Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Playbook Backfires on 100+ Companies

Digital asset treasury firms that rushed to repeat Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin technique at the moment are hemorrhaging shareholder worth, with median inventory costs down 43% 12 months so far, even because the broader market climbs greater, as per Bloomberg.

More than 100 publicly traded firms remodeled themselves into cryptocurrency-holding autos within the first half of 2025, borrowing billions to purchase digital tokens whereas their inventory costs initially soared previous the worth of the underlying belongings they bought.

The technique appeared unstoppable till market actuality delivered a harsh correction.

Strategy’s Model Spawns Industry-Wide Collapse

Strategy Inc.’s Michael Saylor pioneered the method of changing company money into Bitcoin holdings, remodeling his software program firm right into a publicly traded cryptocurrency treasury.

The mannequin labored spectacularly by means of the mid-2025, attracting high-profile buyers, together with the Trump family.

SharpLink Gaming epitomized the frenzy. The company pivoted from traditional gaming operations, appointed an Ethereum co-founder as chairman, and introduced huge token purchases.

Sharplink Gaming added $80M in Ether to its reserves, lifting whole holdings to $3.6B and cementing its spot because the second-largest company holder of ETH.#Sharplink #Ether https://t.co/ADz76OeiCn

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) October 27, 2025

Its inventory exploded 2,600% inside days earlier than crashing 86% from peak ranges, leaving whole market capitalization under the worth of its Ethereum holdings at simply 0.9 occasions crypto reserves.

Bloomberg knowledge monitoring 138 U.S. and Canadian digital asset treasuries reveals the median share worth has fallen 43% year-to-date, dramatically underperforming Bitcoin’s modest 7% decline.

In comparability, the S&P 500 gained 6% and the Nasdaq 100 rose 10%.

Strategy shares have dropped 60% from their July highs, at the same time as they’ve risen by greater than 1,200% because the firm started shopping for Bitcoin in August 2020.

“Investors took a glance and understood that there’s not a lot yield from these holdings quite than simply sitting on this pile of cash,” B. Riley Securities analyst Fedor Shabalin instructed Bloomberg.

Debt Obligations Expose Structural Flaws

The elementary downside plaguing these firms stems from how they fund cryptocurrency purchases.

Strategy and its imitators issued huge quantities of convertible bonds and most well-liked shares, elevating over $45 billion throughout the business to amass digital tokens that generate no money circulate.

These debt devices carry substantial curiosity and dividend obligations that cryptocurrency holdings can’t service, making a structural mismatch between liabilities that require common funds and belongings that produce zero revenue.

Strategy faces annual fastened obligations of roughly $750 million to $800 million tied to most well-liked shares.

Companies that averted Bitcoin for smaller, extra risky cryptocurrencies suffered the steepest losses.

Alt5 Sigma, backed by two Trump sons and planning to buy over $1 billion in World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token, has crashed greater than 85% from its June peak.

Strategy tried to handle funding considerations by elevating $1.44 billion in dollar reserves through stock sales, masking 21 months of dividend funds.

Saylor Admits Potential Bitcoin Sales

The business now faces its defining second. Strategy CEO Phong Le acknowledged the corporate would promote Bitcoin if wanted to fund dividend funds, particularly if the agency’s market worth falls under its cryptocurrency holdings.

Those feedback despatched shockwaves by means of the digital asset treasury sector, given Saylor’s repeated insistence that Strategy would by no means promote, famously joking in February to “promote a kidney in case you should, however hold the Bitcoin.“

At December’s Binance Blockchain Week, Saylor outlined the revised method, stating that “when our fairness is buying and selling above the online asset worth of the Bitcoin, we simply promote the fairness,” however “when the fairness’s buying and selling under the worth of the Bitcoin, we’d both promote Bitcoin derivatives, or we’d simply promote the Bitcoin.“

The reversal raises fears of a downward spiral the place pressured crypto gross sales push token costs decrease, additional pressuring treasury firm valuations and doubtlessly triggering extra promoting.

Strategy’s month-to-month Bitcoin accumulation has collapsed from 134,000 BTC on the 2024 peak to simply 9,100 BTC in November, with solely 135 BTC added to date in December.

The company now holds approximately 650,000 BTC, valued at over $56 billion, representing greater than 3% of Bitcoin’s most provide.

Market contributors fear that leveraged merchants utilizing borrowed cash to put money into these firms might face margin calls, forcing broader market selloffs.

Strategy has created a $1.4 billion reserve fund to cowl near-term dividend funds, however shares stay on observe for a 38% decline this 12 months regardless of the corporate’s huge Bitcoin holdings.

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