YCharts.

Investors must understand that leverage supercharges Strategy's stock returns if Bitcoin rises, but it also magnifies pain. A 25% slide in the big orange coin would erase a vast amount of the company's value.

There's also a subtle timing mismatch. Strategy's convertible bonds mature years from now, starting in 2030, but historically, Bitcoin has shown that it can drop significantly in days and weeks. Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor's conviction in the asset is legendary, but conviction doesn't repay debtors.

Finally, remember that Strategy is not Bitcoin -- there are actually a few ancillary activities the company still does related to its former identity as a software business. In other words, you're paying for its overhead in the name of getting exposure to Bitcoin, which you could replicate more cleanly with holding the coin itself.

Where $5,000 probably works harder

If your goal is to capture some upside in the crypto sector while taking on a moderate amount of risk, XRP looks like the preferable bet here.

The ledger is luring real revenue sources, like stablecoin float, cross‑border payment settlement, and tokenized treasuries, all while its biggest legal cloud just cleared. Assuming Ripple hits its roadmap milestones, institutional demand could continue to increase sharply during the next few years, sending XRP's price higher. It might not be a wealth-maker investment overnight, but the risk of a big implosion feels lower than during the lawsuit era, and it's undeniably finding traction right where it wants to.

Strategy is more of a racehorse for adrenaline seekers, which is to say that it's not a great play for the average investor. Should Bitcoin sprint to $200,000 by 2026, the stock's leverage could make XRP's gains look small. Yet that same leverage could become very cruel for shareholders if Bitcoin revisits $60,000, a level that would wipe out a huge chunk of the company's balance sheet and trigger harsh volatility. Most mainstream investors do not need that kind of insomnia-provoking asset in a retirement portfolio.

Therefore, for a $5,000 allocation today, XRP is the better option. Leave Strategy for those comfortable underwriting both Bitcoin's swings and a heavily indebted software company that moonlights as a crypto hedge fund.

Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?

Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin and Circle Internet Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Both Bitcoin and Solana recently hit all-time highs, and both have sky-high valuations.

• Many investors now consider Bitcoin to be digital gold as a potential hedge against economic uncertainty.

• New spot ETFs could reassure investors that Solana is more than just a blockchain for meme coin speculation.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

In the second half of the year, two major cryptocurrencies could see a significant breakout: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). While both have sky-high valuations right now, both are worth the risk. Here's why.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin remains the top-performing cryptocurrency of the year. It's up nearly 25% in 2025 and just hit another all-time high of $118,856.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

This is the most expensive Bitcoin has ever been, but analysts continue to suggest that it could almost double in value by the end of the year. The U.K. bank Standard Chartered, for example, just put a $200,000 price target on Bitcoin.

Many investors have embraced the idea of Bitcoin being digital gold, viewing it as a potential hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. Its price plunged immediately after the announcement of President Donald Trump's tariffs on April 2 but has roared back to life. A big reason is the growing perception that the crypto might be able to weather the tariff storm better than traditional financial assets, thanks to its lack of correlation with any major asset class.

Image source: Getty Images.

At the same time, the Bitcoin treasury company model has captured the imagination of investors. First popularized by Strategy, which now holds $65 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, this treasury model is being emulated by a host of smaller companies, including Trump Media & Technology Group, where Trump is the largest shareholder.

The concept behind a Bitcoin treasury company is simple: Buy as much of the token as possible, as fast as possible, as cheaply as possible. So, for example, Trump Media & Technology Group recently raised $2.3 billion from investors with the full intention of putting that money to work purchasing Bitcoin.

Things get even more exciting when you consider that the U.S. government might start to purchase it as well. In March, the White House announced the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under the auspices of the Treasury Department.

While the executive order did not authorize the government to buy any new Bitcoin, it did reserve room for new purchases, as long as they could be done in a "budget neutral" way. Now that the "big, beautiful bill" is set to be enacted, I'm fully expecting some budgetary sleight-of-hand later this year, as the government explores ways to purchase the crypto.

Solana

Another cryptocurrency with a sky-high valuation is Solana, which hit a new all-time high of $294 the day Trump was inaugurated as president. But it has declined markedly in value since then and currently trades for just $163.

While the decline is worrisome, online prediction markets still give it a 22% chance of hitting a new all-time high before 2026. In other words, some investor give Solana a 1-in-5 chance of roughly doubling in value within the next five months.

A big potential catalyst is the imminent launch of spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Right now, Bloomberg thinks that there is a 95% chance that they will be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2025. And it now looks like the timetable for their approval has been moved up, with a decision potentially coming as early as August or September.

The problem with Solana is that it became synonymous with meme coin culture in 2024. It became the go-to platform to create, launch, and trade meme coins, and that led to a frenzy of meme coin speculation. When Trump launched his meme coin in January, for example, he did so on Solana.

