Strategy (MSTR -2.09%) is the largest single holder of Bitcoin on the planet. It holds almost 844,000 units of the top cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.
This has worked out well at certain times. At Bitcoin's peak last October, Strategy shares had rocketed 2,300% higher over the prior five years. But since the digital asset is currently in a bear market, Strategy's stock trades 79% below its record.
Despite the disappointing price action, the business continues to advance its efforts to integrate the leading cryptocurrency into the traditional financial services industry, further legitimizing the digital asset.
On July 13, Strategy unveiled the Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index. Here's what it might mean for Strategy shares.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Introducing a new industry benchmark The Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index is a scorecard that ranks 25 financial institutions based on how extensively they have adopted Bitcoin in their operations. Categories include trading and custody, products, margin, and leadership. Fidelity sits atop the list, with a 71% index score. Royal Bank of Canada is last, with a 13% index score. Overall, the group has a 32% rating.
On the one hand, the combined score is encouraging. It shows that well-known financial institutions are building capabilities with Bitcoin.
On the other hand, there is still a lot of work to do to get the score higher. These banking entities likely need to see tangible results, such as new customer sign-ups and higher revenue potential, before investing additional resources in Bitcoin initiatives.
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Strategy is positioned as a leader in this new arena It's impossible to know exactly what the creation of the Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index will mean for Strategy shares. But it's clear that investors hope this is the start of a major bull run. It's been difficult to watch the stock fall 79% from a record high of $473.83 in November 2024 to around $100 per share.
What this might do, however, is further solidify Strategy as the leading innovator and authority when it comes to Bitcoin integration. And it positions the business as the pioneer for establishing benchmarks and ratings that move this niche forward. Financial institutions that want to improve their index scores could even consult Strategy on best practices.
Billionaire Michael Saylor has transformed Strategy into a Bitcoin capital markets enterprise, with a suite of preferred equity and convertible debt offerings that provide different classes of investors with unique exposure to the most dominant cryptocurrency. Now that it has introduced the Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index, the company aims to boost its credibility in traditional finance.
Key Takeaways Strategy's dollar reserve covers roughly 1.8 years of annual interest and dividend costs.Bitcoin sales, share repurchases and reserve funding tools may reduce forced financing in weak markets.Strategy still faces high debt, preferred-stock obligations, dilution risk and Bitcoin dependence. Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) has shifted from nonstop Bitcoin accumulation toward protecting its cash position. As of July 24, 2026, it held 843,775 BTC and a $3.225 billion reserve after selling more than 2.7 million MSTR shares for about $263.5 million.
The reserve is restricted mainly to preferred-stock dividends and debt interest. Strategy reports annual interest and dividend costs of about $1.76 billion, so the current reserve offers roughly 1.8 years of coverage.
The latest news shows why that buffer matters. Strategy sold 3,588 BTC in early July for about $216 million, its first major sale after years of steady buying, and disclosed an $8.32 billion second-quarter digital-asset loss.
The company has also approved up to $1 billion each for preferred-share and MSTR repurchases, plus Bitcoin sales of up to $1.25 billion to refill reserves. These tools may reduce forced financing during weak markets and give management flexibility when Bitcoin prices fall sharply.
However, risk remains high, because the reserve improves liquidity without reducing dependence on Bitcoin. Strategy carries about $6.75 billion of debt and $15.46 billion of preferred stock, while MSTR’s valuation premium has fallen near 1.0 times net asset value. Raising cash may, therefore, require more dilution or further Bitcoin sales.
How Are MARA Holdings and Strive Managing Bitcoin Risk?MARA Holdings (MARA - Free Report) has paired treasury defense with expansion. MARA Holdings sold 15,133 Bitcoin and repurchased about $1 billion of convertible notes, then agreed in July to acquire a Texas site with 2,000 megawatts of planned power. MARA Holdings gains flexibility, but development commitments could later rebuild financial pressure.
Strive (ASST - Free Report) held 19,921 Bitcoin and $157.4 million in cash on July 17 after buying 21 more coins. Strive also held $43.1 million of Strategy preferred shares. Strive has liquidity, yet share issuance and Bitcoin volatility still create fixed-payment and dilution risks for investors.
MSTR’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of MSTR have declined 44.1% over the past three months compared with the industry’s fall of 4.8%.
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From a valuation standpoint, Strategy remains highly expensive, trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 65.55, which is far above the sector's average. Its Value Score of F reinforces concerns that the stock is significantly overvalued.
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Over the past 30 days, earnings estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been revised downward, signaling a bearish outlook from analysts.
The recommendations of Wall Street analysts are often relied on by investors when deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock. Media reports about these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts changing their ratings often affect a stock's price. Do they really matter, though?
Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let's see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) .
Strategy currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.26, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 19 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.26 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.
Of the 19 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 16 are Strong Buy and one is Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 84.2% and 5.3% of all recommendations.
Brokerage Recommendation Trends for MSTR
Check price target & stock forecast for Strategy here>>>
While the ABR calls for buying Strategy, it may not be wise to make an investment decision solely based on this information. Several studies have shown limited to no success of brokerage recommendations in guiding investors to pick stocks with the best price increase potential.
Do you wonder why? As a result of the vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover, their analysts tend to rate it with a strong positive bias. According to our research, brokerage firms assign five "Strong Buy" recommendations for every "Strong Sell" recommendation.
In other words, their interests aren't always aligned with retail investors, rarely indicating where the price of a stock could actually be heading. Therefore, the best use of this information could be validating your own research or an indicator that has proven to be highly successful in predicting a stock's price movement.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, which classifies stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a reliable indicator of a stock's near-term price performance. So, validating the Zacks Rank with ABR could go a long way in making a profitable investment decision.
ABR Should Not Be Confused With Zacks RankIn spite of the fact that Zacks Rank and ABR both appear on a scale from 1 to 5, they are two completely different measures.
The ABR is calculated solely based on brokerage recommendations and is typically displayed with decimals (example: 1.28). In contrast, the Zacks Rank is a quantitative model allowing investors to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers -- 1 to 5.
Analysts employed by brokerage firms have been and continue to be overly optimistic with their recommendations. Since the ratings issued by these analysts are more favorable than their research would support because of the vested interest of their employers, they mislead investors far more often than they guide.
On the other hand, earnings estimate revisions are at the core of the Zacks Rank. And empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
In addition, the different Zacks Rank grades are applied proportionately to all stocks for which brokerage analysts provide current-year earnings estimates. In other words, this tool always maintains a balance among its five ranks.
There is also a key difference between the ABR and Zacks Rank when it comes to freshness. When you look at the ABR, it may not be up-to-date. Nonetheless, since brokerage analysts constantly revise their earnings estimates to reflect changing business trends, and their actions get reflected in the Zacks Rank quickly enough, it is always timely in predicting future stock prices.
Should You Invest in MSTR?Looking at the earnings estimate revisions for Strategy, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has declined 50.8% over the past month to $37.54.
Analysts' growing pessimism over the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates lower, could be a legitimate reason for the stock to plunge in the near term.
The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) for Strategy. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Therefore, it could be wise to take the Buy-equivalent ABR for Strategy with a grain of salt.
Strategy (MSTR -6.38%) was a huge winner from 2024 through 2025 as it aggressively issued stock and debt to fund Bitcoin purchases. As Bitcoin's price continued to rise, Strategy's massive stockpile soared in value, allowing the company to easily raise more capital, creating a powerful cycle that amassed an enormous Bitcoin stockpile.
Things have changed, though. Bitcoin's price has fallen nearly halfway from its peak last year, and Strategy hasn't been buying the dip lately. Strategy's latest 8-K filing shows that it hasn't purchased any Bitcoin for four consecutive weeks. Instead, it is selling stock to raise funds, increasing its cash reserves to $3.2 billion.
Should investors be concerned about buying Strategy stock amid the company's sudden pivot? Here's what you need to know.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Fortifying the balance sheet isn't a bad thing Bitcoin is infamously volatile, so a steep decline was probably only a matter of time. It's one thing for an individual investor to buy into a dip, but Strategy is an enormous company with billions of dollars of assets. Opportunistic buying would be nice, but Strategy is focusing on strengthening its balance sheet and preparing for a scenario where Bitcoin continues to decline.
Strategy has 843,775 BTC at an average cost of $75,476 per token. That means that the company is currently sitting on paper losses. It has cash obligations in the form of interest payments on its debt and dividends paid out to preferred shares. Nobody can predict prices, so there's no telling how much lower Bitcoin might go or when it rebounds, or if it ever does.
Holding more cash provides a safety buffer from nightmare situations, such as having to sell at a loss to meet its obligations.
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But it does expose a flaw in Strategy's business model Strategy's recent pause in buying Bitcoin makes sense, but it raises some concerns. As a Bitcoin treasury, Strategy could maximize value for shareholders by accumulating Bitcoin at the lowest possible cost basis. If Strategy's playbook of raising money and buying Bitcoin only works when prices go up, that's a potential red flag.
In that case, it's fair to wonder what value Strategy's current business model can generate, other than functioning as a leveraged bet on rising Bitcoin prices. Remember, Strategy primarily issues debt and stock to fund BTC purchases. Issuing stock dilutes existing shareholders, and doesn't work nearly as well at lower share prices because it takes more shares and dilution to raise the same amount of capital.
Strategy is smart to fortify its balance sheet, but a prolonged decline in Bitcoin is still a massive threat to the business. At the end of the day, investors might be better off owning Bitcoin themselves or investing in a spot Bitcoin ETF.
In the latest close session, Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) was down 1.9% at $100.01. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.14%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.01%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.57%.
Coming into today, shares of the business software company had lost 1.82% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 2.55%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.25%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Strategy in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on July 30, 2026. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $52.04, reflecting a 59.63% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $126.95 million, indicating a 10.88% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $57.47 per share and a revenue of $503.9 million, signifying shifts of +477.35% and +5.59%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Strategy. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 50.76% lower. As of now, Strategy holds a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
With respect to valuation, Strategy is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 1.77. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 11 of its industry.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 186, placing it within the bottom 25% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
Companies rarely get rewarded for issuing more shares. Dilution reduces existing shareholders’ ownership percentage, and investors usually view it as a warning sign that management needs more capital. But Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) has spent years convincing shareholders that dilution can be productive if the money raised increases the value of the company’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) holdings or strengthens its balance sheet.
That unusual strategy has made Michael Saylor’s company one of the market’s most debated stocks. Strategy is no longer simply a software company holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet. It has become a capital markets machine built around issuing securities, managing liquidity, and maintaining its position as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder.
The latest move asks investors to accept another round of dilution in exchange for a stronger financial cushion.
Strategy Sold Stock to Build Its Cash Safety Net Strategy sold approximately $263.5 million of Strategy shares over the prior week while purchasing zero Bitcoin — the second straight week it has declined to make any purchases. Instead of immediately adding to its cryptocurrency holdings, the company used capital markets to increase its U.S. dollar reserve.
That decision marks a shift from Strategy’s earlier playbook. For years, the company raised money primarily to buy more Bitcoin, betting that increasing its Bitcoin holdings would create value for shareholders. Now, the focus is liquidity.
Strategy maintains its dollar reserve to support obligations tied to its preferred stock dividends and debt payments. The company said its USD Reserve reached approximately $3.2 billion, including expected proceeds from ATM share sales that had not yet settled.
Investors saw their ownership stake cut by roughly 2% in exchange for a larger liquidity buffer.
For Strategy, that calculation depends on two things:
The value of its Bitcoin holdings. The company’s ability to access capital markets at favorable prices. Strategy reported holding 843,775 Bitcoin with an aggregate purchase price of approximately $63.69 billion, or an average purchase price of $75,476. Bitcoin currently goes for around $65,925, meaning it is underwater by about 25% on paper.
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Yet, that Bitcoin position is the foundation of the entire investment thesis. If Bitcoin rises over time, shareholders may benefit from owning exposure through a company that can continue expanding its holdings and managing liquidity.
However, the reverse is also true. If Bitcoin declines and Strategy’s stock loses more of its premium compared with the value of its cryptocurrency holdings, issuing additional shares becomes less attractive. The company’s ability to turn dilution into shareholder value depends on maintaining investor confidence.
The Risk Is That Investors Stop Paying the Premium Strategy’s biggest advantage has historically been that investors valued MSTR shares above the underlying value of its Bitcoin holdings. That premium allowed the company to sell stock, buy Bitcoin, and potentially increase Bitcoin exposure per share. But that advantage is not guaranteed.
Recent market pressure has destroyed Strategy’s valuation premium compared with its Bitcoin holdings, creating a tougher environment for the company’s capital strategy. And it began selling Bitcoin.
Granted, building a cash reserve is not the same as abandoning the Bitcoin strategy. A stronger balance sheet can give Strategy more flexibility during market downturns. But Strategy’s primary strategy now is to pay the dividends on its preferred stock, not maximize retail investor value. That’s what the USD Reserve does.
Still, the same investors who dislike dilution today may benefit if the additional liquidity allows the company to avoid selling Bitcoin during a weak market.
Key Takeaway In short, Strategy is asking shareholders to accept a familiar trade: more dilution today in exchange for a stronger financial position tomorrow.
That trade makes sense only if investors believe Saylor can continue creating value through disciplined capital management and Bitcoin ownership growth. The company’s strategy is not low-risk, and dilution will remain a major concern for shareholders.
