Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), reignited Bitcoin's foundational spirit with a simple two-word post on X: "Running bitcoin." This phrase directly echoed the words of Hal Finney, the first person to run the Bitcoin software after its creation. The post served as a symbolic bridge between Bitcoin's experimental origins and its current status as a multi-billion dollar corporate treasury asset.
The timing underscored the monumental scale of Saylor's corporate bet. Strategy now holds 673,783 BTC, acquired at an average price of $75,024 per coin. At current valuations, this treasury is worth over $61.16 billion, representing an unrealized gain of nearly 21% and giving the company control of more than 3% of Bitcoin's total supply.
Despite this massive holding, Strategy's stock continues to trade at a significant discount to its underlying Bitcoin value. Its basic net asset value (NAV) multiple is 0.739, rising to 0.823 on a diluted basis. This persistent discount, maintained over five years of accumulation, suggests billions in Bitcoin exposure remain unpriced by the market. Unlike spot Bitcoin ETFs, Strategy operates as a leveraged Bitcoin proxy with no redemption mechanism, making its share price highly sensitive to investor sentiment.
Saylor later reinforced the success of this strategy by sharing performance data. Since adopting Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset on August 10, 2020—a period Saylor calls the "Bitcoin Standard Era"—Strategy has delivered gains of 1,173%, translating to 60% annualized returns. This performance outpaces Bitcoin itself, which rose 674% (45% annualized) in the same period, and places Strategy ahead of nearly all traditional equities. Saylor declared the best-performing assets of the decade to be "Digital Intelligence $NVDA, Digital Credit $MSTR, and Digital Capital $BTC."
The model pioneered by Saylor has seen widespread adoption, with over 170 public companies holding Bitcoin as a core reserve asset by late 2025. While critics like Peter Schiff predict a reversal, Saylor's recent posts frame the corporate Bitcoin treasury not as a speculative bet, but as a durable financial infrastructure play that has withstood market stress tests.