Since then, however, the meme coin market has collapsed, and that has had a dramatic effect on Solana. When the entire global financial system seemed to be faltering a few months ago, the last place you wanted to put your money was a risky blockchain linked to meme coins.

However, we've seen this story before with Solana. In 2022, the price collapsed to just $10. But the following year, the crypto soared more than 900% as investors realized that concerns over its relationship with failed crypto exchange FTX, created by convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, were overblown.

I'm not saying the same thing is going to happen again, but I do think Solana is a $300 cryptocurrency.

High reward, but also high risk

Both Bitcoin and Solana are risky. Anytime you invest in a cryptocurrency, there's potential for enormous volatility. Making matters even riskier, both cryptocurrencies are coming off recent all-time highs. So, as they say, they're priced for perfection.

However, the reward outweighs the risk in both cases. I'm bullish on them over the short and long term, and confident that they have the potential to double in value before the end of the year.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool recommends Standard Chartered Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Bitcoin historically experiences four-year boom-and-bust cycles marked by tremendous volatility.

• According to some investors, Bitcoin has outgrown these boom-and-bust cycles.

• While some elements of the current cycle are different this time around, Bitcoin is not immune from experiencing a significant market correction.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

Famed investor John Templeton once remarked, "The four most dangerous words in investing are: This time it's different." It's an acknowledgment that investing tends to follow certain timeless rules, and that investors often become too bullish about the prospects of any high-flying asset.

That's what has me so concerned about Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) right now. There's a growing sense that Bitcoin has somehow outgrown its historical boom-and-bust cycle, and that severe market corrections are now a relic of the past. But is that really the case?

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

The four-year Bitcoin cycle

Long-time Bitcoin investors recognize that the world's most popular cryptocurrency tends to follow four-year cycles. Each cycle is further subdivided into four distinct phases. There's a period of accumulation, followed by a period of rapid growth, a bubble, and then a crash.

The timing of this cycle might seem arbitrary, except for the fact that Bitcoin has a halving event every four years. This halving, which cuts in half the rate of new Bitcoin creation, is what leads to the period of rapid growth. If you know the date of the halving, you can basically add 12 to 18 months, and that's when the "bubble" phase should be coming to an end.

The last Bitcoin halving took place on April 19, 2024. If history is any guide, the current period of Bitcoin growth should be coming to an end sometime around October of this year. If we're lucky, the price of Bitcoin could hold its ground until January 2026.

You can see where I'm going with this -- we're "due" for a market correction. If Bitcoin follows its historical pattern, then the four-year cycle should be wrapping up relatively soon. And that means a significant market correction (or something worse) could be incoming.

"This time it's different"

The typical response to this, of course, is: "This time it's different." This is the first cycle, for example, when the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have existed. This is the first cycle when a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has existed. This is the first cycle when the Bitcoin treasury company model has been in vogue. This is the first cycle when the U.S. government is supporting pro-Bitcoin policies. This is the first cycle when risk-averse institutional investors such as pension funds are buying Bitcoin.

Image source: Getty Images.

You could probably list several more factors that are "different" this time around. But think back to what Templeton said decades ago. There are certain timeless truths about the financial markets that you simply can't ignore. And one of those is that financial assets can't defy gravity for long. What goes up must come down.

The Bitcoin bulls will reject this line of thinking, of course. Michael Saylor, the founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), recently told Bloomberg TV in an interview: "Crypto winter is not coming back. We're past that phase." Saylor discounts the chances of any significant pullback, and is confident that Bitcoin will continue to soar in value. Saylor's new price target for Bitcoin is a head-spinning $21 million per coin.

Ignore the history of Bitcoin at your own peril

For any investors new to Bitcoin, I would highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the four-year Bitcoin cycle. Take a good, hard look at the long-term chart of Bitcoin. You'll see that Bitcoin has had several drawdowns of 77% or higher throughout its history. Moreover, even bullish periods of the cycle have experienced significant market corrections.

In short, the price of Bitcoin has never gone straight up. During the previous crypto bull market cycle, the price of Bitcoin hit a (then) all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021. Twelve months later, the price of Bitcoin was $16,000, a decline of 77%. The price of Bitcoin later recovered, but some crypto investors were wiped out.

Admittedly, the volatility of Bitcoin is lower these days, and the pullbacks appear to be less extreme. Even when Bitcoin fell to $75,000 earlier this year, it quickly recovered. Over the long haul, I have no doubt that Bitcoin will continue to march higher. Maybe it will one day hit the mythical $1 million mark.

However, I'm still not convinced that Wall Street has figured out Bitcoin, and that it's up only from here on out. If you buy into the logic of "this time it's different," you may be setting yourself up for disappointment later.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $687,764!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $980,723!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• The crypto market is heating up again.

• Bitcoin remains the best "blue chip" token to buy.

• Ethereum should continue to lead the developer-oriented market.