But the latest stock sale is not about buying more Bitcoin. It is about ensuring Strategy has enough financial flexibility to survive Bitcoin’s volatility for the benefit of preferred shareholders. For investors who believe Bitcoin has a long-term upward trajectory, that reserve may ultimately prove valuable. For investors looking for a straightforward Bitcoin investment without corporate financing complexity, owning Bitcoin directly or buying spot ETFs is still the simpler — and better — option.
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California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR – Free Report) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 388,298 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 82,334 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.12% of Strategy worth $48,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSTR. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Strategy by 3.8% in the second quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in Strategy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 9,533 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in Strategy by 492.9% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 83 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Strategy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 14,538 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Strategy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,994 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,278,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.84% of the company’s stock.
Trending Headlines about Strategy Here are the key news stories impacting Strategy this week:
Positive Sentiment: Strategy raised $263.5 million through MSTR share sales, increasing liquidity and cash reserves to about $3.225 billion while preserving its Bitcoin treasury. Strategy raises $263.5M through MSTR sales, holds 843,775 Bitcoin Positive Sentiment: Bitcoin has shown relative strength and is decoupling from broader tech weakness, which supports Strategy’s core treasury-bet narrative. Bitcoin defies recent tech stocks sell-off. Are bulls eyeing a $70K rally? Neutral Sentiment: Michael Saylor’s comments against Bitcoin’s proposed BIP-110 upgrade kept Strategy in the crypto conversation, but the remarks are more about long-term Bitcoin governance than near-term fundamentals. Michael Saylor Says Bitcoin’s Proposed BIP-110 Upgrade Is ‘More Dangerous Than the Condition’ Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to flag liquidity and leverage risks tied to Strategy’s Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet, including concerns about valuation and potential downside if BTC weakens. Prediction Markets Are Pricing Real Risk Into MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet: What the Odds Say Strategy Stock Up 3.1% Strategy stock opened at $97.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 3.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.82. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Strategy Inc has a 1-year low of $81.81 and a 1-year high of $437.00.
Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The software maker reported ($38.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.86) by ($37.39). The business had revenue of $124.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.75 million. Strategy had a negative net margin of 2,482.01% and a negative return on equity of 26.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($16.49) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Strategy Inc will post 57.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling In other Strategy news, Director Jarrod M. Patten sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.08, for a total value of $159,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,013,308.48. The trade was a 5.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Kang sold 1,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.84, for a total value of $241,364.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,798,088.96. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 11,166 shares of company stock worth $1,014,265 and sold 183,522 shares worth $23,804,822. Insiders own 6.49% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Strategy from $400.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Strategy in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Strategy from $265.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Strategy from $350.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Strategy from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.31.
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About Strategy (Free Report)
Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) is a global provider of enterprise analytics and mobility software. The company’s flagship platform offers business intelligence, data discovery, and advanced visualizations that enable organizations to analyze large volumes of data and deliver actionable insights. In addition to traditional on-premises deployments, Strategy provides a range of cloud-based services and managed offerings that allow customers to leverage the power of its analytics tools without managing complex infrastructure.
Founded in 1989 by Michael J.
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Strategy stock is charging ahead with explosive momentum. Why is MSTR stock up today? Strategy Builds Cash Reserves Without Moving on BitcoinThe dollar reserve climbed to $3.23 billion as of July 19, up from $3.0 billion the prior week, a cushion the company earmarks exclusively for servicing preferred stock dividends and debt obligations. The decision to convert equity into cash without routing the proceeds back into Bitcoin may be read by some investors as evidence that management is gravitating toward a more conservative financial footing after months of pressure on its balance sheet.
Bitcoin Strength and ETF Inflows Add Fresh Momentum to Crypto‑Linked StocksA rising Bitcoin price is adding momentum to the move. The token has reclaimed its 200-week moving average and pushed briefly above $65,000, a level it had not seen in approximately two months.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs contributed to the optimism by recording consecutive weeks of positive flows for the first time since May, gathering $197.4 million in one week and $75.7 million the next after hemorrhaging more than $8 billion across the prior eight weeks. The back-to-back inflows have been cited as evidence that sentiment may be turning.
MSTR Price Action: Strategy shares were up 2.93% at $97.63 at the time of publication on Monday. The stock is near its 52-week low of $81.81, according to Benzinga Pro.
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Prediction markets have become a useful sentiment thermometer for one of the most polarizing stocks on Wall Street. MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), the bitcoin-treasury company now branded Strategy, was trading at $94.85 as of Monday morning, and Polymarket bettors are actively pricing everything from margin-call risk to index removal to whether CEO Phong Le will announce another bitcoin buy this week. The odds tell a coherent story, and they line up with what the stock has done this year.
Why the Odds Matter Right Now Bitcoin is under pressure. BTC changed hands recently at $64,825.78, down 25.91% year to date and 44.74% lower over the past year. That drawdown is the backdrop for every Strategy prediction market currently open. It also frames the accounting reality: under ASU 2023-08 fair-value rules, Strategy booked a $14.46 billion unrealized bitcoin loss in Q1 2026 and posted EPS of −$38.25, missing consensus by a wide margin.
Against that setup, Polymarket has eight active markets on Strategy and Kalshi has none. Volumes are modest, so read these as directional sentiment, not deep-liquidity signals.
The Big One: Margin-Call Risk Priced at Almost Zero Despite the bitcoin swoon, bettors are not worried about a forced unwind. The market titled Will MicroStrategy be margin called in 2026? shows Yes at just 0.032 probability against No at 0.969, on $96,048.55 in total volume and $22,614.76 in open interest.
That is a strong statement given the balance sheet: Strategy carries $8.17 billion in long-term debt and roughly $229.5 million per quarter in preferred dividend obligations across its STRC, STRK, STRF, STRD, and STRE stacks. Bettors appear to trust that the company can service those obligations through its ATM equity machine and its Digital Credit issuance rather than being forced to dump BTC.
The 1M BTC Milestone Is Fading Phong Le has made bitcoin accumulation the centerpiece of the thesis, but the market is skeptical about the pace. Will MicroStrategy announce holding 1M+ BTC by December 31, 2026? prices Yes at only 0.08 probability versus No at 0.92. This is the largest of the strategic markets by volume, with $284,635.91 traded and $116,854.94 in open interest.
For context: Strategy held 818,334 BTC as of early May 2026 after buying 89,599 BTC in Q1. Reaching seven figures by year-end would require another substantial accumulation sprint at a time when the equity is trading in the low $90s rather than the near-$400 levels it saw in mid-2025. Issuing shares into a depressed price to buy a depressed asset is a harder pitch than it was a year ago.
MSCI Delisting Risk Is Material One of the more unusual markets is Microstrategy delisted from MSCI index by December 31?, which prices Yes at 0.365 probability and No at 0.635. Volume is thin at $1,001.63, but the odds themselves are striking: bettors see a better-than-one-in-three chance the stock is pulled from a major index this year. Passive selling from index funds would be a structural overhang if it happens.
Short-Term Bitcoin Activity: Buying, Not Selling The near-term event markets expiring July 21, 2026, spell out the current tape:
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Will Microstrategy announce a Bitcoin purchase July 14-20? Yes 0.11, No 0.89. MicroStrategy announces >1000 BTC purchase July 14-20? Yes 0.365, No 0.635. Will Microstrategy announce selling any Bitcoin July 14-20? Yes 0.007, No 0.994. Read together, the crowd sees essentially zero chance the company sells bitcoin this week, a modest chance it announces any purchase, and a higher conditional chance that if there is a purchase, it will be a large one. That is consistent with Strategy’s pattern of quiet weeks followed by chunky Monday disclosures.
Earnings and the Analyst Gap The Q2 2026 earnings market, Will MicroStrategy (MSTR) beat quarterly earnings?, prices Yes at 0.2 probability ahead of the July 30, 2026, report. Bettors are effectively assuming another quarter dominated by fair-value bitcoin marks rather than a clean beat on the software business, even as subscription services revenue continues to grow.
That pessimism sits uncomfortably next to the sell-side: analyst ratings show 13 Buys and one Hold, with an average price target of $303.64 against a current $94.85. Insiders have gone the other way, with 156 recent insider transactions net to selling.
The Weekly Price Grid Polymarket’s What will MicroStrategy (MSTR) hit Week of July 20 2026? market is a multi-outcome grid. The two highest-probability price levels are $90 at 0.62 and $85 at 0.57, with most other levels clustered around 0.5. Volume is $0, so treat this as a curiosity rather than a signal. Recent resolutions have not been kind to the crowd: last week’s market implied $90 while the winning outcomes were $95 and $100, a −$10 deviation.
Sentiment: Bearish, and It Got There Fast The composite sentiment score for Strategy is 37.76, flagged as bearish with medium confidence. The trend is what stands out: the composite score has moved from 73.88 on July 1 to 37.76 today, a 30-day change of −36.12. Social sentiment (Reddit) is the weakest input at 22, while news sentiment reads higher at 53.52.
What the CEO Is Saying On the Q1 2026 call, Phong Le leaned into the credit story: “Adoption of Bitcoin continues to grow in 2026. Digital Credit, highlighted by STRC, has been a big success. We raised $5.6 billion year-to-date of STRC gross proceeds, increased daily trading volume to $375 million, while bringing volatility down to 3%, all done during a bitcoin bear market.” The STRC preferred’s annualized dividend has climbed from 11.00% in January 2026 to 11.50% by May, which is another number worth tracking as the company funds its buys through preferred issuance rather than diluting common.
What to Watch Next There are three things to watch over the next two weeks. First, the Monday morning purchase disclosure window: if there is no announcement, expect the July 14–20 purchase market to resolve No and the >1000 BTC market to settle accordingly. Second, the July 30, 2026, Q2 report, where a bitcoin price near $64,825.78 at quarter-end would likely mean another large fair-value hit. Third, any MSCI review headlines that could move the 36.5% delisting odds sharply in either direction.
Polymarket is telling investors that Strategy’s solvency is fine, its ambition is discounted, its index membership is in play, and its next earnings report is unlikely to be a clean beat. That is a coherent read of a company whose fortunes are now tied to a bitcoin price that has surrendered nearly half its value in a year.
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Po téměř dvou měsících výprodejů se zdá, že se sentiment u kryptoměn začíná pomalu obracet. Americká ETF navázaná na spotovou cenu bitcoinu zaznamenala druhý týden v řadě čistý příliv kapitálu. Někteří analytici tak hlásí, že kryptoměny by mohly nacházet své cenové dno.
Třináct amerických spotových bitcoinových ETF přilákalo v uplynulém týdnu přibližně 75,7 milionu dolarů. Navázaly tak na předchozí týden, kdy do nich přiteklo zhruba 197,4 milionu dolarů. K obratu došlo navzdory výraznému odlivu ve výši 424,7 milionu dolarů během pondělí 13. července, který následoval po eskalaci vojenského napětí mezi Spojenými státy a Íránem.
Zvrat v kombinaci také s přílivem do ETF vázaných na Ether, druhou největší kryptoměnu, by mohl signalizovat pozitivní návrat sentimentu na trh, tvrdí Richard Galvin, výkonný předseda kryptoměnové investiční firmy DACM.„Myslím, že je to známka dosažení dna. Vzhledem k jejich velikosti a šíři se ETF staly dobrým ukazatelem obecného sentimentu vůči Bitcoinu a celému sektoru. Takže obrat po osmi týdnech v řadě, nyní potvrzený během dvou týdnů, je pozitivní,“ řekl agentuře Bloomberg.
Zlepšení ukazuje i technický obraz. Bitcoin se vrátil nad svůj 200týdenní klouzavý průměr, který se pohybuje kolem 63 300 dolarů a bývá vnímán jako významná hranice mezi dlouhodobě býčím a medvědím trhem. V posledních týdnech se přitom největší kryptoměna obchodovala převážně v pásmu mezi 60 000 a 65 000 dolary, když investoři vyhodnocovali nejisté makroekonomické prostředí.
Odolnost trhu se projevila i během dnešního obchodování v Asii. Bitcoin krátce vystoupal nad hranici 65 000 dolarů navzdory novým americkým úderům na cíle v Íránu. Geopolitické napětí však podle analytiků současně zvyšuje inflační rizika, přičemž obavy z dalšího vývoje úrokových sazeb mohou podle Damiena Loha, investičního ředitele společnosti Ericsenz Capital, stále brzdit plnohodnotný návrat institucionálních investorů.
Potenciálním impulzem pro další růst by naopak mohlo být schválení dlouho očekávaného zákona Clarity Act, který má upravit strukturu kryptoměnového trhu v USA. Pokud by legislativa prošla Kongresem ještě před srpnovou přestávkou, mohla by podle Loha podpořit další posilování bitcoinu.
Od začátku června bitcoin ztratil přibližně deset procent hodnoty. K tlaku na cenu přispěla také společnost Strategy, jež oznámila prodej části svých bitcoinových rezerv. Firma vedená Michaelem Saylorem byla dlouhodobě známá strategií nepřetržité akumulace kryptoměny a opakovaně deklarovala, že bitcoin prodávat nehodlá.
S poklesem ceny bitcoinu přibližně na polovinu říjnového maxima okolo 126 000 dolarů však začalo být pro společnost složitější plnit některé finanční závazky. Saylor v posledních týdnech připustil větší flexibilitu při nakládání s drženými tokeny a Strategy následně oznámila další prodej bitcoinů v hodnotě 216 milionů dolarů. Přitom předchozí zveřejněná transakce představovala činila pouze 2,5 milionu dolarů.
