Bitcoin Down, MSTR Sliding — Why Did a $284B NY Pension Fund Buy Despite a 7% Drop?
Bitcoin costs prolonged their decline this week, dragging carefully correlated equities decrease and pushing shares of Strategy (MSTR) down sharply throughout common buying and selling hours.
Yet even because the inventory slid greater than 7% in a single session, one of many largest public pension funds within the United States quietly elevated its publicity.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages roughly $284 billion in property reportedly raised its place in Strategy, a Nasdaq-listed firm broadly seen as an fairness proxy for Bitcoin publicity.
Strategy Drops 7% on $2.3B Volume as Bitcoin Sell-Off Deepens
The transfer got here as Strategy shares fell to $163.55 by 13:56 EST on December 15, down 7.29% on the day. Trading exercise was heavy, with $2.32 billion in worth altering arms throughout almost 14 million shares.
The inventory moved between an intraday high of $176.50 and a low of $160.54, putting its market capitalization at $50.7 billion.
Strategy presently has 287.35 million shares excellent, with 267.03 million in circulation, and trades at a fundamental mNAV of 0.88.
The decline mirrors renewed stress within the broader crypto market. Bitcoin was buying and selling round $86,214, down 3.5% over the previous 24 hours, 4.4% over the previous week, and greater than 10% over the previous month.
The pullback adopted a steep correction from Bitcoin’s current peak above $126,000, a transfer that has weighed closely on corporations with direct balance-sheet publicity to the asset.
Repeat Buyer Signal: New York State Pension Fund Continues Expanding Its Position
New York State fund raised its stake throughout the second quarter of 2025 and disclosed one other improve in a November submitting overlaying third-quarter positions.
At that time, the fund owned roughly 0.10% of Strategy, valued at about $113.8 million.
The New York State fund is without doubt one of the largest public retirement methods within the nation, with a portfolio closely weighted towards public equities, fastened earnings, personal fairness, actual property, and different investments, with public shares accounting for simply over 40% of whole property.
Its holdings embrace giant positions in main U.S. expertise, monetary, shopper, and healthcare corporations.
The Strategy funding stays a small allocation inside that diversified portfolio, however its persistence has drawn consideration given the volatility tied to Bitcoin-linked property.
Strategy has grow to be probably the most distinguished instance of that publicity. The firm has spent the previous a number of years changing working money flows, fairness issuance proceeds, and debt financing into Bitcoin purchases.
That method has induced its shares to commerce as a leveraged reflection of Bitcoin’s value actions.
Since peaking above $450 in July, MSTR shares have fallen almost 62%, according to Yahoo Finance information.
Over the previous six months, the inventory is down greater than 55%, shifting from roughly $369 in mid-June to the mid-$160 vary.
Despite the volatility, Strategy has continued including to its Bitcoin holdings. Last week, the company disclosed the purchase of 10,645 BTC for $980.3 million at a median value of $92,098 per coin.
The acquisition lifted its whole holdings to 671,268 BTC, reinforcing its place because the world’s largest company holder of Bitcoin.
Those acquisitions got here as Strategy moved to deal with investor issues about liquidity and money obligations.
The firm just lately established a $1.44 billion U.S. dollar reserve supposed to cowl dividend funds and curiosity bills with out requiring the sale of Bitcoin during times of market stress.
Management stated the reserve is adequate to fund at least 12 months of dividend obligations, with plans to increase protection to 2 years.
Other public pension methods, together with New Jersey’s, have additionally disclosed elevated MSTR holdings in current months, exhibiting a broader sample of selective institutional publicity to Bitcoin-linked equities moderately than direct cryptocurrency possession.
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