Many cryptocurrencies skyrocketed during the buying frenzy for speculative investments in 2020 and 2021. That rally was fueled by near-zero interest rates, stimulus checks, social media buzz, and commission-free trading platforms. But in 2022 and 2023, many of those tokens crashed as interest rates rose and a new crypto winter began.

Over the past year and a half, investors have gradually pivoted back toward cryptocurrencies as interest rates declined and President Donald Trump's crypto-friendly administration took the helm. So if you're still bullish on cryptocurrencies, it might be a great time to go shopping again.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

You shouldn't stake your life savings in cryptocurrencies, but it might be smart to set aside a modest $1,000 in a few tokens that could soar over the next few decades. I'd personally stick with the two largest cryptocurrencies -- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) -- instead of the smaller and more speculative meme coins.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency, still has plenty of upside potential for a few simple reasons. First, it's still mined with an energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which becomes more costly every four years with each "halving" that cuts its mining rewards in half. Its maximum supply is also capped at 21 million tokens. Nearly 19.9 million of those Bitcoins have already been mined, and the final token is expected to be mined in 2140. There isn't much room for long-term inflation in this model.

Bitcoin's increasingly difficult mining process, scarcity, and deflationary nature make it more comparable to gold, silver, and other physical assets than many other cryptocurrencies. That makes it a potential hedge against inflation and the devaluation of fiat currencies.

Bitcoin's first spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which were approved in January 2024, made it easier for retail and institutional investors to invest in the coin without a crypto wallet. Big companies like MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) continued to accumulate Bitcoin, the Trump administration recently established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and inflation-wracked countries like El Salvador and Central African Republic even adopted Bitcoin as a national currency for a while. All of those developments supported the notion that Bitcoin was becoming "digital gold."

So even though Bitcoin might seem pricey right now at roughly $110,000, it could have even more upside potential. Standard Chartered's analysts expect its price to climb to $500,000 by 2028, while Ark Invest's Cathie Wood sees it flying as high as $1.5 million by 2030. You should take those bullish estimates with a grain of salt, but Bitcoin could remain the best "blue chip" cryptocurrency to buy and hold for the next few decades.

Ethereum

Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is the world's second most valuable cryptocurrency. It was originally a PoW token that was mined like Bitcoin, but it transitioned to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism in "The Merge" in 2022.

As a PoS token, Ether can no longer be mined. Instead, its investors "stake" their tokens on the blockchain to earn interest-like rewards. Ethereum's PoS blockchain also supports smart contracts, which can be used to develop decentralized apps (dApps) and other crypto assets. Its declining or rising network activity can either make it inflationary or deflationary, respectively, and it currently has a circulating supply of roughly 120.7 million tokens.

Ether is usually valued by the growth of its developer ecosystem and its transaction speeds instead of the scarcity of its tokens. Its core Level-1 blockchain is slower than PoS blockchains like Cardano, but it's assisted by faster Level-2 protocols that process the transactions off-chain before returning them to the Level-1 layer.

Ether's first spot price ETFs were also approved last year, but they only held the tokens in cold storage without passing on the staking rewards (about 3% to 5% annually) to their investors. That made the ETFs less appealing than Ether itself, but the next batch of ETFs might add those rewards.

Ethereum's next upgrade, "The Verge," will further improve its security features and lower its hardware requirements so it can run on smaller devices like smartphones. It's also expected to reduce its Layer-2 fees with "danksharding" upgrades to clear more space for fresh data.

At about $2,600, Ethereum still trades well below its all-time highs. But Cathie Wood predicts it could climb as high as $166,000 by 2032, and big institutional investors like BlackRock are still accumulating the token. Therefore, this developer-oriented token could still be a great investment for the next few decades.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $976,677!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool recommends Standard Chartered Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The entire cryptocurrency market climbed 66% from just before Donald Trump's election win in November to mid-December. Since then, however, many of the most popular cryptocurrencies have failed to continue moving higher.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been one of the stronger performers. It set an all-time high in January, and it recently climbed slightly above that level in May. As of June 18, Bitcoin trades for about $105,000.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

But multiple analysts see the value of Bitcoin nearly doubling by the end of the year, reaching $200,000. Here's why analysts are bullish on the leading cryptocurrency.

Image source: Getty Images.

Doubling in just over six months

Over the last couple of months, several analysts have reaffirmed expectations for Bitcoin to climb to $200,000 by the end of the year.

• Bernstein called its $200,000 year-end estimate for Bitcoin "high-conviction and conservative."
• Standard Chartered analysts called for a series of sharp increases during the next few months that could push the price to $200,000 by year-end.
• Bitwise analysts think the fair value of Bitcoin right now is $230,000 but only expect it to reach $200,000 by the end of the year.
• 21Shares strategists also see the cryptocurrency hitting the magic $200,000 mark by year-end as well.

