how easy it is to fake buying bitcoin?

[Fiatless]

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

The only way we would know they are lying is if they are caught and exposed. An independent audit from a reputable firm might also show if they are lying or not. This fake disclosure might be why the government is making new regulatory laws which might include compelling them to submit themselves for government audit.

[criptoevangelista]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company

but how easy would it be to fake buying bitcoin? answer is very hard. the blockchain is public and you would need to be really smart to pull this off and show some evidence to investors. if you are proven to be only faking buying bitcoin to attract investors, you can be sued.

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

Most companies go through audits, and their investors will want to know where the money is. I don’t think you can say you’re buying Bitcoin when in reality you’re not buying anything. That would be worse than anything else. A lack of credibility can ruin any company. So these companies are probably actually buying it for real.

[adultcrypto]

I don't think companies will take the risk of faking to buy bitcoin in order to attract customers.  Such action is not necessary and no serious company will do that unless they are scammers that are looking for investors to scam. Most companies that decided to set up bitcoin reserve are estaished and such decisions were approved by the board of directors and shareholders, at least for the ones I know of.

[PX-Z]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

But why a company will do that, lying their bitcoin holdings, for what reasons. Microstrategy is too different for those companies just because they do such a thing, lure investments after they invest on bitcoin. It depends on its stocks, finance and business performance and so on. Look at their stock, its price is in ATH on this past weeks, means it performs better for many reasons.
Say microsoft stack bitcoin too, I wouldn't think investors will rally to go there just like your example on microstrategy, it will depend on the business performance and different matters too.

[Zigabel]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company

but how easy would it be to fake buying bitcoin? answer is very hard. the blockchain is public and you would need to be really smart to pull this off and show some evidence to investors. if you are proven to be only faking buying bitcoin to attract investors, you can be sued.

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

It is very possible some companies are lying about their holdings so they could avoid certain things because of people get an insight about the actual worth of their holdings,  it is going to bring certain things that they do not want to them. And some of them on the other hand could have less than they declar that they have , they may just be using it as a visibility strategy to get to a targeted audience.

[BABY SHOES]

Private companies are hard to track because they're not required to upload their financial report to public.

Public companies need to be careful, if they announce if they bought Bitcoin, I'm sure there's always someone will take a look into their financial report and busted them. I think there's not yet any company had this issue right? sooner or later we will see.

Yeah, that's a reasonable explanation why private companies cannot disclose their financial reports, as this could lead to other crimes that could be dangerous for the company.

But if a well known company lies by falsifying their bitcoin purchases, this could threaten the company's credibility.

And so far, no company has falsified their purchases.

[dumpsterhawk]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company
i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

But why a company will do that, lying their bitcoin holdings, for what reasons.

It is a weird question that you ask. Why does any company ever lie, cheat and commit fraud? To profit off of it of course, why else? Saying that you are buying Bitcoin will likely help with the company's valuation. If the price of Bitcoin goes up afterwards then you are going to see massive effects of the fake buying.

And so far, no company has falsified their purchases.

Maybe this particular case didn't happen yet because you can't start doing this without having a credible company already, but there were indirect cases of fraudulent Bitcoin activity which is very similar. Bitconnect for example.

[BitMaxz]

It is very possible some companies are lying about their holdings so they could avoid certain things because of people get an insight about the actual worth of their holdings,  it is going to bring certain things that they do not want to them. And some of them on the other hand could have less than they declar that they have , they may just be using it as a visibility strategy to get to a targeted audience.

I don't think companies would easily do that since the purpose of the investment is to hold BTC, not Bitcoin, unless their agreement is different.
The price of Bitcoin can be checked online publicly. If they are talking about Bitcoin, then you should know the price from time to time, and you should be able to calculate your shares from that company and how much interest or profit you get.