Upozornění pro investory:
Investování do virtuálních aktiv (např. Bitcoin) či investičních nástrojů navázaných na virtuální aktiva je spojeno s řadou rizik, na která upozorňuje např. EBA (European Banking Authority) v článku „Crypto-assets: ESAs remind consumers about risks“ ze dne 17.3.2021. Tato upozornění naleznete ZDE. Patria Finance a.s. obecně nedoporučuje investovat do nástrojů navázaných na virtuální aktiva z důvodu rizik, která jsou s nimi spojena.
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Nasdaq Breaks Support As Chip Sell-Off Deepens; Knight-Swift, Canadian Pacific, AbbVie In Focus Strategy's valuation premium to its bitcoin holdings has been almost entirely erased, according to the company's own metric. That puts the biggest bitcoin whale at risk of being tagged by Wall Street as a value destroyer. In other words, the financial architecture Strategy (MSTR) created in order to amass the cryptocurrency is now seen as close to worthless. It may…
Few stocks divide investors quite like MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), the Bitcoin treasury vehicle now branded Strategy. The stock has declined alongside Bitcoin, but Wall Street analysts remain overwhelmingly constructive.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for MSTR is $338.56, implying 260.05% upside from the current price of $94.03. Our recommendation is buy, with a moderate 50% confidence level, reflecting the extreme Bitcoin sensitivity baked into the model.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $94.03 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $338.56 Upside 260.05% Recommendation BUY Confidence Level 50% A Bitcoin Bear Market Has Punished MSTR MSTR is down 79.37% over the past year, 38.12% year to date, and 23.43% over the past month, sitting just above its 52-week low of $81.81 and far below the $454.33 high. Bitcoin is off 46.63% over the same year at $63,658.88.
Q1 2026 showed EPS of -$38.25 versus a -$18.98 estimate on a $14.46 billion unrealized Bitcoin mark. Subscription revenue surged to $58.88 million, and MSTR now holds 818,334 BTC after raising $11.68 billion YTD.
The Case for $488 or Higher Our bull case points to $488.25. CEO Phong Le is doubling down: “Adoption of Bitcoin continues to grow in 2026. Digital Credit, highlighted by STRC, has been a big success.” The STRC preferred instrument has scaled to an $8.5 billion market cap in nine months, and management authorized $2 billion in buybacks under the Digital Credit Capital Framework.
Benchmark Equity Research reiterated its Buy rating, and 13 of 14 covering analysts rate MSTR a Buy with a consensus target of $303.64. A Bitcoin rebound toward prior highs would compound the equity’s leveraged beta of 3.545.
What Could Go Wrong Our bear case projects $259.08, but real damage lurks below. MSTR carries $8.17 billion in long-term debt and $229.53 million in quarterly preferred dividends against only $2.21 billion in cash. Polymarket assigns a 36% probability to MSCI index removal by year-end, and a Rosen Law Firm investigation adds legal overhang.
The software business is still expanding, with subscription revenue up sharply and 67.1% gross margins reflecting ASU 2023-08 fair-value accounting, an accounting-driven effect rather than an operational one.
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How MSTR Stacks Up Against COIN and MARA Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is the most liquid crypto proxy on U.S. exchanges. The company posted $1.41 billion in Q1 revenue, down 30.54% YoY, at a market cap of $35.7 billion, versus MSTR’s $34.4 billion. Coinbase generates operating cash flow, making MSTR’s identical market cap look aggressive on fundamentals but conservative on Bitcoin-per-share exposure.
MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) is a purer Bitcoin miner comp with a $4.35 billion market cap and a Q1 net loss of $1.3 billion. MARA’s price-to-book of 1.25 compares with MSTR’s 0.91, meaning MSTR trades below book value on a Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet. That discount makes our $338.56 target reasonable.
Where the Setup Stands The 24/7 Wall St. price target of $338.56 and buy rating rest on one core view: MSTR trades at a discount to book value on a portfolio of over 800,000 BTC, and analyst conviction remains near-unanimous with 13 Buy ratings.
The setup strengthens if Bitcoin stabilizes above $60,000 and STRC funding continues absorbing capital demand. Risk escalates if BTC breaks below $55,000 or the preferred stack shows stress. Confidence remains moderate at 50%.
MicroStrategy Price Prediction 2026-2030 Extending the 24/7 Wall St. price target model forward, here is where MSTR could trade assuming Bitcoin resumes its long-term uptrend and Strategy continues accretive accumulation.
Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $168 2027 $338 2028 $725 2029 $1,650 2030 $3,100 These projections assume Bitcoin trends higher over the decade and MSTR avoids forced deleveraging. Significant downside could result from a prolonged BTC drawdown, MSCI removal, or a preferred-dividend refinancing squeeze.
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If you put $10,000 into YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:MSTY) on the first trading day of 2026, your position was worth roughly $6,614 by July 10, before you counted a single weekly “paycheck.” The fund pays you a fat headline yield. It also quietly hands your own capital back to you and taxes you on the trip.
What You’re Actually Paying Start with the sticker. MSTY carries an expense ratio of 1.03%. On a $10,000 stake, that is about $103 a year skimmed off the top, every year, regardless of whether the fund makes or loses money. Compare that to owning Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) shares directly, where the fund fee is zero. Over 10 years, that $103 annual toll compounds into more than a thousand dollars of drag, and over 20 years the gap widens meaningfully, before you touch the deeper costs baked into the structure.
Now look at what that fee bought holders over the past year. MSTY’s price fell 72.24% from July 10, 2025 to July 10, 2026. MSTR, the single stock the fund is built around, fell 77.56% over the same window. Direct MSTR ownership hurt. MSTY hurt too, and charged you 1.03% for the privilege.
The Part the Factsheet Doesn’t Highlight The expense ratio is the least of it. MSTY sells call options against a synthetic MSTR position. That structure caps your upside if MSTR rips higher and does nothing to blunt the downside when MSTR falls. One recent analysis put it bluntly: the fund’s synthetic covered-call strategy “caps upside while exposing investors to uncapped downside, making its distributions unreliable and leading to significant NAV erosion.”
Then there is the distribution itself. Weekly payouts have collapsed from a $4.42 monthly figure in 2024 to $0.1549 in early July 2026. The most recent weekly distributions of $0.2061 on July 9, 2026 and $0.1549 on July 2, 2026 look modest against a share price that has already been gutted. Multiple analyses flag that a portion of those “dividends” is return of capital rather than income, meaning the fund is handing you back your own principal and calling it a yield.
Tax drag makes it worse. Distributions from these single-stock option-income funds are typically classified as ordinary income, not qualified dividends or capital gains. In a taxable brokerage account at a 32% marginal rate, that turns a weekly “paycheck” into a partial reimbursement of your own capital, minus a full federal tax bill on whatever slice qualifies as income. As one bearish analyst summarized, MSTY is “only suitable for tax-advantaged accounts” for investors willing to accept likely principal erosion.
The Cheaper Mirror The most obvious lower-cost alternative is owning MSTR shares outright. There is no fund fee, no options overlay capping the upside, and long-term appreciation is taxed as capital gains rather than ordinary income. MSTR pays no dividend, so you give up the “income,” but you also stop paying to have your upside sold off week after week. For investors who genuinely want a diversified covered-call income stream, analysts have repeatedly pointed to JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ) as a more stable, diversified NASDAQ-100 covered-call alternative rather than a single-stock bet on MicroStrategy’s volatility.
What This Means for You The real question is where the yield is coming from. If a fund’s distribution is largely your own capital returning at ordinary-income tax rates, while the NAV grinds lower and a 1.03% fee runs in the background, the headline number on the marketing page is not the number that ends up in your account.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Global capital markets are undergoing a silent but profound rewiring. Japan's historic decision to dismantle the Payment Services Act in favor of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act completely reclassifies digital currencies. Moving from basic settlement mechanisms to heavily regulated financial assets fundamentally alters how institutional balance sheets interact with the space. For years, compliance officers at tier-one funds viewed digital assets as untouchable utility tokens. Under the new legal framework, these assets are elevated to the same regulatory standing as traditional equities and sovereign bonds.
This legislative overhaul imposes traditional securities standards, mandates robust disclosures, and engineers a strict market surveillance framework. It targets a sharp compression in maximum capital gains taxes from an oppressive 55% to a flat 20% by 2028. Investors are watching as the foundation of a new structural paradigm takes shape: the world's fourth-largest economy formally integrating digital scarcity into its core financial system.
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The Ripple Effect: Bypassing Compliance FrictionsWhen a major global economy effectively legalizes an emerging asset class for its domestic institutions, it creates a structural demand shock against a mathematically capped supply base. International market participants now face a brief, asymmetric window to front-run a widespread reallocation of Japanese sovereign and pension capital.
Because direct exposure to offshore spot markets carries excessive compliance friction for many Western funds, smart money is aggressively accumulating high-beta proxy equities to capture the impending liquidity wave. Asset managers are recognizing that the easiest way to gain exposure to this macroeconomic shift is to buy the companies building the infrastructure or holding the underlying assets on their balance sheets.
Deep Waters: Unleashing Japan's Pension Fund GiantUnderstanding the mechanics of institutional adoption requires looking past retail sentiment and focusing entirely on fiduciary mandates. Traditional sovereign wealth funds and corporate pensions operate under strict regulatory frameworks that prohibit exposure to unregulated assets. By folding digital assets into a compliant legal architecture, Japan has engineered a secure gateway for domestic institutional deployment.
Macroeconomic directives are accelerating this shift. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama recently urged the $1.81 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund to pivot heavily toward domestic financial assets. While the Government Pension Investment Fund has not yet confirmed a digital asset mandate, localized adoption is already clearing the path.
The Okayama-based Nationwide Business Corporate Pension Fund, representing 1,200 small and medium enterprises, officially authorized a 1% allocation of its 21.3 billion yen portfolio to a multi-crypto fund for the fiscal year 2026. This consortium utilizes a passive, multi-asset hedge fund vehicle to mitigate direct custody risk. This execution model establishes a broader structural pipeline that Japanese institutions are likely to use following the reform, directly benefiting regulated exchange operators and institutional custodians globally.
Channeling the Flow: Liquidity Multipliers and ETF BottlenecksAs Asian capital prepares to migrate, Western asset managers are positioning themselves to capitalize on the structural bottlenecks in the digital asset ecosystem. Direct custodians and heavily capitalized proxy vehicles offer immediate, regulated exposure to the underlying asset class without the friction of holding physical private keys.
Strategy NASDAQ: MSTR remains a primary vehicle for this approach, currently trading near $98. Strategy recently executed a calculated sale of 3,588 Bitcoin to fund its dividend policy, resulting in an $8.32 billion accounting loss on its digital asset holdings.
Under current accounting rules, digital assets are often treated as indefinite-lived intangible assets, meaning companies must record impairment charges when the price drops, but they cannot mark up the value when the price recovers unless they sell. While this accounting nuance triggered a localized 4.5% equity dip, the maneuver demonstrates operational liquidity flexibility against rising debt costs and yield obligations. The corporate treasury model is maturing beyond simple accumulation, demonstrating that Strategy can actively manage reserves to meet structural yield requirements.
Tier-one asset managers recognize this fundamental evolution. First-quarter 13F filings for 2026 reveal aggressive institutional accumulation of these high-beta proxy vehicles. Capital International Investors added 10.82 million shares of Strategy, while BlackRock increased its position by 3.14 million shares. This deliberate positioning points to a broader strategy of capturing the liquidity multipliers inherent in the proxy ecosystem.
Synthetic liquidity mechanisms are supercharging these capital flows. Leveraged exchange-traded funds require algorithmic delta hedging by authorized participants. When structural buyers acquire these leveraged funds, market makers must aggressively buy the underlying stock to remain market-neutral, effectively draining available spot supply and compounding the volatility profile of the corporate treasury strategy.
A Dangerous Undertow: Short Sellers Face Convexity RiskThe current macroeconomic landscape presents a highly unusual setup for these proxy equities. July 2026 data indicate a structural flush in global cryptocurrency leverage, with open interest contracting sharply across both perpetual and term futures. The broader derivatives market has been heavily de-risked, leaving spot demand to drive price discovery.
Despite this broad de-risking, short positioning across major exchanges indicates concentrated skepticism from specific institutional cohorts. Short interest in Coinbase Global NASDAQ: COIN currently stands at 11.32% of the public float, representing 24.86 million shares sold short with a 3.0 days-to-cover ratio.
This divergence creates a highly asymmetric setup. Coinbase Global, trading around $166, operates as the premier regulated prime broker and custodian for the types of institutional funds Japan is currently greenlighting.
Coinbase provides the essential clearing and settlement infrastructure required by traditional finance. Corporate governance metrics show deliberate, scheduled equity distributions, including a recent 10,000-share liquidation by a corporate director at $159.09, yet institutional options markets exhibit entirely different expectations. Call-to-put ratios across the ecosystem have expanded to 4:1 ahead of extended trading hour rollouts.
When a de-risked derivatives market collides with elevated, localized short interest and an incoming sovereign-level demand shock, it generates severe convexity risk for bearish participants. Any unannounced offshore pension accumulation or sovereign allocation disclosure could trigger immediate margin calls, forcing short sellers to buy back into a market where spot supply is already being restricted by leveraged structural products.