There are several factors supporting the continued increase in Bitcoin's value, according to the analysts.

Bitwise points to the rising U.S. fiscal debt, exacerbated by the new tax bill that passed through the House recently. Analysts argue that Bitcoin presents a type of insurance against sovereign debt defaults since it's a scarce and decentralized asset.

Standard Chartered is seeing data that shows the market agrees with that sentiment. It said exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are shifting from gold into Bitcoin, suggesting it's more of a safe asset. It also says Bitcoin wallets with more than 1,000 Bitcoins resumed accumulating the asset during recent dips.

21Shares saw the recent Consumer Price Index numbers as a bullish sign for Bitcoin because cooler inflation could give the Federal Reserve the green light to reduce interest rates. That could push wider adoption of riskier assets.

But there's one trend that could drive Bitcoin's price higher well beyond 2025, and it appears to be accelerating.

What can drive Bitcoin long term?

Bitcoin's price is based almost entirely on supply and demand. There's a fixed supply of Bitcoin -- only 21 million will ever exist, of which about 19.9 million are already in circulation. So, strong growth in demand will send its value up over time.

To that end, we're seeing signs of more growth in demand. ETF inflows have reaccelerated after a pullback in March and April. On top of that, there's growing interest in Bitcoin treasury companies that aim to follow in the footsteps of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, whose main business is buying and holding Bitcoin.

We saw a new pure play on the Strategy Bitcoin treasury idea, Twenty One, agreeing to go public in late April. Trump Media raised $2.5 billion to establish a Bitcoin treasury at the end of May. Several other businesses have taken to the idea of selling shares in their company to buy Bitcoin, injecting billions of dollars of demand and a continuous flow of more demand in the future.

So, not only is there more institutional interest in buying Bitcoin, but there's growing corporate interest as well. The current political environment is making it easier for both to confidently hold Bitcoin on their books, so the trend should continue for a long time.

Most investors can easily invest in Bitcoin through their regular brokerage account by purchasing a Bitcoin ETF. The expense ratios on the best Bitcoin ETFs are relatively low and worth paying for the simplicity and security they provide.

If you'd rather buy Bitcoin directly, opening an account on a crypto exchange isn't difficult, but beware of the hidden costs of crypto transactions, including slippage and take rates from exchanges. You'll also need to remain mindful of security concerns regarding custody of your Bitcoin.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Adam Levy has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is about to experience an interesting tug of war over its supply. On one side are the predictable monthly coin supply releases from escrow by XRP's issuer, a company called Ripple. On the other side are the world's first XRP treasury companies, which are start-ups whose sole purpose is to stockpile the coin and sit on it to capture its price appreciation over time.

That second force is small today. But the very fact it now exists when it didn't before creates incremental, structural demand for a coin whose floating supply is otherwise set to expand. If you can handle a three-year holding window and an investment as small as $1,000, the odds are thus very favorable that demand will win out in your favor if you buy the coin. Let's explore why.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Meet the new XRP treasurers

A crypto treasury company is a publicly traded business that raises capital, buys a digital asset like XRP, and thereby offers its shareholders levered exposure to the underlying asset's price. This approach was first used by Strategy with Bitcoin, and now the same model is being attempted by a few enterprising companies with XRP.

In late May, the solar power and storage business VivoPower pivoted to become the world's first XRP-focused treasury company, closing a $121 million private placement-funding round and then in early June specifically allocating $100 million to purchase XRP in an over-the-counter (OTC) deal. And it isn't alone in picking XRP as its treasury asset, at least not any more. Within 24 hours of VivoPower's announcement, two other small companies, Ault Capital Group and an Asia-based logistics holding business, disclosed plans to buy XRP as a strategic reserve asset.

Why bother with holding coins when there are other ways to make money that don't rely on the vagaries of the market to generate a return?

Image source: Getty Images.

Although it's yet to be proven successful, except in the case of Strategy, generally crypto treasury companies argue they can outperform just holding their underlying assets directly by issuing equity or convertible debt, buying coins, and capturing any upside on behalf of shareholders. Those shareholders are effectively making a leveraged bet on the crypto by buying the company's stock, so it's true that their returns could be higher than just holding the coins directly.

Here's the math to know

How much impact will these new treasury companies have on XRP's supply relative to what's being released from escrow each month? If the answer is "close to zero," then the coin's critics can retain one of their arguments against buying it. On the other hand, if the treasurers are taking a large amount of supply off the table, it would be another argument in favor of buying and holding the coin.

Ripple still controls about 36.5 billion XRP in escrow and, by design, unlocks about 1 billion tokens on the first day of each month. Historically, roughly 800 million of that haul are relocked, leaving a net 200 million XRP that can hit the market and boost supply and depress prices. So there's an inflationary element of XRP that is relatively minor in the big scheme of things.

