How to Verify a Company's Bitcoin Holdings On-Chain (Step-by-Step)

TL;DR: Any company can claim Bitcoin holdings. Only on-chain verification proves it. You need: (1) their wallet addresses, (2) a cryptographic signature proving ownership, and (3) a block explorer to check balances. This guide shows you exactly how.

FTX claimed to hold billions in customer Bitcoin. They didn’t.

The 2022 collapse taught the crypto industry a painful lesson: claims without proof aren’t worth the press release they’re printed on. But here’s the thing-Bitcoin was literally designed for verification. Every balance, every transaction, exists on a public ledger anyone can check.

So when a company says “we hold 10,000 BTC,” you can verify it yourself. Here’s exactly how.

Key Takeaways

Why On-Chain Verification Matters

On-chain verification lets you independently confirm that a company holds the Bitcoin it claims-without trusting the company, an auditor, or anyone else. The blockchain is the auditor.

The FTX Lesson

FTX published balance sheets. They had auditors. They had celebrity endorsements. None of it mattered because none of it was verifiable on-chain. When the music stopped, the Bitcoin simply wasn’t there.

The difference with on-chain proof: you can see the coins. They either exist at the address or they don’t.

Balance Sheets vs. Blockchain

“Don’t trust, verify. Bitcoin’s transparency isn’t a bug-it’s the core feature.”

Bitcoin Community Ethos

What Companies Need to Provide for Verification

For you to verify a company’s Bitcoin holdings, they need to provide two things:

1. Public Wallet Addresses

The company must disclose the Bitcoin addresses where they hold funds. This could be:

• A single address (simple but less common)
• Multiple addresses (more typical for security reasons)
• An xpub (extended public key) that generates all their addresses

2. Cryptographic Proof of Ownership (Signature)

Disclosing an address isn’t enough-anyone can point to a random whale wallet. The company must prove they control that address by signing a message with the private key.

Here’s how it works:

1. Company creates a message (e.g., “This address belongs to Metaplanet Inc. Signed Jan 2025”)
2. Company signs the message using the private key for that address
3. Anyone can verify the signature matches the address without the company revealing the private key

This is cryptographic proof that the company controls the coins-without moving them.

Example signature verification format:

Address: bc1q...xyz
Message: "This address belongs to Metaplanet Inc. Signed Jan 2025"
Signature: H8K3d...base64...

Step-by-Step: Verify Holdings Yourself

Here’s the exact process we use to verify companies on our leaderboard.

Step 1: Find the Company’s Disclosed Addresses

Step 2: Check the Balance

Go to a block explorer and enter the address:

You’ll see the current balance and transaction history.

Verification check: If a company claims 1,000 BTC and the address shows 1,000 BTC, the balance checks out. If it shows 50 BTC, something’s wrong-ask questions.

Step 3: Verify the Signature (If Provided)

If the company published a signed message, verify it:

1. Go to a signature verification tool (many wallets have this built in)
2. Enter: the address, the message, and the signature
3. The tool confirms whether the signature is valid

A valid signature proves the company controls that address.

Step 4: Track Changes Over Time

One-time verification isn’t enough. Set up monitoring:

Tools for On-Chain Verification

You don’t need to run a full node. These tools make verification accessible:

Block Explorers

• mempool.space: Our preferred explorer. Clean, fast, open-source
• Blockstream.info: Reliable, backed by Blockstream
• OXT: Advanced analysis for power users

Wallet Intelligence

• Arkham Intelligence: Labels known wallets (companies, exchanges, whales)
• Glassnode: On-chain metrics and entity tracking
• Nansen: Smart money tracking (more Ethereum-focused)

Aggregators

• BitcoinCompanies.co: Verified corporate holdings with proof status
• BitcoinTreasuries.net: Comprehensive list (not all verified)

See our full list of Bitcoin treasury companies with proof of reserves.

Red Flags: When You Can’t Verify

If a company claims Bitcoin holdings but you can’t verify them, be skeptical.

No Addresses Published

The company says “we hold X BTC” but won’t tell you where. Why not? Security concerns are valid, but there are ways to prove holdings without compromising operational security.

Custodian Complications

If Bitcoin is held by a custodian (Coinbase Prime, BitGo, etc.), the company may not be able to sign messages. This is a legitimate limitation-but it means you’re trusting the custodian, not verifying directly.

“Does the custodian provide proof of reserves? Can the company get an attestation? ‘Trust our custodian’ isn’t verification.”

Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, on custodial transparency

Stale Proof

A signed message from 2023 doesn’t prove the company still holds coins in 2025. Verification should be recent and ideally ongoing.

Trust, But Verify

Bitcoin’s killer feature isn’t just sound money-it’s verifiable money. Every satoshi can be tracked, every balance confirmed, every claim checked.

When a company says they hold Bitcoin, you have two choices: trust them, or verify. After FTX, the choice should be obvious.

Don’t trust. Verify.

Further Reading

• Bitcoin Treasury Companies with Proof of Reserves: Full list of verified companies
• Corporate Bitcoin Custody Solutions: Where companies store their Bitcoin
• Bitcoin Treasury Accounting in 2025: How companies report holdings under new FASB rules

We verify every company on our leaderboard. See which companies have on-chain proof at BitcoinCompanies.co