The Carry Trade Unwind: Strategic PositioningWhile the structural integration of digital assets into Japan's primary financial pipelines validates a sustained demand floor, the transition carries notable macroeconomic friction. Sovereign directives pushing domestic Japanese funds to liquidate foreign holdings and reinvest locally threaten to unwind the yen carry trade. This dynamic could trigger broad liquidity contractions across global risk assets, creating near-term volatility for high-beta equities.
Investors navigating this structural shift might consider adding regulated proxy equities to their watchlists as the Japanese regulatory framework matures. The regulatory friction that previously kept trillions of dollars sidelined is systematically dissolving.
As the world's fourth-largest economy provides a compliant blueprint for sovereign accumulation, the window to capture the subsequent supply shock narrows. Market participants positioned near the structural bottlenecks of this capital flow appear well-positioned to ride out the shifting macroeconomic tide.
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@Theotrade's Don Kaufman takes us through today's Big 3 and highlights options trades for each. He sees Lowe's (LOW) as well positioned if interest rates move lower, views Costco (COST) as a defensive rotation play, and discusses his bearish setup in Strategy (MSTR).
Strategy Inc. has increased its cash reserves to $3 billion following a recent stock sale, allowing the company to temporarily halt Bitcoin sales between July 6 and July 12. Phong Le, Strategy President & CEO, explained that the company has evolved from a Bitcoin treasury firm into a comprehensive digital capital platform, currently holding over 840,000 Bitcoin.
Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.
Over the past month, shares of this business software company have returned -20.5%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.6% change. During this period, the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, which Strategy falls in, has lost 1.9%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?
Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.
Revisions to Earnings EstimatesRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For the current quarter, Strategy is expected to post earnings of $52.04 per share, indicating a change of +59.6% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days.
For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $57.47 points to a change of +477.4% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has changed -50.8%.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $38.99 indicates a change of -32.2% from what Strategy is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed -47.8%.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) for Strategy.
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Projected Revenue GrowthEven though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.
In the case of Strategy, the consensus sales estimate of $126.95 million for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +10.9%. The $503.9 million and $498 million estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +5.6% and -1.2%, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryStrategy reported revenues of $124.3 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +11.9%. EPS of -$38.25 for the same period compares with -$16.49 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $124.6 million, the reported revenues represent a surprise of -0.24%. The EPS surprise was -1021.7%.
Over the last four quarters, Strategy surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates three times over this period.
ValuationNo investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.
Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
Strategy is graded F on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Strategy. However, its Zacks Rank #5 does suggest that it may underperform the broader market in the near term.
The pre-market for crypto stocks is a bit mixed, but not strong in general.
COIN Technical Analysis
Coinbase looks soft on the daily chart, with $140 the recent level of support beneath it. Source: TradingView. The pre-market for Coinbase looks a little soft as the market has been in a bit of a slump recently, and with cryptocurrency struggling, it’s not a huge surprise. The market awaits earnings for Coinbase, but that’s not until the 30th of July, 2 weeks away.
The candlestick from the previous session on Monday was one of indecision, and a continuation of the selling pressure could very well present itself here. Recently, the $140 level has been a bit of support. So, if we do drop towards that area, we might take a look at this for potential bounce. We’ll just have to see how it behaves.
MSTR Technical Analysis
Strategy has broken down on the daily chart, extending a sell-off that has run since last July. Source: TradingView. Strategy Incorporated continues to look miserable. The bearish flag that had been forming has been broken to the downside, and if technical analysis and measured moves hold, we could be looking at a potential target in the neighborhood of $35. Whether or not that actually happens, who knows?
For what it’s worth, though, the pre-market action is a little bit positive, but Strategy has been in a death spiral for quite some time. July of last year is when it started selling off, and it’s had a couple of bounces since then, but it’s been horrible. It looks as if Strategy will continue to be a very dangerous asset to own.
CRCL Technical Analysis Circle is filling a gap from late February on the daily chart, well beneath its falling moving averages. Source: TradingView. Circle looks like it is going to open lower as well. It is currently filling a gap from an earnings call in late February. If it breaks down below that gap, it shows a significant amount of bearish pressure. Typically, traders look to gaps for some type of answer, but it’s worth knowing that in this market, we had a gap from May 4th that was not only filled but broken below.
So, Circle may be struggling with the same malaise that a lot of cryptocurrency-related names and, quite frankly, cryptocurrencies themselves are dealing with right now. With that, it certainly looks as if the sellers are going to try to make some type of move. This is a very weak-looking stock in my opinion.
If you’d like to know more about technical analysis and how traders use it, please visit our educational area.
Since Strategy (MSTR 2.68%) first purchased Bitcoin in August 2020, when it effectively became a digital asset treasury business, its shares have surged 601% (as of July 10). However, this cryptocurrency stock currently trades 80% below its November 2024 record high. The bears are winning the debate right now.
The past several weeks have been eventful, as Strategy has abandoned its never-sell attitude. And on June 29, billionaire chairman Michael Saylor introduced a digital credit capital framework that revamped the company's operating playbook.
The business has a new approach to its Bitcoin strategy. Here's how it will likely play out.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Say goodbye to the never-sell-Bitcoin strategy During the last week of May, Strategy sold $2 million worth of Bitcoin. This shocked investors as it went against Saylor's emphasis on never selling the company's stack. This was followed by an $81 million sale and a $135 million sale in recent weeks to boost liquidity for dividend payments and its U.S. dollar reserve.
Let's put this into context, though. So far in 2026, Strategy has sold $218 million worth of Bitcoin. On a stand-alone basis, this might look like a meaningful sum. But these transactions account for less than 0.5% of the company's Bitcoin holdings. On a relative basis, it's incredibly tiny.
"Strategy remains committed to Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset," Saylor said in the press release.
But the market is right to question what's to come. The sole fear these days rests on the sustainability of Strategy's financial engineering experiment. On an annualized basis, the business has $1.8 billion total in dividend obligations on its preferred shares and interest expense on its debt. To be clear, Strategy hasn't missed a payment yet.
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Take what the market gives you It can be concerning when one of Bitcoin's most prominent bulls starts to offload what he considers an apex asset. However, I don't believe investors need to panic. I don't view this as a dangerous signal that spells doom for Bitcoin or Strategy.
The company is simply iterating on a completely novel playbook, one that requires constant refinement as conditions change. In fact, investors should be worried if Strategy wasn't adapting. This much-needed revamp is Saylor's (and his team's) way of adding flexibility to allow the business to take what the market is giving it.
Chief executive officer Phong Le put it clearly. "Strategy is evolving from one-way capital issuance to active capital management."
Originally, Strategy could only raise common and preferred equity. Now, it has the authorization to repurchase $1 billion of each of its common and preferred shares if doing so could create value for shareholders and strengthen the company's financial position.
Likewise, Bitcoin can and has been sold if it serves the same purpose.
The market is punishing Strategy stock. But I think patience will be rewarded.
In the latest trading session, Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) closed at $92.10, marking a -2.68% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.79%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.26%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.55%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the business software company had lost 23.66% lagged the Finance sector's gain of 5.64% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.28%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Strategy in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on July 30, 2026. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $52.04, showcasing a 59.63% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $126.95 million, up 10.88% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $116.7 per share and a revenue of $503.9 million, indicating changes of +866.25% and +5.59%, respectively, from the former year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Strategy. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. As of now, Strategy holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Strategy has a Forward P/E ratio of 0.81 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11, which means Strategy is trading at a discount to the group.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 161, finds itself in the bottom 35% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
Key Takeaways Strategy can sell Bitcoin to build reserves, fund payouts and repurchase shares or preferred securities.The framework may reduce poorly timed stock issuance and help protect Bitcoin per share in weak markets.Strategy remains expensive, below key moving averages and exposed to Bitcoin, dilution and cash obligations. Strategy Inc. (MSTR - Free Report) is changing how investors should view its Bitcoin treasury. Its new monetization program permits selective Bitcoin sales to support cash reserves, preferred dividends, interest payments and share repurchases. That marks a shift from its former image as a one-way Bitcoin buyer while giving management more tools to protect the balance sheet during difficult markets.
The stock has faced heavy pressure. MSTR closed at $94.64 on July 10 and had fallen roughly 37.7% so far in the year. MARA Holdings, Inc. (MARA - Free Report) and Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT - Free Report) have also been volatile. The moves confirm that MSTR, MARA and Riot trade as high-beta crypto plays, although their underlying business models and funding structures differ.
The central issue is whether limited Bitcoin sales can improve liquidity without damaging the long-term case. Strategy still treats Bitcoin as its main treasury asset, but investors must balance that exposure against preferred dividends, dilution and the risk of selling coins during weak markets.
Year-to-Date Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Why the New Framework Matters for MSTRThe June 29 framework is broader than a simple Bitcoin sale plan. Strategy set a minimum USD reserve equal to 12 months of current expected annual preferred stock dividend payments and interest, raised STRC’s annual dividend rate to 12% and authorized up to $1 billion each for preferred-security and MSTR buybacks. It also approved Bitcoin sales to add as much as $1.25 billion to the cash reserve or fund payments and repurchases when management believes that is better than issuing common stock.
That flexibility is a positive for MSTR holders. Selling a limited number of coins could reduce the need to issue shares when MSTR trades near its Bitcoin net asset value, helping protect Bitcoin per share. Buybacks could also become useful when the stock trades below management’s estimate of intrinsic value.
In effect, Strategy is moving from constant capital raising to a two-way model that can issue securities in strong markets and retire them in weak ones. It may also improve investor trust by making the conditions for Bitcoin sales clearer, rather than leaving the market to guess when management might act.
The Bull Case for MSTR Still Depends on BitcoinStrategy’s scale remains its biggest advantage. It held about 845,000 Bitcoin as of early June 2026. The company has raised many billions of dollars through equity and preferred offerings since early 2026, underscoring strong market access.
Those strengths separate MSTR from MARA and Riot, whose results depend more directly on mining production, electricity costs and network difficulty. The new policy may also improve confidence in Strategy’s preferred securities. A larger cash buffer and the ability to monetize Bitcoin can support dividend payments through a downturn. If the framework stabilizes STRC and lowers future funding costs, Strategy could continue increasing Bitcoin per share without relying as heavily on common-stock issuance.
The Risks Have Not Disappeared for MSTRThe main risk is that monetization becomes recurring rather than occasional. Strategy’s expected annual preferred dividends and interest were about $1.76 billion when the framework was announced. If Bitcoin stays weak, cash obligations could force more sales at unattractive prices, reducing the reserve and limiting upside when Bitcoin rebounds.
Accounting results will remain highly volatile. Strategy posted a $14.5 billion operating loss and a $12.8 billion net loss in the first quarter, largely because Bitcoin’s fair value fell. MARA and Riot offer different crypto exposure through mining assets, so some investors may prefer them when Bitcoin rises. However, MSTR’s funding structure remains under pressure.
Strategy’s Rich Valuation Raises ConcernsFrom a valuation standpoint, Strategy remains highly expensive, trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 66.23, which is far above the sector's average. Its Value Score of F reinforces concerns that the stock is significantly overvalued.
Even peers trade at substantially lower multiples. MARA trades at 5.55X forward sales, Riot Platforms at 10.91X. This suggests that Strategy continues to command a steep premium despite operational and financial risks.
Price/Sales Ratio (F12M)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
MSTR Trades Below 50-Day and 200-Day SMAsStrategy shares are currently trading below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating weak momentum and a bearish near-term trend.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ConclusionStrategy’s Bitcoin monetization plan improves financial flexibility, but it does not remove the stock’s core risks. The company can now strengthen cash coverage, avoid some poorly timed equity issuance and repurchase securities when prices are attractive.
Still, MSTR remains tied to Bitcoin’s direction, while preferred obligations and possible coin sales could limit gains. Its scale and capital-market access remain strong. It is prudent for existing investors to hold MSTR while watching Bitcoin prices, reserve coverage, share issuance and the pace of future monetization before adding exposure.
At present, MSTR carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
SummaryCompaniesStrategy sold about $218 million in bitcoin this year to pay dividends and refresh its US dollar reserveAggregate DAT valuations fell below net asset value late last year, leaving many firms trading at discountsWeekly DAT trading volume peaked in August 2025 and hit a low in FebruaryNEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - A move by Michael Saylor's bitcoin stockpiling company Strategy (MSTR.O), opens new tab to authorize more bitcoin sales has once again shone a spotlight on a clutch of public crypto hoarding companies, which have been buffeted by falling token prices.
Strategy's shares briefly bounced on Friday after analysts blessed a plan announced late last month, which included a share repurchase program and authorized as much as $1.25 billion in bitcoin sales.
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The company, whose shares soared in late 2024 through most of last year before hitting two year lows last month, has already sold about $218 million in bitcoin this year to fund dividends and replenish its U.S. dollar reserves.
The sales have again raised questions about the viability of dozens of copycat "digital asset treasury" companies, or DATs, which boomed last year thanks to market exuberance over U.S. President Trump's crypto-friendly policies.
DATs offer investors crypto exposure through regulated public companies, and the ability to leverage returns. But the business model is highly sensitive to falling token prices, which can erode the value of their holdings, hamstring fundraising and undermine the leveraged returns that attract investors in the first place.
As bitcoin, the most widely-held cryptocurrency, has nosedived as much as 33% this year as markets have absorbed geopolitical tensions, surging oil prices and a Federal Reserve revamp under new chair Kevin Warsh, so too have the fortunes of these companies.
