Key Highlights

  • Strategy held around 843,775 Bitcoin as of 2026 reporting, describing itself as the largest institutional holder globally.
  • The company funds its Bitcoin purchases through borrowing and issuing shares and convertible securities.
  • Its share price largely tracks the price of Bitcoin rather than its original business-intelligence software operations.
  • The shares can trade at a premium or discount to the underlying value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has become the most unusual member of the Nasdaq 100: a business-software company that has transformed itself into a giant, publicly traded holder of Bitcoin. Its strategy of borrowing and issuing shares to buy the Cryptocurrency makes Bitcoin exposure and financing a genuinely distinctive debate for index investors.

What Strategy Does

Strategy began as a maker of business-intelligence software, helping companies analyse data. It sits in the technology sector, but its identity has changed profoundly. Under its founder's direction, it adopted a policy of using its cash, and money raised by borrowing and selling shares, to buy and hold Bitcoin as its primary treasury asset. Today it owns an enormous quantity of the cryptocurrency, far overshadowing its software business, so that its share price largely tracks the price of Bitcoin rather than its operating results.

A Bitcoin Accumulation Machine

Strategy has kept buying. Reporting through 2026 indicated that it held around 843,775 Bitcoin, describing itself as the largest institutional holder globally, having continued to add to its stockpile. It funds these purchases through a combination of borrowing and issuing various kinds of shares and convertible securities, effectively using access to Capital Markets to accumulate more of the cryptocurrency. This turns the company into a kind of leveraged, listed vehicle for Bitcoin: when the price rises, the value of its holdings, and often its shares, climbs; when it falls, the reverse happens, amplified by the Debt it has taken on. Its software business, meanwhile, has become a minor part of the story.

Why it Matters for the Nasdaq 100

Strategy offers the index a highly unusual, concentrated exposure to Bitcoin, unlike any other constituent. Its inclusion means the benchmark, and the funds tracking it, carry a sliver of cryptocurrency exposure through a single company. Its performance illustrates both the potential rewards and the considerable risks of a strategy built on holding a volatile asset funded by borrowing, and it sparks debate about whether such a company belongs in a mainstream index at all.

The Role of Financing

Strategy's use of financing deserves particular attention, because it is central to both its appeal and its risk. Rather than simply holding Bitcoin, the company actively raises money, through debt and by issuing shares and other securities, to buy more, effectively adding Leverage to its bet. When Bitcoin rises, this leverage can magnify gains, which is part of why the shares have at times traded well above the value of the Bitcoin they represent. But leverage cuts both ways: debt must be serviced and eventually repaid, and a sharp, sustained fall in Bitcoin could put pressure on the company's finances, forcing difficult decisions. The sustainability of this model depends on continued access to capital markets and on the long-term trajectory of Bitcoin, making Strategy a bet not just on the cryptocurrency but on the financing machine built around it.

The Risks to Weigh

The central risk is Bitcoin's volatility: a large, sustained fall would sharply reduce the value of Strategy's holdings and could strain its finances given its borrowing. Its reliance on capital markets to fund purchases is a vulnerability if sentiment shifts. The shares can trade at a large premium or discount to the underlying Bitcoin, adding another layer of risk. Regulatory changes affecting cryptocurrency could have a major impact. Its software Business provides little cushion.

A Software Company Turned Bitcoin Vehicle

Readers should track the price of Bitcoin, the overwhelming driver of Strategy's value, alongside its holdings and, crucially, its debt. The premium or discount of the shares to the value of its Bitcoin reveals sentiment. Regulatory developments affecting cryptocurrency matter greatly. Finally, watch its access to capital markets, because its whole model depends on continually raising money to fund its Bitcoin bet.