Also, we can verify if they bought bitcoin by making a sign message as proof of ownership. So it's impossible that they can fake buying Bitcoin this is not the same as when you are on the local market, where you can make a copy of the receipt with different info.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

Have you forgotten one of the first principles? Do not just trust, verify.

In the age of only decentralized exchanges, faking would obviously be hard but not impossible, so now imagine how much details centralized exchanges are hiding. I personally think most of them are faking it and even using proxy accounts to purchase/sell undocumented Bitcoins, and there is nothing we can do about it.

[PX-Z]

It is a weird question that you ask. Why does any company ever lie, cheat and commit fraud? To profit off of it of course, why else? Saying that you are buying Bitcoin will likely help with the company's valuation. If the price of Bitcoin goes up afterwards then you are going to see massive effects of the fake buying.

People will always find ways to uncover the truth, especially in this space where transparency is highly valued. If the claims are true, those involved will likely demand proof or clarity. But if they're not, it could be the beginning of the company's downfall, especially if it's a publicly traded business, stocks. Lying in this case would be extremely risky, considering the blockchain technology and data are publicly accessible. Any dishonesty could easily backfire, snd they will be considered as a fraud.

[EFS]

Some people feel very inadequate when it comes to technology and don't want to make such an investment on their own. Buying Bitcoin and storing it securely can seem difficult and that's understandable. That's why there are many new companies saying, "Give us your money and we'll invest it in various assets, including Bitcoin, on your behalf". These companies are very popular.
For other investment instruments, it may be harder to prove that a purchase was actually made, but this isn't the case with Bitcoin. It's easy to verify whether a company really made the purchase or not. Could there be companies that lie about this? It's possible. But it's obvious that this lie will eventually be exposed.

[tread93]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company

but how easy would it be to fake buying bitcoin? answer is very hard. the blockchain is public and you would need to be really smart to pull this off and show some evidence to investors. if you are proven to be only faking buying bitcoin to attract investors, you can be sued.

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

If they did choose to lie about their Bitcoin holdings they will be found out and it will only damage their business credibility and reputation and nobody wants that. I remember when even talking about Bitcoin in corporate America was completely frowned upon, now look how far we have come. Bitcoin is now king, cash has always been trash.

[kotajikikox]

I don't think companies will take the risk of faking to buy bitcoin in order to attract customers.  Such action is not necessary and no serious company will do that unless they are scammers that are looking for investors to scam. Most companies that decided to set up bitcoin reserve are estaished and such decisions were approved by the board of directors and shareholders, at least for the ones I know of.

It doesn’t have to be big companies. It can be stores that just want the attention of having bitcoin. We know that in here we usually share when a store accepts bitcoin even more so if they start buying bitcoin, yes? So maybe some people might want to use that advantage to gather attention and use bitcoin for clout.

[Darker45]

The blockchain is indeed public, transparent, but are centralized companies offering Bitcoin-related services as transparent? Take, for instance, centralized exchanges. Are those billions in daily Bitcoin/altcoin pairs backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin? I don't think so. Are those dozens of swap platforms declaring ample Bitcoin reserves transparent? No.

The Bitcoin market right now is dominated by centralized players, custodians, that aren't transparent. Some show proof of reserves that are shady at the very least. If we total all the paper Bitcoin, IOUs, hollow numbers, or whatever you call it, I'm sure it's way higher than what's actually circulating. This is certainly one of the reasons why despite the demand, the price remains relatively low.

All of the Bitcoin that aren't on-chain are fake Bitcoin. All Bitcoin that people keep in centralized platforms and custodial wallets are fake Bitcoin. Therefore, it's easy to fake Bitcoin, buying fake Bitcoin.

[adaseb]

Yes there is a public blockchain but many companies dont publicly advertise their addresses for security reasons. The way you know they actually bought it is usually if its a publicly traded company and they need to provide their quarterly earnings and need to state it there.

Another method is perhaps some custodian like Coinbase can confirm that a certain company holds their bitcoin if they request it. This way the funds are kept with the custodian instead of self custody.