Compare that with VivoPower's initial $100 million purchasing goal for the asset. At today's XRP price of about $2.25, it can buy roughly 44 million XRP. In other words, a single new treasury entrant can sop up roughly 20% of a typical month's net supply increase. Layer in similar moves telegraphed by other aspiring crypto treasury companies, and supply can start to tighten rather quickly, at least for as long as there's a steady drumbeat of new entrants making big purchases.

Critics counter that treasury companies are leveraged, thinly capitalized, and prone to dumping if XRP's price plunges, which is a fair point. It's also the case that Ripple could decide to sell more of each month's escrow if prices surge.

Nonetheless, the key is that demand pressure from buyers now has a persistent, deep-pocketed corporate source instead of relying solely on retail traders and banks. And that's bullish.

The setup looks favorable here

Assuming the XRP treasury club grows, three tailwinds could reinforce the thesis for buying $1,000 of the coin and holding it for at least three years.

First, the approval of a U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) application is widely expected sometime in 2025. An approval would ignite institutional demand the way Bitcoin ETFs did. It's not guaranteed, but it's no secret that the new administration's leaders are very friendly toward crypto.

Second, the supply unlock schedule itself is finite and not very scary at all. If the unlocking pace persists as it has, Ripple's remaining stash of XRP will eventually run dry. The monthly supply drip could then end entirely, leaving crypto treasurers, remittance banks, and everyone else to fight over a fixed supply. That would drive prices up.

Finally, competition among treasurers is now accelerating. Corporate executives hunting for their own version of Strategy's moment of popularity may decide XRP's utility for making payments are safer than an all-Bitcoin bet.

Of course, none of this insulates investors from volatility. That's why a $1,000 starting stake is worthwhile; it keeps your exposure modest while still letting you participate in the upside if demand outruns new supply.

Patience is the key here. Give the tug-of-war three years to play out, and the coin's price will likely be a lot higher than it is right now.

Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?

Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

If you want to achieve significant gains in the stock market, you'll probably want to plan to hold on and remain invested for many years, or even decades. But in some cases, big payoffs can come much faster than that. The benefit of investing in growth stocks is that they have the potential to deliver some terrific returns.

For example, growth stocks Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), Mara Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), and Verona Pharma (NASDAQ: VRNA) have yielded fantastic gains for investors over the past five years. If you had invested $15,000 into each one of these stocks just five years ago and held on, you would have a portfolio worth more than $1 million today. The question is, do they still have the potential for further significant gains for investors who buy them right now?

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: Getty Images.

Strategy

A $15,000 investment made five years ago into the company that at that time called itself MicroStrategy would now be worth around $458,000. That's a staggering return when you consider that its core technology business hasn't been taking off. The company, which earlier this year shortened its name to Strategy, has actually experienced a decline in revenue in recent years. While it's nominally involved in providing business intelligence solutions, the reason its stock skyrocketed was tied to its aggressive moves in the cryptocurrency space.

Strategy is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), with a stash that now totals more than 500,000 coins. The company routinely updates investors on its position and Bitcoin holdings. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor is incredibly bullish on the popular digital currency's potential value, predicting that its token price will climb to well over $1 million in the future, and suggesting that it could potentially top $13 million by 2045.

Strategy stock could still rise higher if Bitcoin does well. But it's a highly speculative buy: Its valuation is not tied to its overall performance, but is instead contingent on how strong the crypto market is. If you're bullish about that, you may feel that the stock could be a good buy. But for the majority of investors, this investment is likely to be too risky and speculative to hold.

Mara Holdings

Bitcoin mining company Mara has also benefited from the cryptocurrency's rising value over the past five years. During that stretch, a $15,000 investment into the stock would have grown into a holding worth approximately $290,000. Remarkably, that result includes a steep drop that it hasn't fully recovered from yet: The crypto stock is down by more than 50% from where it began 2022.

In the past three years, the company's bottom line has fluctuated drastically, from a loss of more than $694 million in 2022 to a profit of $541 million in 2024, and the stock has been similarly volatile. Its performance inevitably hinges on the changes in the market value of the digital assets it mines and holds.

As with Strategy, this is a speculative buy, as Mara's valuation will ultimately depend on how well Bitcoin is doing. This isn't a stock I'd suggest owning unless you have an extremely high risk tolerance.

Verona Pharma

The only stock on this list that hasn't amassed its gains due to crypto is Verona Pharma. However, the biopharmaceutical company has still generated impressive returns for investors. A $15,000 investment in the business five years ago would now be worth $267,000. Add that to the gains from your hypothetical $15,000 investments in the other two companies mentioned, and you'd have around $1.02 million.

Shares of Verona started to take off in June 2024 after the company obtained Food and Drug Administration approval for Ohtuvayre as a maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Analysts believe Ohtuvayre can become a blockbuster drug, generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue for Verona by 2029.

