Strategy marks 100th Bitcoin purchase as holdings climb to 717,722 BTC
Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy has executed yet another sizeable acquisition, crossing a symbolic threshold in its accumulation campaign. The company has completed its 100th recorded Bitcoin purchase, adding roughly 592-593 BTC to its reserves and pushing total holdings to 717,722 BTC.
Co‑founder and chairman Michael Saylor revealed the transaction in a post on X, noting that the latest batch of coins cost the company $39.8 million. The average purchase price for this tranche came in at around $67,286 per BTC. By Strategy’s standards, this is a relatively modest addition, but the transaction is significant because it marks the firm’s 100th buy since it began its Bitcoin strategy.
Four years of near‑relentless accumulation
Strategy started building its Bitcoin position in 2020 and has since become synonymous with the corporate “Bitcoin as a treasury reserve” narrative. During this period, the company has sold only once. That sole sale occurred in December 2022, during the depths of the previous bear market, when BTC was trading near cycle lows.
Outside of that one exception, the firm’s approach has been consistently one‑sided: it buys and holds. Over time, purchases have become more frequent, even as market conditions have changed dramatically-from the explosive bull market of 2021 to the capitulation events of 2022 and the renewed volatility that followed.
From corporate balance sheet experiment to macro player
After the latest acquisition, Strategy now controls 717,722 BTC, representing close to 3.6% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. This concentration underscores how aggressively the company has leaned into Bitcoin as a core treasury asset rather than a peripheral investment.
In total, Strategy has spent about $54.56 billion assembling this stack. At current market prices, however, the position is valued at approximately $46.48 billion. On paper, that implies an unrealized loss of nearly 15% on its Bitcoin holdings-a reminder that even large, sophisticated buyers endure sharp drawdowns in such a volatile asset class.
A reputation for buying near local tops
Strategy’s timing has long been a topic of debate among traders and analysts. The firm has developed a reputation for placing major buys around local price peaks. The latest transaction appears to stick to that pattern: Bitcoin is now trading almost 4% below the new acquisition’s cost basis of $67,286 per coin.
This tendency has given rise to two opposing narratives. Critics argue that Strategy’s timing is consistently poor and that the company is overexposed to an unpredictable asset. Supporters counter that the firm is executing a long‑term, multi‑cycle accumulation plan in which short‑term tops and bottoms matter far less than Bitcoin’s potential trajectory over a decade or longer.
Funded via stock sales, not debt
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the new purchase was conducted between February 17 and 22. Rather than relying on debt financing, Strategy funded the deal through its at‑the‑market (ATM) stock offering program, selling shares of its MSTR stock to raise the necessary capital.
This structure has become central to Strategy’s playbook. By issuing equity and converting proceeds into Bitcoin, the company effectively turns its stock into a leveraged proxy for BTC exposure. As Bitcoin rises, investors anticipating further appreciation may be willing to pay a premium for MSTR, which can, in turn, be tapped again to buy even more Bitcoin. The model is powerful in bull markets, though it also magnifies risk in downturns.
Cementing its position as top corporate Bitcoin holder
With each successive purchase, Strategy extends its lead as the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. Data from major treasury trackers consistently place the company at the top of the list by a wide margin, ahead of both operating businesses and Bitcoin‑focused funds.
Crucially, Strategy is not just the largest corporate holder of BTC; it is also the largest public digital asset treasury vehicle overall. Its strategy has effectively blurred the line between a traditional software or tech company and a quasi‑Bitcoin holding company, forcing investors to evaluate both operational performance and the macro dynamics of the crypto market.
Bitmine doubles down on Ethereum treasury strategy
While Strategy is focused almost entirely on Bitcoin, the number‑two public digital asset treasury, Bitmine, has taken a different path. The Bitcoin mining firm has leaned heavily into Ethereum as a core reserve asset, adopting a dedicated ETH treasury strategy last year.
In a recent announcement, Bitmine disclosed that it had added 51,162 ETH to its treasury. Following this acquisition, the company’s total ETH reserves stand at 4,422,659 coins, representing about 3.66% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. This concentration makes Bitmine one of the most influential institutional holders in the ETH ecosystem.
Out of this stash, 3,040,483 ETH has been deposited into the staking contract. By locking up such a substantial amount, Bitmine is securing yield through staking rewards while simultaneously removing a large chunk of ETH from liquid circulation, which can influence market dynamics over the long term.