Sure companies can lie but keep in mind if a dying company of $1M in assets all of a sudden buys $100M in crypto, we will all know its a lie because where did all that money come from?

[malekbaba]

It’s a fair concern. When MicroStrategy bought Bitcoin early, it became a proxy for people who wanted exposure without holding BTC themselves. Now that Bitcoin is more accepted, some companies may indeed use it, some may fake the buying to attract investors. Faking it, though, is not easy. Large holdings usually show public addresses, audited financial statements, and regulatory disclosures. Lying may cause serious legal and reputational risk. Cause trust still matters. Smaller or less regulated firms could exaggerate or be fake about holdings though. This is why investors should look for onchain proof, third-party audits, and regular reporting, not just headlines or bold claims.

[Mahiyammahi]

This is a legitimate concern, and it’s actually a risk that people don’t talk about very openly.
In reality, it’s very difficult for a public company to completely fake its Bitcoin holdings for a long time. Public companies are subject to securities laws audits and mandatory disclosures. If a company claims to hold Bitcoin, that information is usually included in their financial statements, risk disclosures, and auditor reviews. Lying here isn’t just marketing; it’s outright securities fraud, and the penalties can be devastating to the company’s reputation and existence.

But there’s a gray area here. Some companies may exaggerate the strategic importance of Bitcoin, time their announcements to get media attention, or report their holdings in a way that makes them appear larger than they actually are. Others hold Bitcoin through custodians or structured products, making it impossible for outsiders to verify it on chain.  So the level of transparency varies from company to company.
Companies like MicroStrategy have consistently providing detailed and repetitive disclosures since the beginning. But some new or smaller companies often rely on headlines rather than real strength. This doesn’t mean they’re lying, but investors should be wary.

The most important difference is time. You can make up a story for a short time, but you can’t evade audits, time, and regulators for long. If a company claims Bitcoin exposure and it has a significant impact on their valuation, regulators and investors will eventually want proof.

[Mate2237]

Why will a company even think about lieing to the public about their Bitcoin investments, whether they are holding it or not I don't consider it as important. Maybe to attract customers to invest in their company that will be a wrong thing to do. But the probability of anyone deceiving the general public concerning their Bitcoin holdings is low because the Bitcoin BlockChain is public as anyone can easily access it and make their calculations to are certain the claims of such company.


Companies has to make their stand on the issue of Bitcoin known to the public instead of faking it no body will kill them for that. It better that they have a definite stand on Bitcoin instead of faking it that will be a shameful thing by any company to do.

[Hispo]

when microstrategy bought bitcoin back when the world was not as welcoming as it is now to bitcoin, a lot of people who did not want to directly buy bitcoin went to invest in microstrategy instead and now i think bitcoin has also become a way for companies to attract more investors into their company

but how easy would it be to fake buying bitcoin? answer is very hard. the blockchain is public and you would need to be really smart to pull this off and show some evidence to investors. if you are proven to be only faking buying bitcoin to attract investors, you can be sued.

i wondered if there are some companies right now lying about the real amount of bitcoins they have.... are they all telling the truth or just wants the attention and credit without actually spending money?

I mean, companies can lie... there is nothing new about it, though it is easier for private companies to do so, when comes to public companies it is harder as they are being over-seen by regulators and investors alike and whoever is behind faking data could be thrown in prison for financial crimes.

In theory, it would be difficult to pull off, but it is doable if a company really wants to get out their way in order to lie about their Bitcoin holdings, though I am not sure whether it would be worth for a company to lie in such way in order to attract investors who are interested in Bitcoin, they could just go for it and actually buy some Bitcoin for cashing out in a few years.

[aysha9853]

Bitcoin has become a branding tool for some companies, no doubt, saying you hold BTC attracts attention and investors but because the blockchain is public and regulations exist, outright lying is dangerous.