Verona incurred a loss of more than $173 million last year, but with Ohtuvayre already beginning to generate sales, the business is on a much more positive trajectory. The stock's valuation isn't cheap, as its market cap is hovering around $7 billion. But given its promising growth prospects and its possible path to profitability, it's the only stock on this list that I'd consider buying today.

Should you invest $1,000 in Strategy right now?

Before you buy stock in Strategy, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Strategy wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,841!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 789% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025

David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

During the past five years, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) stock is up almost 2,900%. No other company even comes close. Nvidia, for example, is up a little more than 1,400% during that same time period.

What's particularly remarkable about the performance of MicroStrategy, which is now doing business as Strategy, is that it is based almost entirely on its relentless accumulation of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). The more Bitcoin Strategy buys, the higher its stock price goes.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

As a result, a number of companies are now jumping into the fray, attempting to become "the next Strategy" by embarking on Bitcoin buying campaigns. But do they even have a chance?

The rise of the Bitcoin treasury company

Strategy now holds 580,250 Bitcoins, making it by far the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world. By way of comparison, the next largest corporate holder of Bitcoin is MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), a Bitcoin mining company, which holds 48,137 Bitcoins.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strategy has gone all-in on its Bitcoin business model. In fact, in February, it rebranded itself as a Bitcoin treasury company. Essentially, this is a company that does nothing but buy Bitcoin. Even though Strategy still has a legacy enterprise software business, that's pretty much an afterthought these days.

If you go to the homepage for Strategy, it's hard even to find a mention of its software offerings. The entire website has been transformed into a Bitcoin dashboard.

Admittedly, the numbers are head-spinning. During the past 12 months, Strategy is up 139%. Bitcoin is up 53%. Gold is up 40%. Nvidia is up 22%. The only corporation that has even come close to Strategy's performance is Tesla, which is up 94%.

Potential rivals to Strategy

Potential Strategy rivals have a tall task ahead of themselves. They have to start buying Bitcoin at a hefty price of more than $100,000, and that requires a huge war chest. Strategy started its Bitcoin acquisition buying five years ago, when the price was much lower.

That said, there's one potential rival that's generating a lot of buzz these days, and that's Twenty One Capital. Most likely, you've never heard of the company, and for good reason. It only opened at the end of April, so it's only been around for a month.

In that brief time span, Twenty One Capital has managed to acquire 31,500 Bitcoins, making it the third-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world. It has gone from zero to $500 million in 30 days.

You might be scratching your head here. If a single Bitcoin costs upward of $100,000, how did this company manage to snatch up 31,500 of these expensive coins in such a short period of time? The answer is simple: It has some friends with deep pockets.

Twenty One Capital launched with the support of Tether, the world's largest stablecoin, and SoftBank, the Japanese tech behemoth. It planning to go public with the help of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which had a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) just waiting to be put to work.

There are more Bitcoin treasury companies on the way. For example, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently said he plans to convert one of his companies into a Bitcoin treasury company. Every day, it seems, there's a new company that's ditching its previous business model and going all in on becoming a Bitcoin treasury company.

What could possibly go wrong?

The Bitcoin treasury company playbook seems easy to follow: Buy Bitcoin, see your stock price soar. As long as the price of Bitcoin continues to go up, this could be a very profitable strategy. Things get dicier, however, if the price of Bitcoin ever falls. All of a sudden, any company holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet is going to have to take huge write-downs every quarter.

Moreover, the stakes continue to rise. As Bloomberg points out, in order to one-up Strategy, you need to do something new. It is no longer enough just to buy up as much Bitcoin as you can -- you now need to do something with it to create additional value. At a minimum, you need to outperform Bitcoin by at least a slight margin, otherwise investors will simply move their money into relatively safe spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Should you buy Strategy?

If 2024 was the year that Bitcoin went mainstream, 2025 might be the year that the Bitcoin treasury company goes mainstream. I'm keeping a close eye on which new corporations are buying Bitcoin, as well as what their strategies are for outperforming Bitcoin over the long haul.

For now, Strategy is still the best option. You really can't argue with a company that is outperforming every single Magnificent Seven stock, and even Bitcoin itself. But, with the arrival of so many new Bitcoin treasury company copycats, it remains to be seen how much longer Strategy can remain the market leader.

Should you invest $1,000 in Strategy right now?

Before you buy stock in Strategy, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Strategy wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $828,224!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor is one of the most vocal of the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) bulls out there, and in recent days, he made yet another series of incredibly optimistic predictions about the coin's growth during the coming decades. Saylor says he expects the price of Bitcoin to rise at a 30% annual rate during the next 20 years, bringing its price into the ballpark of $13 million per coin.