Here are four graphics detailing their rise and fall.
MARKET CAPITALIZATIONThe market capitalization of DAT companies peaked last July, when the crypto sector as a whole reached $4 trillion in market value, only to hit a trough in November after global trade fears sparked a record $19 billion liquidation of crypto positions.
DATs have been unable to stage a full recovery so far in 2026 as the crypto market has remained in the doldrums.
TOKEN HOLDINGS UNDERWATERMany DAT companies last year traded at a premium to their crypto holdings because investors believed they could use their access to equity and debt funding to purchase more tokens.
Starting late last year, the companies' aggregate market value relative to the net asset value of their crypto holdings - a metric known as mNAV - fell below 1, meaning the companies were trading at a discount to their holdings.
That's a major problem, because most DATs depend on their shares trading above their net asset value in order to attract new investors. Strategy's mNAV fell below 1 for the first time late last month.
DAT executives, though, have said their success will be rooted in their ability to make smart investing decisions and are looking for new ways to boost shareholder value, Reuters previously reported.
AGGREGATE WEEKLY TRADING VOLUMEThe aggregate weekly trading volume in DAT shares peaked in August last year, according to data from blockchain data provider Artemis Terminal, but has seesawed since. Weekly trading volume hit a low in February, after bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sold off on the news Warsh would be nominated for Fed chair.
Analysts believe Warsh will push to shrink the Fed's balance sheet, a headwind for risk assets like cryptocurrencies as such a move would reduce financial system liquidity.
TOKEN HOLDINGSStrategy holds by far the most crypto, even after its bitcoin sales this year. BitMine Immersion Technologies, which hoards ether, the biggest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, has the second largest stockpile.
Along with Strategy, several other crypto treasury companies have sold a portion of their crypto holdings this year.
Nakamoto Inc, which refers to itself as a bitcoin operating company, sold about 5% of its bitcoin holdings in March and another approximately 600 bitcoin in June.
All the companies referenced here declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Nick Zieminski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Hannah Lang covers financial technology and cryptocurrency, including the businesses that drive the industry and policy developments that govern the sector. Hannah previously worked at American Banker where she covered bank regulation and the Federal Reserve. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park and lives in Washington, DC.
Shares of Strategy (MSTR +0.80%) -- formerly MicroStrategy -- have fallen by 42.8% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The software provider that pivoted to becoming an aggressive Bitcoin treasury company has seen its strategy (no pun intended) begin to unravel with the price of Bitcoin down severely over the last twelve months.
To fund interest payments, Strategy has begun selling some of its Bitcoin, which has spooked the market. Here's why the stock was falling in 2026, and whether now could be a good time to buy the dip on this fallen giant.
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Following the price of Bitcoin When Bitcoin was over $100,000 a coin, Strategy actually achieved a market cap of over $100 billion, and had a nice premium to the underlying value of the assets on its balance sheet. Using this premium, Strategy was able to sell shares of its stock to buy more Bitcoin, thereby theoretically creating value per share due to the valuation premium.
With enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies beginning to wane and the price of Bitcoin falling, Strategy's stock premium has fully collapsed. Its share price is now down 80% from its highs, driven by this convergence with the underlying value of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, as well as the price of Bitcoin falling in the last year.
Now, with interest payments piling up on preferred stock and on outstanding debt used to buy Bitcoin, Strategy has been forced to liquidate some of its Bitcoin position to fulfill its ongoing obligations. As of this writing, it has been only 3,500 Bitcoin sold, which is a small amount relative to Strategy's balance sheet, but the signal to markets was nonetheless fear-inducing.
Image source: Getty Images.
Should you buy the dip? Strategy's old mandate was to keep buying Bitcoin through various forms of fundraising methods, be it debt, preferred stock, or issuing new shares. This party continued as the price of Bitcoin soared. Now, on the other side of the popping of a cryptocurrency bubble, a hangover of this business strategy is starting to rear its ugly head.
The stated value of its Bitcoin assets is over $50 billion at the current Bitcoin price of $64,000, but Strategy has $22.2 billion in liabilities, including a massive amount of preferred stock with double-digit annual interest payments, resulting in over $1 billion in funding requirements each year. With no underlying business to fund these interest payments, Strategy will be forced to sell even more Bitcoin, potentially leading to the dissolution of this entire business model unless the price of Bitcoin rises.
This makes the stock one investors should not buy the dip on right now.
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN | COIN Price Prediction) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) both reported Q1 2026 earnings in early May, and the results expose two very different bets on crypto. Coinbase is building a fee-driven trading and stablecoin platform. MicroStrategy is a leveraged bitcoin holding company with legacy software attached. With bitcoin down 26.66% YTD, the contrast matters more than ever.
Fee Engine Bends. Treasury Bet Breaks. Coinbase posted Q1 revenue of $1.41 billion, down 30.54% YoY, with an EPS loss of -$1.49 driven by a $482.4 million markdown on crypto held for investment. The bright spot: subscription and services delivered $583.5 million, or 44% of net revenue, including $305 million in stablecoin revenue. Adjusted EBITDA stayed positive at $303.3 million, the 13th straight positive quarter.
MicroStrategy reported revenue of just $124.30 million and an EPS of -$38.25, missing the -$18.98 consensus by 101.5%. The quarter included a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on bitcoin under fair value accounting. Preferred dividend obligations hit $229.53 million in the quarter alone, a fixed cost that keeps ticking regardless of where BTC trades.
Diversified Rails Versus One Big Bet Lens COIN MSTR Core Bet Everything Exchange (crypto, derivatives, prediction markets, FX) Levered bitcoin treasury Recurring Revenue 44% subscription and services Software business dwarfed by BTC exposure Cost Discipline 14% headcount cut, ~$500M savings $229.53M/quarter preferred dividends Key Vulnerability Trading volume cyclicality BTC price and mNAV compression Coinbase is spreading bets: retail derivatives are annualizing over $200 million, prediction markets already hit $100 million annualized, and Base handles 99%+ of agentic stablecoin volumes. MicroStrategy raised $11.68 billion YTD to buy more BTC, but as CEO Phong Le noted, this all happened “during a bitcoin bear market”. The flywheel is grinding.
The Next Test Is Cash Flow For Coinbase, I want proof that Q2 subscription revenue lands in the $565 to $645 million guide range and that stablecoin economics hold as competitors like Open USD chip at USDC. For MicroStrategy, watch premium compression. Polymarket prices margin call odds at just 5.5%, but 177 insider transactions are net selling, and CEO Phong Le and CFO Andrew Kang both dumped substantial common stock in early June.
Why I Lean Toward Coinbase Here Personally, Coinbase looks like the cleaner vehicle. It generates real fees whether traders chase BTC, ETH, or prediction market contracts, and the 25.33% YTD drawdown to $168.87 gives me operating leverage on a volume recovery. MicroStrategy, off 33.68% YTD, is essentially a bitcoin call option wrapped in preferred dividend obligations. For pure BTC exposure, BTC itself is the more direct instrument. For a business that compounds through the cycle, Coinbase looks like the structurally superior vehicle. I would only reverse this view if BTC breaks decisively above prior highs, which would reignite the mNAV premium Coinbase does not need to function.
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Strategy Inc. MSTR (formerly known as Microstrategy) gained on Friday after Standard Chartered said recent weakness in bitcoin reflects investor uncertainty over the company's evolving strategy rather than any deterioration in its balance sheet.
In a note, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research, maintained the bank's end-2026 bitcoin price target of $100,000.
He argued that Strategy's recent actions have created short-term uncertainty but do not alter bitcoin's medium-term outlook.
The comments come after Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoin for about $216 million last week, its largest disposal to date, while adopting a Digital Credit Capital Framework that includes a bitcoin monetization program, a USD reserve, share buybacks and preferred stock support.
Kendrick said Strategy appears to be moving beyond its long-held commitment to never selling bitcoin, with investors still trying to understand the implications of that strategic shift.
"Strategy's actions are muddying bitcoin's near-term prospects," Kendrick wrote.
He added that "The company appears to be moving away from its 'never sell bitcoin' mantra toward a more complex approach, and clear communication of that pivot will determine how quickly the pressure on bitcoin lifts."
Strategy currently owns 843,775 bitcoin, representing more than 4% of the total supply that will ever exist.
According to Standard Chartered, the company's business model has evolved as its market net asset value multiple has declined toward 1.0, limiting its ability to issue shares and buy additional bitcoin under its previous strategy.
Instead, Kendrick said Strategy is increasingly positioning bitcoin as collateral supporting STRC, its perpetual preferred stock that pays a 12% annual dividend.
STRC pricing remains key to bitcoin outlookStandard Chartered said investor concern intensified after STRC fell well below its $100 par value, reaching an intraday low of $71.25 on June 26 following Strategy's announcement that it had sold 32 bitcoin the previous week.
The preferred security currently trades around $90, while Strategy holds a USD reserve of $2.55 billion, equivalent to roughly 17.4 months of dividend coverage.
The company has also introduced a bitcoin monetization program that allows it to sell bitcoin from time to time and raise up to $1.25 billion to support reserves, dividend payments, interest obligations, and share repurchases.
Kendrick argued that if investors gain confidence in the framework, Strategy may not need to sell bitcoin at all.
He compared the mechanism to a central bank promising to do "whatever it takes" and, through credibility, avoiding intervention altogether.
He added that STRC remains heavily overcollateralized and should eventually trade back toward its $100 par value.
Strategy's recent sale of 3,588 bitcoin raised approximately $216 million and came alongside an $8.32 billion digital asset loss reported for the second quarter of 2026.
JPMorgan analysts said formalizing bitcoin sales introduces "avoidable two-way risk" by making Strategy both a buyer and seller of bitcoin.
Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl disagreed, arguing the sales strengthen Strategy's balance sheet and help bitcoin establish a more durable price floor.
Wall Street remains broadly constructive on the stock despite differing views.
Citi maintained a Buy rating and a $260 price target, while Mizuho lowered its target to $213 but reiterated an Outperform rating.
Kendrick said the recent volatility should not change investors' longer-term outlook.
He described the recent episode as "noise rather than a signal about bitcoin's medium-term direction," adding that at current levels bitcoin is "a screaming buy".
Strategy Inc stock is among today’s top performers. Why is MSTR stock up today? Bitcoin, Ethereum and the broader crypto market are trading higher today adding a tailwind to crypto-linked equities including Strategy.
Strategy’s Bitcoin Sale Draws Scrutiny but One Analyst Calls it a TweakThe proceeds went toward padding its dollar reserve and meeting the dividend commitments attached to its preferred securities. Rather than treating the sale as a concession, White presented it as a credibility move aimed at lenders and ratings agencies demonstrating that the treasury is not frozen and can be accessed when circumstances warrant.
MSTR’s Key Technical Levels To WatchThe one flicker of improvement is in short-term momentum where the MACD indicator has crossed above its signal line and the histogram has turned positive suggesting the pace of selling has slowed relative to recent weeks even if the bigger picture remains unfavorable. Clearing the 20-day moving average zone between roughly $103 and $104 would be the minimum bar bulls need to clear to make the case that this bounce has staying power.
Key Support: $82.00 — a level in the vicinity of the 52-week low at $81.81 where buyers have shown a willingness to step in previously MSTR Shares Are ClimbingMSTR Price Action: Strategy shares were up 0.82% at $94.66 at the time of publication on Friday. The stock is near its 52-week low of $81.81, according to Benzinga Pro.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Spot bitcoin ETFs are in the middle of their longest outflow run on record: roughly $8B has left the category over eight straight weeks.¹ For allocators, that is the headline risk signal right now, more than any single catalyst. There are early reports of inflows returning over the past three sessions, but that figure is not yet confirmed and shouldn’t be treated as a turn until it is.²
The macro backdrop explains a good part of the outflow pressure. Minutes from the Fed’s June 16-17 meeting showed a committee that held rates at 3.50%-3.75% unanimously and, notably, dropped its easing language rather than adding to it.³ Core PCE running at 3.3% in April and tracking toward 3.4% in May gave the committee cover to stay firm, even as unemployment eased slightly to 4.2% in June from 4.3% in May.⁴ Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has offered no public signal of his own, so the minutes remain the best read available: a September move, in either direction, is still on the table.
Add renewed friction in the Middle East, where the Iran ceasefire looks shakier than it did a few weeks ago, and you get a bitcoin market trading defensively against both a firmer rate hurdle and geopolitical noise. Positioning around real rates and dollar strength continues to explain most of the near-term price action.
One overhang that looks smaller than advertised: Strategy’s (MSTR) roughly 4%-of-supply bitcoin position.⁵ The market’s reaction to Strategy news has become far more muted. A 32 BTC sale in early June triggered a 6% drop in MSTR and a 2% dip in bitcoin, feeding into a broader move down toward $71,500. A much larger 3,588 BTC sale in early July barely registered, with bitcoin instead climbing back to roughly $63,800 afterward. The read: the market has already absorbed the idea that Strategy will sell periodically, so each new disclosure carries less shock value.
Regulatory tailwinds are fading rather than building. The CLARITY Act has stalled short of a floor vote, tangled in disputes over a developer-exemption clause, ethics language tied to the administration’s own crypto holdings, and a stablecoin-yield provision that runs against the GENIUS Act. Betting markets now price 2026 passage at roughly 48%, down from 74% a month earlier, and the Senate’s return on 13 July leaves only a narrow window before the August recess.
