Strategy's enterprise value falls below bitcoin holdings as crypto sentiment sours (updated)
29/06/2026 13:57
* The mNAV ratio falls below 1 for the first time
* Strategy recently reported first bitcoin sale since 2022
* Co's market cap has more than halved from its 2024 peak
(Updates prices after markets open, adds analyst comment)
By Shashwat Chauhan
June 29 (Reuters) - Strategy's enterprise value has fallen
below the value of its bitcoin holdings for the first time, a
milestone that threatens to weaken investor confidence in the
Michael Saylor-founded company's long-running cryptocurrency
bet.
Investor focus has been on the company's MSTR.O "mNAV"
metric, which is its enterprise value relative to its bitcoin
holdings, ever since CEO Phong Le's remarks late last year that
the company may consider selling bitcoins if the ratio drops
below 1.
Its shares, however, were up 4.9% on Monday, set to snap an
eight-day losing streak, after the company announced a share
repurchase program and authorized as much as $1.25 billion in
bitcoin sales, building a liquidity cushion for the largest
corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
"This is a responsible move from Saylor, and the market is
seeing it as a positive development," said Nic Puckrin,
cross-asset analyst and founder of Coin Bureau.
As of last close, Strategy was trading at over two-year lows
and was the second worst-performing stock on the Nasdaq 100
index .NDX so far this year.
Strategy reported its first bitcoin sale since 2022 in a
filing earlier this month.
Co-founder Saylor has spent years championing bitcoin as a
long-term store of value, repeatedly backing a buy-and-hold
approach, despite sharp market downturns.
As of last close, Strategy's mNAV ratio stood at 0.99 --
implying that the company's enterprise value is lower than the
value of the bitcoin it holds on its balance sheet, according to
its website.
"From here there are two paths: Strategy starts selling
bitcoin, or its shares fall far enough that someone buys the
stock to take control and get the bitcoin below market value,"
said Andrei Grachev, managing partner at market maker DWF Labs
"Either way, for serious investors that uncertainty itself
becomes a reason to wait — and for now, money is flowing into
AI, not crypto."
SHARES FOLLOW CRYPTO MARKETS LOWER
Its market capitalization as of last close was $29.54
billion, less than half of its all-time high valuation of over
$71 billion clocked in 2024. Its shares have slumped more than
45% so far this year.
It reported a bigger first-quarter loss on May 5, hammered
by a slump in bitcoin prices that weighed on the value of its
sizeable crypto holdings.
Strategy last held 847,363 bitcoin per its website, which
would be worth around $50.4 billion based on bitcoin's BTC=
Sunday closing value of $59,577.82.
The company has also leaned on preferred stock offerings to
raise capital for bitcoin BTC= purchases, extending its
long-running effort to use financial markets to expand its
crypto holdings.
Its preferred shares are Stretch STRC.O , Stride STRD.O ,
Strife STRF.O and Strike STRK.O -- all four are trading near
record lows as of last close.
"Strategy expects to remain disciplined in its use of common
equity issuance, particularly when the company's common stock
trades at or near 1x mNAV per share," it said on Monday.
Bitcoin was last trading near its 20-month lows at
$59,831.4, having halved in value from its all-time high of
$126,223.18 in October last year.
Crypto markets have been in doldrums this year amid
heightened market volatility, investor hype around expected big
IPOs and persistent outflows from exchange traded funds (ETF)
that track the assets.
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(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
((mailto:Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))