For reference, its price is currently about $104,000, so Saylor's projection appears to be, at least on its face, extraordinarily ambitious, bordering on fantastical, or perhaps even what some would describe as delusional.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Could he be right, or is this just another instance of another celebrity portfolio manager making lofty predictions in the course of "talking his book" to attract fresh capital for his most important investment?

The math is actually pretty favorable here

During the past 10 years, the price of Bitcoin rose by 43,820%. That puts its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) at 84%; during the past five years, its CAGR was 62%. Therefore, the back-of-the-napkin math for Saylor's predicted growth rate looks to be on the conservative side relative to the coin's historical performance.

Let's emphasize that point: Saylor's forecast for Bitcoin is based on a scenario in which it would consistently perform significantly worse than it has historically. But will this growth actually happen?

If it does, it certainly won't occur such that the coin's price marches upward each year in an orderly fashion. Multiple crashes of as much as 80% have already happened in Bitcoin's history, and similar plunges will probably happen again. Notably, the asset has recovered from all of those plunges so far and gone on to reach higher highs afterward. It's more probable than not that it will repeat those patterns.

Image source: Getty Images.

In the current era, there are also a handful of drivers for Bitcoin's price that make it an attractive asset to hold even if it isn't capable of growing by as much as Saylor is banking on. Governments, institutional investors, and major corporations are all evaluating whether to hold it on their balance sheets, or are already acquiring it. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are giving investors easier access to the asset. And that's before even getting into the long-term drivers of its price performance, like its halving schedule and the scarcity that's baked into the coin's protocol.

So all of those trends will contribute upward pressure on the price of the coin during the next 10 to 20 years, as well as providing boosts in the shorter term as the commanders of large volumes of capital implement their Bitcoin strategies.

Even Saylor is advising you not to bet the farm

All of this is to say that Saylor could well be right about Bitcoin's long-term trajectory. There isn't any obvious barrier that would prevent the asset from compounding at the pace his forecast calls for.

Nonetheless, he explicitly warns against quitting your day job in hopes that the coin's price appreciation will carry the day for your personal finances. Nor is it advisable to sell your house to buy Bitcoin, nor to go into debt for the sake of accumulating it at a faster pace. The implications of a bright future for Bitcoin are no excuse to sacrifice the fundamentals of personal finance or your portfolio's diversification.

However, if Saylor's bullishness catches your imagination (as perhaps it should) what might make sense is to bump up the size of the allocation to Bitcoin in your portfolio. For conservative investors who might need their funds within the next five years, an allocation of 1% is reasonable, but for those with longer time frames, 5% or more could be a good idea. Just remember, you will only get the benefit of its price compounding over time if you keep your coins rather than sell them.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $635,275!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $826,385!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 967% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

On news of positive developments on the global trade front, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) once again regained the $100,000 price level. The euphoria in the crypto market was palpable, and just about every top cryptocurrency moved higher as soon as the first trade deal was announced.

The new thinking is that Bitcoin is about to go on another one of its famous bull market runs, taking it to new all-time highs. But is that really the case?

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Macroeconomic outlook

While the White House's announcement of a new trade deal with the U.K. is certainly reason for optimism, a closer reading of the "deal" reveals that it is really more of an agreement, and that tariffs are not going away.

Moreover, as skeptics are pointing out, Great Britain accounts for only a small percentage of all U.S. trade, and the U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Great Britain. On the other hand, signing the first trade deal with a key Asian trading partner, with whom the U.S. had a trade deficit, would have been much more bullish.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's also been less than 48 hours since Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned of slowing economic growth and higher prices as a result of tariffs. We haven't seen any direct economic effects from the tariffs yet, but the warning signs on the horizon are ominous. If dozens of new trading deals aren't signed within the next 60 days, any gains in Bitcoin could be fleeting.

Institutional adoption

However, the case for Bitcoin entering a new bull market cycle becomes much stronger when you consider the pace of institutional adoption. The best way to see institutional adoption in action is by looking at investor inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs. These inflows turned negative during the peak of tariff uncertainty, but have since turned positive.

In fact, there's now more money flowing into the spot Bitcoin ETFs than into gold ETFs. That's particularly striking, given that gold has outperformed Bitcoin this year. Gold is also the one safe haven asset that you typically want to be holding during times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. So it speaks volumes that investors now appear to be buying more Bitcoin than gold.

You can also measure the pace of institutional adoption by tracking the growing number of corporations adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets. Leading the way is MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the company now doing business as Strategy, which continues to load up on Bitcoin. There are also a growing number of "MicroStrategy copycats," which are following the same strategy of buying as much Bitcoin as they can.

Where are we in the Bitcoin cycle?

A new infusion of global liquidity, combined with a sea change in investor sentiment, can certainly push Bitcoin higher in the short term. But for how long?

To answer that question, it's important to know where we are in the Bitcoin cycle. Historically, Bitcoin follows a well-documented four-year cycle, which leads to periods of "boom" and "bust." The four-year cycle is more than just a statistical oddity -- it follows from the fact that Bitcoin has a halving event every four years.