None of this points to a breakdown. It points to a market working through a fragile bottoming process: real headwinds from rates, geopolitics and stalled legislation, offset by tentative flow stabilization and a market that has grown noticeably less reactive to Strategy-specific news.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.
Sources Bitcoin Foundation News, “Bitcoin ETFs Post Record Week of Outflows — $8.2B,” July 2026 Bloomberg, 8 July 2026 Federal Reserve, FOMC statement, 17 June 2026 CNBC / BLS, US inflation and labour data, May-June 2026 Bitcoin Magazine / BitcoinTreasuries.net, July 2026
Shares of Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL | CRCL Price Prediction) are up 14% in early Friday trading to $71.93, rebounding sharply from Thursday’s $63.01 close. The stablecoin issuer is rallying after winning final regulatory approval to launch a national trust bank.
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) stock is up 5% to $165.66, while Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) stock (formerly MicroStrategy) is also up 5% to $98.21. The moves track a 2% bounce in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) over 24 hours to $64,123.
The Circle stock rally caps a rough stretch in which CRCL had slid to a three-month low heading into today. Circle shares are down 69% over the past year, so this pop reclaims only a slice of lost ground.
OCC Approval Fuels Circle’s Rebound The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval for Circle to open Circle National Trust, a national trust bank that will house USDC custody and eventually its reserves under federal oversight. The green light completes the conditional approval Circle received in December 2025 and slots the issuer squarely into the GENIUS Act framework for payment stablecoins.
CEO Jeremy Allaire welcomed the federal oversight, framing it as validation of Circle’s push to build regulated infrastructure for programmable finance. Circle issues USDC (CRYPTO:USDC), with $77 billion in circulation as of March 31 and 28% market share of the U.S. dollar fiat-backed stablecoin segment.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought around 217,900 shares of Circle stock on July 9, a vote of confidence going into today’s news. The average analyst price target sits at $134, well above the current share price, with Bernstein carrying a $190 Buy target.
The bull case for CRCL stock rests on the regulatory moat that the OCC charter creates and the ongoing convergence of stablecoin rails with traditional payments. Circle Internet Group’s Q1 2026 revenue grew 20% year over year (YoY) to $694 million, and USDC on-chain transaction volume hit $21.5 trillion, up 263% YoY.
The bear case is credible too. A rival token, Open USD, backed by Visa (NYSE:V) and Coinbase, emerged in late June and drove Circle stock from a 52-week high of $263 toward $63. Insider selling has also been heavy, with Director Patrick Sean Neville selling more than $85 million in shares in June.
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Coinbase, Strategy, and IBIT Ride the Bitcoin Bounce Coinbase stock is climbing alongside Bitcoin’s rebound after a punishing first half. Q1 2026 revenue at Coinbase fell 31% YoY to $1.41 billion as spot volumes and crypto prices declined. A firmer Bitcoin tape directly lifts transaction revenue, which made up 54% of Coinbase’s Q1 net revenue.
Strategy stock, the vehicle that holds 818,334 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, is even more directly geared to the coin’s price. Every move in Bitcoin flows through the company’s fair-value accounting, and Q1 2026 included a $14.5 billion unrealized loss on the position that today’s bounce begins to reverse. MSTR shares carry a beta of 3.5, so the amplification runs both ways.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) is the cleanest way to express a spot view on the coin. The ETF holds Bitcoin directly at a 0.33% expense ratio, and it’s highly volatile though not leveraged. IBIT shares are still down 28% year to date (YTD), mirroring Bitcoin’s 28% YTD decline.
What to Watch Now Traders can watch for whether Circle stock holds its early Friday gains once regular trading opens. Early pops in crypto-linked names have a habit of fading if Bitcoin loses altitude through the session, and the CRCL move sits on top of a stretch of heavy insider selling that could cap upside.
The bigger question is about durability. If Bitcoin can stay above the $64,000 mark into the weekend, the Coinbase and Strategy trades stay in play. Should the coin slip back, the read-through cuts the other way for both, with MSTR shares most exposed given their leverage to Bitcoin’s price.
For position sizing, investors may want to treat Circle stock as the primary event-driven name today and the Bitcoin proxies as higher-beta trades layered on top. A cautious, sized-down approach makes sense given how quickly gains can reverse in this cohort. Follow-on analyst notes on Circle’s charter and any Monday price target updates could shape sentiment into next week.
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Strategy (MSTR +0.02%) became a stock market sensation after pivoting its business from software to Bitcoin. CEO Michael Saylor's high profile on social media and vocal support of cryptocurrency helped make Strategy a household name among crypto investors. Strategy accumulated Bitcoin for several years, becoming one of its largest holders and issuing preferred shares that pay investors generous dividends with fixed yields.
Shockingly, Michael Saylor recently confirmed that Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for approximately $216 million to fund dividends on its preferred stock and to top off the company's cash reserve. It's a watershed moment for investors to evaluate just how durable Strategy's business model actually is.
Why Strategy's BTC sale is a big deal Strategy enjoys a strong tailwind when Bitcoin's price rises. The value of its BTC holdings would increase, and the stock has even traded at huge premiums to its BTC reserves at times. These circumstances allowed Strategy to practically print cash by issuing stock or borrowing money, funding its dividends and BTC purchases to grow its reserves, a flywheel that spun for quite a while.
Image source: The Motley Fool
But Bitcoin prices have continued to slide since peaking last fall. Strategy's common stock now trades roughly in line with the value of the company's BTC reserves and continues to decline as BTC prices drop. In other words, that flywheel is spinning the other way, and those tailwinds are now headwinds. Strategy selling BTC, below its $75,476 cost basis, mind you, is not a good sign.
It's too early to say that Strategy's business is breaking. The recent sale was a sliver, less than 1% of the company's total BTC reserves. That said, some cracks are starting to show. If Bitcoin continues to drop, Strategy may have to sell more of its BTC to raise funds. If so, it's even worse, as Strategy may need to sell more BTC to raise the same amount of cash.
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It's common wisdom that the goal of investing is to buy low and sell high. Unfortunately, Strategy could face more situations where it bought high and must sell low to meet its dividend obligations. That's a red flag at best. In a worst-case scenario, it might be a sign that Strategy's business model is fatally flawed.
A business model built on Bitcoin, a volatile asset, needs to work in all markets, not only when prices go in one direction. Remember, it's impossible to know where Bitcoin might trade in the future. There hasn't even been a prolonged recession in the cryptocurrency age, as the pandemic was too short-lived. What if Bitcoin takes another five years to make new highs?
Protecting against risk is just as important as chasing upside. The company's new need to sell BTC is a risk investors should think hard about when deciding whether to invest in Strategy.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Michael Saylor just made his biggest-ever Bitcoin sale, with Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) selling 3,588 BTC worth $216 million. Saylor has long been one of Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO:BTC) loudest maximalists, and he always said to never sell Bitcoin. But things have changed. With Bitcoin down about 50% from its $126,000 peak, Saylor has now broken his own rule twice in three months.
Back in May, Strategy made its first sale since 2022, offloading 32 BTC for around $2.5 million. Last week’s sale is the largest in the company’s history at $216 million, and Strategy has cleared itself to sell up to $1.25 billion more if it needs to.
Strangely, Bitcoin barely moved after this sale and has actually risen since. Yet back in May, the smaller sale sent the Bitcoin price tumbling. So two questions matter now. Will Strategy keep selling, or is it only rebalancing to pay its bills? And could a consistent Strategy sale drag Bitcoin down to $50,000?
Why Saylor’s Strategy Sold Bitcoin
Saylor started buying Bitcoin back in 2020, when his company was still called MicroStrategy, before it was renamed to Strategy. He then turned the company into the biggest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world by borrowing heavily to keep buying.
Most of the money came from selling preferred stock (a type of stock that works like a loan) because it pays the buyer a fixed regular dividend in return for their cash. These are separate from Strategy’s normal shares, which trade under the ticker MSTR. The preferred stocks trade under their own names, like STRC, STRF, and STRK, and selling them lets Strategy raise billions without touching its Bitcoin.
However, the borrowing created a big problem for the company. Those dividends add up, and Strategy now owes somewhere between $750 and $800 million a year on them, due in cash no matter what Bitcoin is doing.
For a while, one of those preferred stocks, STRC, quietly covered the bills. STRC is designed to trade around a fixed price of $100 and pay a monthly dividend, and Strategy could keep selling more of it to raise fresh cash whenever a payment came due. STRC has now slipped below that $100 mark, and since mid-May, the company hasn’t been able to use it to raise new money. That left Strategy with dividend bills coming due and its main way of paying them broken.
So the cash to pay those dividends had to come from somewhere else, and for the first time, that meant selling Bitcoin to cover a bill. Apart from one small tax-related sale in 2022, Strategy had held on to everything it ever bought. But that changed in late May, when it sold 32 coins for about $2.5 million to make a dividend payment—its first sale in years and the first ever driven by its bills rather than accounting. Last week’s sale is the same move on a far bigger scale, 3,588 coins for $216 million, sold at a loss to raise the cash.
Why Saylor’s $216 Million Sale Didn’t Crash the Bitcoin Price
Saylor said he sold $216 million in Bitcoin to cover Strategy’s bills, not that he lost faith in Bitcoin, and that’s the right way to see it. He sold because he had no other way to make the dividend payments. The borrowing that let him build that huge Bitcoin position is the same thing that forced him to sell part of it back.
And on its own, that sale is far too small to drag the Bitcoin price down. Bitcoin trades around $25 billion worth of coins every day, so Strategy’s $216 million is under one percent of that, absorbed in minutes without the market even noticing. In fact, the Bitcoin price rose in the days after the sale rather than falling.
That doesn’t mean a Saylor sale can never move the market, because one already did. Back in May, Strategy sold just 32 Bitcoin, worth about $2.5 million, an amount so small it should have meant nothing at all. Yet the market still shook because traders weren’t looking at just the 32 coins—they were looking at the first crack in Saylor’s “never sell” promise, and it scared them.
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On the other hand, it’s also why this far bigger sale barely registered. By now, the shock of Saylor’s selling has worn off. The market already knows he’ll sell to pay his bills, so a $216 million sale is nothing new or unexpected.
What Would Push Bitcoin to $50,000
Bitcoin is having a rough year, and trades near $62,900, down about 50% from its all-time high of $126,000 last October. The market’s mood is grim, with the Fear and Greed Index stuck deep in extreme fear. The Bitcoin price could still drop to $50,000, but Saylor’s sale won’t be the reason. A move that big would come from the same forces that have dragged the whole market down all year.
Back in late June, BTC fell to around $58,000—its lowest point in nearly two years—before recovering to where it trades now. That $58,000 area is remains a key level to watch. If Bitcoin closes below it again, the next support is near $54,900, and then $50,000 after that.
We already saw what drives that sort of drop earlier this year. The war between the US and Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s key oil routes, and crude prices shot above $120 a barrel. That pushed inflation up to 4.1%, which is its highest in three years, and forced the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high instead of cutting them.
High rates are the part that hurts Bitcoin. When the Fed holds rates up, safer investments like government bonds pay solid interest, so investors move their money out of risky assets that pay nothing, like Bitcoin, and into bonds that do. That’s a big part of why Bitcoin fell from the $70,000s down to around $58,000 by late June.
Now the same setup is building again. The US-Iran ceasefire collapsed this week as both sides traded fresh airstrikes, and oil prices jumped once more. If that keeps inflation hot and pushes the Fed to hold or raise rates at its late-July meeting, the pressure that took Bitcoin to $58,000 could easily return and drag it lower. On top of that, investors pulled $4.5 billion out of Bitcoin funds in June, the worst month since those funds launched—and none of that has anything to do with Saylor’s BTC sale.
What a Drop to $50,000 Would Mean for Bitcoin A fall to $50,000 would put the most pressure on Strategy. The lower Bitcoin goes, the harder it becomes for the company to raise money, and the more tempting it gets to sell more Bitcoin to cover its dividend bills. That’s the loop investors worry about, as lower BTC prices force more selling, which pushes prices lower still.
But even at a $50,000 Bitcoin price, Strategy would still own every one of its 843,775 coins, and nothing automatically forces it to sell. There’s no hidden trigger that sets off a fire sale once Bitcoin hits a certain price.
Moreover, the company is also holding $2.55 billion in cash, enough to cover its dividend payments for more than two years. That buys plenty of time for Bitcoin to recover before anything turns desperate. Even if Bitcoin fell to $50,000 tomorrow, Strategy would wake up owning the same pile of Bitcoin it holds today. The bigger test is the company’s $1 billion debt payment due in 2027, and that’s a problem for another day.
As for Bitcoin itself, a drop to $50,000 would hurt, but it wouldn’t be the end of anything. It’s a level long-term buyers have stepped in at before, a price where patient money tends to come back. Bitcoin could reach $50,000, but Saylor’s $216 million sale won’t be what sends it there. That sale wasn’t a sign that Bitcoin is finished, but a sign that Saylor ran out of cash to pay his bills, and those are two very different things.
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The crypto-linked equities are having another rough session midday Wednesday, and the year-to-date scoreboard tells a clear story about which treasury strategy has held up best. Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) is down 46% year to date (YTD) and down slightly today at $14.73, extending a brutal stretch for the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) treasury proxy. The Ethereum-treasury... Bitmine Immersion Technologies Stock Is Down 46% This Year: Is It Time to Switch to Strategy or Circle Internet Group?