Bitmine chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee framed the approach as steady execution during a challenging period: during what he described as a “mini crypto winter,” the company is prioritizing disciplined accumulation and yield optimization over short‑term market timing.
A “mini crypto winter” and what it implies
The phrase “mini crypto winter” reflects the current environment: prices are well below recent highs, volatility has returned, and sentiment is notably more cautious than during peak euphoria. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $65,100, down more than 4% over the past week.
For long‑term accumulators like Strategy and Bitmine, this environment can be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat. Lower prices translate into a more favorable cost basis, assuming the long‑term thesis for digital assets remains intact. Both companies appear to be signaling that they are more interested in building core positions than in fine‑tuning entries to the exact bottom.
Why corporations are still building crypto treasuries
Despite cyclical drawdowns and regulatory uncertainty, the corporate treasury case for digital assets has not disappeared. Several factors help explain why firms like Strategy and Bitmine continue to add exposure:
– Inflation and currency debasement concerns: Some executives view Bitcoin and, in Bitmine’s case, Ethereum as hedges against long‑term monetary expansion and fiat erosion.
– Strategic differentiation: Public companies that embrace digital assets can stand out in capital markets, attract a specific investor base, and gain media visibility.
– Balance sheet optimization: Firms with large cash positions may see crypto as a higher‑beta alternative to holding dollars or short‑term bonds, albeit with far greater volatility.
– Alignment with core business: For miners and crypto‑native firms, holding the assets they help secure or rely on operationally can be seen as strategically coherent.
Strategy’s balance sheet is an extreme example of this thinking, but it is not an isolated case. Bitmine’s ETH strategy shows that some corporates are willing to build sizable stakes beyond Bitcoin, especially when those assets can be staked or otherwise deployed to generate yield.
The risk side: volatility, concentration, and regulatory pressure
Institutional accumulation on this scale is not without substantial risk.
– Market risk: A 15% unrealized loss on tens of billions in Bitcoin illustrates how quickly mark‑to‑market positions can swing, even for large, well‑capitalized firms.
– Concentration risk: With Strategy now holding roughly 3.6% of all circulating BTC and Bitmine holding a similar share of ETH, these entities have become systemically important holders. Their decisions-whether to buy more, hold, or potentially sell-carry outsized implications for market liquidity and sentiment.
– Regulatory and accounting uncertainty: Corporate treasuries holding volatile digital assets must navigate evolving regulations and often unfavorable accounting standards, which can amplify reported earnings volatility and complicate investor communication.
Investors in these companies are effectively signing up for dual exposure: to the firm’s underlying business and to the macro cycle of the crypto market. That can be highly rewarding in bull phases, but painful when digital assets correct sharply.
What Strategy’s 100th purchase signals to the market
Crossing the 100‑purchase mark is more than just a round number. It sends a clear signal that Strategy’s Bitcoin play is not a temporary experiment but a long‑term, deeply embedded corporate strategy. The company has stayed the course through a full market cycle-manias, crashes, regulatory scares, and macro shifts-and continues to double down.
This consistency may reinforce the conviction of other corporates contemplating crypto exposure. A high‑profile firm maintaining and expanding its position, even while sitting on paper losses, underlines a thesis that extends beyond quarter‑to‑quarter performance. It suggests that some boardrooms view digital assets through a 5-10‑year lens, not a 5-10‑month one.
Growing institutional gravity in Bitcoin and Ethereum
Taken together, Strategy’s milestone and Bitmine’s expanding ETH treasury highlight a broader structural shift: a steadily rising share of Bitcoin and Ethereum supply is migrating into the hands of long‑term, institution‑scale holders. Between corporate treasuries, ETFs, custodial solutions, and staking contracts, a meaningful portion of supply is becoming effectively illiquid.
Over the long run, if demand for these assets continues to grow while float shrinks, price dynamics could become increasingly sensitive to incremental inflows or outflows. In that context, the ongoing moves by companies like Strategy and Bitmine are not just balance sheet decisions-they are gradual, structural changes in how major digital assets are owned and held.
For now, however, both firms appear comfortable riding out the “mini crypto winter,” treating lower prices as an opportunity to enlarge their positions rather than a reason to retreat. Their latest acquisitions reinforce a key message: for some of the biggest corporate players in the space, the digital asset experiment is far from over-it is still in the build‑out phase.