Based on data from three previous Bitcoin cycles, the halving typically leads to a 12- to 18-month period of bullish activity and outsized market gains. So, as an investor, all you have to do is take the date of the last halving, add on anywhere from 12 to 18 months, and presto! You have a pretty good idea of when the bull market cycle is going to end. The ending of the bull market cycle typically happens with a "blowoff top" -- a massive frenzy of speculative froth and market euphoria, followed by a steep market correction.

That's what has me worried right now. The last Bitcoin halving took place in April 2024, more than 12 months ago. So, if history is any guide, then we are quickly approaching the end of the current Bitcoin cycle. If the period of bullish activity lasts for the full 18 months, there could be a speculative frenzy of Bitcoin buying activity until November.

This could lead to a repeat of what happened four years ago. In November 2021, Bitcoin hit a then all-time high of $69,000 and seemed to be headed to the moon. It never made it there. The crypto rocket ship never reached escape velocity, and Bitcoin soon collapsed below $16,000.

Buy Bitcoin for the long haul

Investors need to commit to buying Bitcoin for the long haul. I can't emphasize this enough: If you are only buying Bitcoin for the potential short-term gains, you are doing it all wrong.

Bitcoin is highly volatile, and so goes through boom-and-bust cycles. It's exciting when Bitcoin is in the "boom" part of its cycle, but you need to be ready to ride out the "bust" part of the cycle as well. We've seen this story before with Bitcoin, and it always ends the same way.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $614,911!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $714,958!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 907% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 163% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 5, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

With so many different forces affecting its value at all times, it's remarkable that Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) price isn't even more volatile. So when there's significant purchasing action by a large holder that claims to want to hold on to its hoard of the coin forever, like there has been over the last couple of weeks, it's worth paying attention to.

After all, high-profile buying could be interpreted as a tailwind for higher prices. Or it could be viewed as a risk, since it might precede later news of the same actor ditching its position for greener pastures.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

With those dynamics in mind, let's break down who's buying it right now and why it could be an important factor in the coin's performance over the coming years.

Is it worth following this whale's move?

Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), which was originally a software business known as MicroStrategy but now claims to be a Bitcoin treasury, just purchased $555.8 million of Bitcoin in the week of April 14 through April 20, bolstering its smaller purchase of $285.5 million during the week ending on April 14.

It now has about $36.5 billion of the asset, which it procured using funds from a combination of borrowing and stock issuance, for an average price of $67,766 per token. These sizable purchases come on the heels of an even larger one executed at the end of March, which was worth $1.9 billion.

Given that Strategy has been loath to sell its Bitcoin so far, and that it might not ever do so unless forced to, some investors could interpret its ongoing confidence in the coin as a reason to buy it. After all, it controls around 2.5% of all the crypto that's currently in circulation, which is actually a very large proportion for an asset that's highly distributed and decentralized in nature.

With that much supply taken off the market, it will increase the competition among buyers for the remaining portion that's still for sale, which will drive prices up over the medium and long terms. Especially when paired with Bitcoin's other scarcity-generating mechanics, like its increasing mining difficulty over time, this kind of supply control can make it far more expensive for future buyers to secure a position of their own, significantly rewarding those who got in earlier, like Strategy.

At the same time, investors may also be interested in buying more Bitcoin because of the publicity that Strategy's purchases tend to bring. There's something compelling in the narrative of having a major evangelist for an asset that's proudly buying it at practically any price.

What's more, having a powerful advocate for the strategy of simply buying and holding Bitcoin is something that holders can benefit from, since it encourages the investor behavior that drives the price up over time.

Be aware that this is a risk

There is a bit of a possible downside to Strategy's purchasing activity. The company uses issuance of debt and equity to fund its purchases, as mentioned previously. That means if the price of Bitcoin drops enough, it could be forced into liquidation of its assets to make its creditors whole.

In other words, it could be forced into selling large volumes of its crypto, thereby potentially creating a downward spiral in the coin's price.

That outcome might not happen. Still, if Strategy continue to procure more and more of Bitcoin's total supply, the risk will increase, so it's important to recognize. There is no reason to hold off on buying the coin, but it is worth keeping an eye on, because a forced-selling cascade could actually be a good buying opportunity if it ever happens, assuming you can stomach buying the dip.

Overall, for now, Strategy's repeated public commitments to never selling any Bitcoin and its repeated purchasing of even more are a minor to moderately strong bullish tailwind. But, as a matter of principle, a big investor loading up on an asset cannot be a part of the investment thesis for that asset or a significant reason for buying it; that's simply bad investing form to try to borrow someone else's conviction to make a decision for yourself, and it never works in the long run anyway.

So buy Bitcoin if you're willing to hold it, but don't feel any pressure to copy what Strategy does.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.