Why is Strategy (MSTR) moving away from its "buy and hold forever" Bitcoin strategy? Jenny Horne sits down with @CharlesSchwab's Nate Peterson from the Schwab Center for Financial Research to discuss crypto treasury stock's latest Bitcoin sales, whether the legendary four-year Bitcoin cycle is still intact, and what the technical picture says about a crypto winter.
When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock's price, but are they really important?
Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let's see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) .
Strategy currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.28, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 18 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.28 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.
Of the 18 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 15 are Strong Buy and one is Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 83.3% and 5.6% of all recommendations.
Brokerage Recommendation Trends for MSTR
Check price target & stock forecast for Strategy here>>>
The ABR suggests buying Strategy, but making an investment decision solely on the basis of this information might not be a good idea. According to several studies, brokerage recommendations have little to no success guiding investors to choose stocks with the most potential for price appreciation.
Are you wondering why? The vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover often results in a strong positive bias of their analysts in rating it. Our research shows that for every "Strong Sell" recommendation, brokerage firms assign five "Strong Buy" recommendations.
In other words, their interests aren't always aligned with retail investors, rarely indicating where the price of a stock could actually be heading. Therefore, the best use of this information could be validating your own research or an indicator that has proven to be highly successful in predicting a stock's price movement.
Zacks Rank, our proprietary stock rating tool with an impressive externally audited track record, categorizes stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), and is an effective indicator of a stock's price performance in the near future. Therefore, using the ABR to validate the Zacks Rank could be an efficient way of making a profitable investment decision.
ABR Should Not Be Confused With Zacks RankIn spite of the fact that Zacks Rank and ABR both appear on a scale from 1 to 5, they are two completely different measures.
Broker recommendations are the sole basis for calculating the ABR, which is typically displayed in decimals (such as 1.28). The Zacks Rank, on the other hand, is a quantitative model designed to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers -- 1 to 5.
Analysts employed by brokerage firms have been and continue to be overly optimistic with their recommendations. Since the ratings issued by these analysts are more favorable than their research would support because of the vested interest of their employers, they mislead investors far more often than they guide.
On the other hand, earnings estimate revisions are at the core of the Zacks Rank. And empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
Furthermore, the different grades of the Zacks Rank are applied proportionately across all stocks for which brokerage analysts provide earnings estimates for the current year. In other words, at all times, this tool maintains a balance among the five ranks it assigns.
Another key difference between the ABR and Zacks Rank is freshness. The ABR is not necessarily up-to-date when you look at it. But, since brokerage analysts keep revising their earnings estimates to account for a company's changing business trends, and their actions get reflected in the Zacks Rank quickly enough, it is always timely in indicating future price movements.
Is MSTR Worth Investing In?In terms of earnings estimate revisions for Strategy, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has remained unchanged over the past month at $116.7.
Analysts' steady views regarding the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by an unchanged consensus estimate, could be a legitimate reason for the stock to perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Strategy. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
It may therefore be prudent to be a little cautious with the Buy-equivalent ABR for Strategy.
The company that famously told investors "Never sell your Bitcoin (BTC 1.65%)" is now selling its Bitcoin. After announcing a brand-new approach to Bitcoin on June 29, Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR 3.34%), formerly known as MicroStrategy, announced the massive sale of 3,558 BTC at a total price of $216 million.
Strategy has done its very best to convince investors that all this is being done to bolster long-term shareholder value and to put the company on a much stronger financial footing. But it's hard not to see that the wheels are coming off the Bitcoin treasury company wagon.
Strategy famously created the notion of the Bitcoin treasury company, and that's why its decision to sell some of its Bitcoin has been so highly debated. If a company set up solely to accumulate Bitcoin is now selling some of it, is the Bitcoin treasury company business model broken?
Image source: Getty Images.
The problem, quite frankly, is that the economic flywheel put in place to purchase Bitcoin is now showing signs of slowing. Instead of funding its Bitcoin purchases with cash, Strategy has been funding them with proceeds from its various preferred stock offerings.
However, to get investors to bite on these securities, they must offer a sizable dividend. For example, Strategy Variable Rate Perpetual Stretch Preferred Shares Series A ("Stretch") (STRC 2.50%) currently pays out an annualized dividend that yields 12%.
And that's where the Bitcoin sales come into play -- Strategy obviously needs more cash than originally anticipated to keep paying these dividends in the future. The whole point of the company's new Bitcoin monetization program is to sell Bitcoin and raise cash to keep all the pieces of the flywheel working in unison.
Just buy Bitcoin It's time to forgo all the pretense that investors can generate superior long-term returns by investing in a company that will buy Bitcoin for them. At the end of the day, investors should probably just buy Bitcoin directly.
Admittedly, there was a brief period of time when Strategy outperformed Bitcoin. But that time has come to an end. Year to date, Bitcoin is down 28%, while Strategy is down 36%.
Just look at the price of Strategy stock over the past 12 months. It has completely collapsed in value.
Today's Change
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For now, I'm avoiding Strategy and all other Bitcoin treasury companies. The risk is simply too great. If I'm buying Bitcoin, I'm buying it directly.
@cointelegraph's Ray Salmond remains bullish on Bitcoin, which saw a short-term uptrend even after Strategy (MSTR) sold $216 million worth of the cryptocurrency. Ray adds his thoughts on what the Fed's impact on cryptocurrencies looks like, noting that Bitcoin could be “on pins and needles tomorrow.
Strategy (MSTR - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $97.36, moving -3.38% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.45%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.16%.
The stock of business software company has fallen by 20.78% in the past month, lagging the Finance sector's gain of 5.72% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.14%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Strategy in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $52.04, marking a 59.63% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $126.95 million, indicating a 10.88% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $116.7 per share and a revenue of $503.9 million, demonstrating changes of +866.25% and +5.59%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Strategy. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Strategy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Strategy has a Forward P/E ratio of 0.86 right now. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 11.15.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, which puts it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow MSTR in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
A bitcoin miner ETF has quietly outrun the most famous corporate bitcoin holder on the market this year, and it did so without owning a single share of that company. The CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (NASDAQ:WGMI) is up 47.58% year to date through July 6, 2026, even as bitcoin itself has slipped. Notably absent from the fund: MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), now branded Strategy, the world’s largest corporate bitcoin treasury holder.
The absence is by design, baked into the fund’s mandate.
What WGMI Actually Owns WGMI is an actively managed ETF focused on the picks-and-shovels side of bitcoin: the companies that mine the coin and the vendors that sell them chips, hardware, software, and services. Per its stated objective, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets in companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from bitcoin mining operations or from supplying miners. That is a narrow universe, populated by names typical of the mining sector such as Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark.
MicroStrategy does not fit that screen. It is a software company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, classified under application software, that has adopted bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset. The company holds coins; it does not mine them. That distinction, subtle to a casual observer, is decisive to an index built around mining revenue.
Why the Fund Is Up The year-to-date run is striking because it has happened against a soft backdrop for bitcoin itself. The cryptocurrency is down 26.66% year to date, yet the miners in WGMI have expanded operating leverage, benefited from post-halving efficiency gains, and, in several cases, pivoted capacity toward AI and high-performance computing tenants. Miners with low power costs and modern rigs have compounded margins even in a lower-price bitcoin environment.
Over a longer window, the fund is up 116.98% over the past year, closing July 6 at $56.48.
The Recent Drawdown Is Real The strong YTD figure masks a rough stretch. WGMI is down 11.33% over the trailing week and 8.3% over the past month, and it slipped 5.1% in the July 7 session to $53.60. Miners are high-beta bitcoin proxies, and the recent volatility is a reminder that this is a concentrated, cyclical corner of the market.
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Why MicroStrategy’s Exclusion Matters Compare WGMI’s run to what MicroStrategy shares have done. MSTR is down 33.68% year to date and 75.06% over the past year, closing July 6 at $100.77. The company’s Q1 2026 report showed a net loss of $12.54 billion, driven by a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on bitcoin holdings under new fair-value accounting rules, with diluted EPS of -$38.25. The company still holds 818,334 BTC as of early May 2026, making it the dominant corporate holder, but the accounting mark and share dilution from $7.37 billion in Q1 ATM offerings have weighed on the stock.
A fund that owned MSTR would have carried that drag. WGMI, built around operating miners, sidestepped it. That is the practical consequence of an index methodology that draws a hard line between mining bitcoin and holding it.
Context and Caveats Investors seeking direct exposure to bitcoin, or to MicroStrategy’s leveraged treasury strategy, will not find it here. Broader crypto-equity ETFs and spot bitcoin funds take a different route, and some include MSTR at meaningful weights. WGMI’s narrower design cuts both ways: it captures upside when miners outperform the coin, and it concentrates risk in a small group of operationally similar, energy-intensive businesses.
WGMI is also a relatively young, actively managed product with limited operating history, and its holdings can shift as the manager rotates among miners. Readers screening the space may find broader context useful in our AI power and infrastructure research, given how many miners are now leasing capacity to data-center tenants.
Past performance does not guarantee future results, and nothing here is investment advice.
The Takeaway WGMI’s YTD gain without MicroStrategy in the portfolio is a clean illustration of how mandate design shapes returns. If your thesis is that bitcoin miners, as operating businesses, will outperform bitcoin itself and the companies that merely hold it, the fund is aligned with that view. If your thesis is corporate treasury adoption, WGMI is the wrong vehicle by construction.
If You'd Bought Amazon When the Motley Fool Said To…In September 2002, Stock Advisor told subscribers to buy Amazon. In December 2004, Netflix. In April 2005, Nvidia. The newsletter still publishes two new stock picks every month — and over 23 years, has more than quadrupled the S&P 500. Here's how to get this month's picks:
- Join Stock Advisor for one year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Get this month's two new picks — plus the Top 10 Rankings and the full historical pick list
- Read the analysis, decide for yourself, and trade through your own brokerage
Five years from now, you'll probably wish you'd bought this month's picks. Don't miss them.
What Strategy’s July 6 Filing Actually Says About Its First Major Bitcoin Sale Since 2022
The filing is specific. The coins went in two tranches: 1,363 bitcoin between June 29 and June 30, then 2,225 between July 1 and July 5 at an average of roughly $60,773. The proceeds funded quarterly dividends on four preferred series, STRF, STRE, STRK and STRD, plus the semi-monthly dividend on STRC.
The uncomfortable number is the cost basis. Strategy’s average purchase price is about $75,476 a coin, so it sold below cost, realizing a loss to raise cash. After the sale it held 843,775 bitcoin and $2.55 billion in cash.
Why A Small Sale Is A Big SignalFor years the model was simple: issue securities, buy bitcoin, never sell. This sale confirms that has changed. Strategy adopted a framework that permits sales to meet obligations — the reason is the preferred stack: those dividends, roughly $1.6 billion a year, are a standing cash call the software business cannot cover, and the sale recasts the dividend-and-capital-structure story around the coins.
The Two SidesThe bull case is that the sale is tiny, roughly 0.4% of holdings, the balance sheet still carries $2.55 billion in cash, and the same preferreds raised the capital that bought the bitcoin in the first place. This is not a solvency event.
The Bottom LineThe disclosure is small in size and large in signal: Strategy’s dividend obligations now shape its treasury decisions. For anyone following MSTR, the variable to track is the preferred dividend run-rate against cash and the company’s ability to issue equity, because that, more than the bitcoin price alone, now decides whether Strategy is a buyer or a seller.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in Strategy and no position in bitcoin.
Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
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Strategy (MSTR) is selling more Bitcoin, though @CharlesSchwab's Jim Ferraioli says the company's plans buy it "enough time" to balance cash reserves for its Stretch (STRC) preferred stock. When it comes to Bitcoin, he talks about what he calls "classic" moves the cryptocurrency is currently experiencing and weighs fundamentals against current narratives.
June nonfarm payrolls rose by just 57,000 against a consensus of 115,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.3%.¹ The two-year Treasury yield dropped more than five basis points on the release, and bitcoin rebounded off its cycle low near $57,000, in line with the shift in rate expectations. The reaction underscores that bitcoin remains highly sensitive to near-term rate expectations, according to CoinShares’ Research.
The Federal Reserve held rates at 3.5% to 3.75% at its June meeting, Kevin Warsh’s first as chair, and the dot plot moved hawkish rather than dovish: the median projection for end-2026 rates rose to 3.8% from 3.4% in March, with 17 of 18 officials seeing inflation risk skewed to the upside. Warsh pointed to the Iran conflict’s energy price effects as part of the inflation picture. The Fed’s own guidance is now pulling in the opposite direction to today’s data, so one soft print does not remove the broader restrictive backdrop.
For portfolio construction, the more relevant signal is beneath the price action. Valuation and positioning look washed out. Whale distribution also appears to have run its course: the over-100,000 BTC cohort distributed roughly $39B into October 2025’s peak, and that selling has now slowed to a stop, removing the dominant overhang from 2025.
A new catalyst is still missing Flow data supports a rotation narrative rather than a rejection of the asset. Bitcoin ETFs have recorded roughly $2.7B of net outflows year to date across all issuers, against roughly $5.5B of inflows into AI ETFs over the same period.² That pattern looks more like capital funding the market’s most crowded trade than a structural shift away from bitcoin’s investment case.
The case for caution has not disappeared. Easier policy is not yet in place, and the Fed’s dot plot has moved further from it. Whales have stopped selling but are not yet re-accumulating. Strategy (MSTR)-related supply remains an overhang, the Iran conflict still carries an oil and recession premium, and regulatory momentum has softened as the odds of CLARITY Act passage this year deteriorate with a more congested Senate calendar.
Taken together, the internals support a cyclical low forming, but the catalyst for a new leg higher is still missing. This looks like the early stages of a bottoming process, not confirmation of a trend reversal, an important distinction for allocators sizing exposure around near-term rate and flow catalysts.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.
Sources ¹ US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Jul 2026
Peter Schiff slammed President Donald Trump’s crypto donors on Tuesday, July 7, accusing them of cashing in a political favor after Trump teased the possibility of adding Bitcoin (BTC) to the new Trump Accounts savings program for children.
In an X post, Schiff suggested the remarks about adding BTC to the Trump Accounts were less about policy and more about rewarding major industry backers.
“Trump’s crypto donors likely called in a favor to get Trump to tease the possibility of allowing Trump accounts to buy Bitcoin by telling a reporter that he’s “become a big crypto guy,’” Schiff stated.
Some of the top pro-Trump crypto entities potentially under fire by Schiff could include Elon Musk, Ripple Labs, Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), Crypto.com, and the Winklevoss brothers. Moreover, these entities contributed to pro-Trump super PACs such as MAGA Inc.
The reproach comes after Trump called himself ‘a big crypto guy’ in response to a question about adding Bitcoin to the Trump Accounts. As such, Schiff urged the President to distance the children’s initiative from Bitcoin.
Schiff’s Bitcoin criticism and prediction Schiff’s remarks fit into his broader skepticism of Bitcoin. The Schiff Bitcoin criticism has recently centered on its capitulation amid selling pressure potentially catalyzed by Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR).
As Bitcoin price trades around 63,300 at press time, Schiff recently noted that it may have found a bear support level, as Finbold reported. However, over the past few months, Schiff criticized Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin model, stating that its authorized BTC sales could trigger further crypto capitulation.
Meanwhile, he has condemned the modern U.S. government overreach, stating that it surpasses colonial-era tyranny. In a recent podcast, he cited the weak June jobs report, which showed 514,000 full-time job losses, while the President’s family made a fortune in the crypto industry.
Notably, President Trump and his family made more than $1 billion in crypto-related income. As such, Schiff fears that President Trump could exploit the Trump Account policy system to quell pressure from crypto donors.
Featured image via Peter Schiff YouTube.
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Strategy, the largest corporate crypto hoarder, sold $216 million of Bitcoin last week – a sign that it is abandoning co-founder Michael Saylor’s “Never sell your Bitcoin” mantra as a slumping digital asset market hits its own shares.
It marked the company’s largest Bitcoin sale since it started building up its massive holdings in 2020, and only its third sale overall as it makes a hard pivot to a more flexible investment strategy – treating the token as just another source of liquidity.
Bitcoin ticked up 0.4% Monday to $63,870.52 – still far below the firm’s average purchase price of approximately $75,000 per token.
MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor at a White House summit on digital assets on March 7, 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images Lacie Zhang, research analyst at Bitget Wallet, said the sale doesn’t come as a complete surprise since Strategy had previously signaled that Bitcoin sales were a possibility if needed.
“What matters more is that each actual sale weakens the ‘never sell’ perception around the Bitcoin treasury model and brings capital structure pressure back into focus,” Zhang told The Post.
Formerly known as MicroStrategy, the firm has followed an intense buying strategy focused on raising capital, buying Bitcoin and holding onto it — earning it a reputation as the leading so-called “crypto-treasury” company.
Under Saylor, who stepped down as CEO in 2022, that “crypto-treasury” model encouraged crypto bulls to buy shares of the firm in hopes that Bitcoin would continue to rise and their winnings would be multiplied.
But instead, the volatile market has taken a turn for the worse – sending Strategy’s stock down 75% over the past year.
“The market is finally forcing these companies to choose between holding their digital assets or keeping their investors happy with cash. They chose cash,” William Stern, founder and chief executive of financial firm Cardiff, told The Post.
Bitcoin fell 14% in the most recent quarter, causing Strategy to suffer an $8.32 billion loss on digital assets. Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images In the latest quarter, as Bitcoin fell 14%, Strategy suffered an $8.32 billion loss on digital assets.
The company is now worth roughly $35 billion – a sharp drop from its peak of around $128 billion last year.
Big-name investors like Peter Thiel, who backed multiple crypto-treasury companies, have also been hit hard by the sell-off.
June marked the worst month on record for US spot Bitcoin ETFs, with about $4.06 billion in net outflows – topping the previous record of $3.56 billion in February 2025, according to Bitfinex analysts.
Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen, noted that Strategy’s sale last week has yet to trigger a broader sell-off – signaling the market might be more resilient than initially expected.
However, “that does not mean the overhang is gone. We still expect excess leverage and the broader DAT [Digital Asset Treasury] unwind to continue playing out, which could include further corporate selling,” Kennis told The Post.
Strategy is seemingly abandoning Saylor’s mantra to “never sell your Bitcoin.” Bloomberg via Getty Images Strategy’s sale could prompt individual investors to reassess their holdings of Bitcoin, which has already suffered some brutal trading this year.
Analysts have already warned that more downside could be in store for crypto as investors look to free up extra liquidity as they pivot to massive AI IPOs.
SpaceX’s IPO last month marked the largest-ever stock market debut, and analysts are expecting OpenAI and Anthropic to make similar waves with IPOs later this year or in early 2027.
The Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) market has spent years rewarding companies that accumulated as much cryptocurrency as possible. That strategy worked brilliantly while Bitcoin prices climbed and capital remained easy to access. But higher financing costs, growing leverage, and the emergence of preferred stock obligations are forcing some companies to rethink the rules.
For Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), that shift arrived last week when the company revealed Bitcoin sales would become a permanent feature of its capital allocation strategy. Just days later, investors got their first look at what that actually means.
Last Week’s Announcement Was a Warning Strategy announced last week that selling Bitcoin could be used to support dividends on its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (NASDAQ:STRC) and strengthen corporate liquidity.
The change marked a major departure from Michael Saylor’s long-standing message that Bitcoin was an asset to accumulate, not sell. Strategy authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales that could be used to support its financial obligations, including preferred dividend payments.
At the time, many investors viewed the announcement as a precautionary measure. It now appears the company was preparing shareholders for what came next.
This morning, Strategy disclosed it had sold 3,588 Bitcoin for approximately $216 million to fund preferred stock dividends and bolster cash reserves. That single transaction consumed roughly 17% of the entire $1.25 billion sales authorization in less than a week.
STRC preferred shareholders are entitled to dividend payments before common shareholders receive anything. By selling Bitcoin to ensure those payments continue, Strategy is effectively prioritizing preferred investors over common stock owners.
Granted, preferred securities were always senior to common shares. That’s how the capital structure works. But investors buying Strategy’s common shares largely accepted the stock because it offered leveraged exposure to Bitcoin. The investment thesis was simple: buy Strategy and gain amplified upside from rising Bitcoin prices.
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Selling Bitcoin to support preferred dividends changes that equation. Every Bitcoin sold reduces the company’s exposure to the very asset common shareholders came to own indirectly.
Why Buying MSTR Has Become a Higher-Risk Bet The market’s reaction was immediate. Bitcoin fell nearly 3% to around $61,700 following the announcement, while MSTR shares dropped roughly 6% at the market open.
That decline adds to an already painful stretch for shareholders. Strategy stock has lost nearly 75% of its value over the past year. The risks now extend beyond Bitcoin’s normal volatility.
Investors face multiple layers of uncertainty:
Bitcoin price risk Corporate financing risk Preferred dividend obligations Potential future Bitcoin sales Dilution from additional capital raises Compare that to simply owning Bitcoin directly or through a spot Bitcoin ETF. A spot ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price without introducing corporate leverage, preferred securities, dividend obligations, or management capital allocation decisions. Investors get exposure to the asset they want without additional layers of complexity.
That simplicity matters when markets become volatile.
Key Takeaway In short, last week’s announcement wasn’t a footnote — it was a roadmap. Strategy has already used more than 17% of its $1.25 billion Bitcoin sales authorization after unloading 3,588 BTC for $216 million. The move protects STRC preferred shareholders and strengthens cash reserves, but it also shifts risk onto common shareholders who expected maximum Bitcoin exposure. Saylor is now managing a far more complicated capital structure than he was several years ago. The company has obligations that extend beyond simply buying and holding Bitcoin.
Regardless, common shareholders should recognize that Strategy is no longer a pure Bitcoin accumulation story. It has become a leveraged financial vehicle balancing debt, preferred dividends, and cryptocurrency holdings.
For investors seeking Bitcoin exposure today, the cleaner choice is increasingly either Bitcoin itself or a low-cost spot Bitcoin ETF. Both provide direct exposure to the asset without the added risks that now come with owning Strategy stock.
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Strategy MSTR (formerly known as Microstrategy), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, disclosed on Monday that it sold 3,588 Bitcoins for approximately $216 million last week.
The sale was part of a newly introduced treasury framework designed to support preferred stock obligations and strengthen its cash reserves.
The software company sold 1,363 Bitcoins between June 29 and June 30 for $80.8 million at an average price of $59,256 per Bitcoin.
It then sold another 2,225 Bitcoin between July 1 and July 5 for $135.2 million at an average price of $60,773 per Bitcoin, according to an SEC filing.
The sales reduce Strategy's total holdings to 843,775 Bitcoin.
According to Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company acquired those holdings at an average purchase price of $74,476 per Bitcoin, representing a total cost of about $63.7 billion, including fees and expenses.
Strategy stock fell 2% in trading on Monday after the announcement.
The Bitcoin sale follows Strategy's June 29 announcement of its Digital Credit Capital Framework, a financial restructuring aimed at strengthening the company's balance sheet and reassuring investors.
According to the filing, proceeds from the Bitcoin sales were used to fund distributions on preferred stock and replenish part of the company's US dollar reserve, which stood at $2.6 billion as of July 5.
Under the new policy, the reserve can only be used to pay preferred stock dividends and interest payments and must be sufficient to cover at least 12 months of those obligations.
The company also introduced a BTC Monetization Program that allows it to sell up to $1.3 billion worth of Bitcoin to support the reserve, fund preferred stock dividends and interest payments, or repurchase digital credit securities and common stock.
As of July 5, none of that capacity had been used beyond the latest sales.
Strategy also authorized separate $1 billion repurchase programs for digital credit securities and Class A common stock.
In its second-quarter financial update, Strategy reported an $8.3 billion loss on digital assets, consisting of an $8.3 billion unrealized loss and a $0.9 million realized loss.
The company said the market value of its Bitcoin holdings fell below their purchase cost at the end of the quarter, prompting it to fully offset the related deferred tax benefit with a valuation allowance.
Based on current prices, Strategy's Bitcoin holdings are valued at roughly $52.3 billion.
The company controls more than 4% of Bitcoin's maximum supply of 21 million coins.
Bitcoin fell around 2% following the filing, while Strategy shares declined 2% in trading after closing 7.9% higher on Thursday. Robinhood Markets and Coinbase Global each rose 3% and 1% respectively.
In a social media post, Saylor said Bitcoin's next phase of growth would be driven less by protocol changes and halving cycles and more by institutional capital, credit markets and financial infrastructure.
The company's decision to formalize Bitcoin sales drew mixed reactions from analysts.
JPMorgan said the policy introduces "avoidable two-way risk" because Strategy could now become both a buyer and seller of Bitcoin.
Bernstein, however, said before the latest disclosure that Strategy was unlikely to face forced Bitcoin sales, citing its liquidity position and reserve coverage.
The firm noted that Strategy has accumulated about 175,000 Bitcoin for roughly $14 billion so far in 2026 and maintained its $150,000 year-end Bitcoin price target.
Benchmark reiterated its Buy rating on Strategy with a $570 price target following the Digital Credit Capital Framework announcement, while TD Cowen lowered its price target to $260 from $400, citing a weaker Bitcoin price outlook.
The Q2 LossAccording to a Form 8-K filed Monday, Strategy recorded an $8.32 billion loss on digital assets during the three months ended June 30 — including $8.31 billion in unrealized losses — as Bitcoin prices fell below the average cost basis of its holdings. As a result, Strategy will record a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax benefit and deferred tax asset associated with the unrealized loss, wiping those amounts out entirely for the quarter.
The filing also disclosed that Strategy sold Bitcoin during two separate periods last week. Between June 29 and June 30, the company sold 1,363 BTC for approximately $80.8 million at an average price of $59,256 per coin. Between July 1 and July 5, Strategy sold an additional 2,225 BTC for approximately $135.2 million at an average price of $60,773 per coin.
Both rounds of sales were used to fund preferred stock dividend payments and replenish the company’s USD Reserve. Strategy did not purchase any Bitcoin or repurchase any shares during the period.
Where Things StandAs of July 5, Strategy holds 843,775 BTC with an aggregate cost basis of about $63.69 billion, an average purchase price of $75,476 per coin. With Bitcoin trading around $60,000, the company is sitting on significant unrealized losses across its entire holdings. The USD Reserve stood at $2.55 billion as of July 5, with the full $1.25 billion in Board-authorized BTC monetization capacity still available.
Strategy Shares DeclineMSTR Price Action: At the time of publication, Strategy shares are trading 2.41% lower at $98.34, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
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