Strategy (MSTR.US) lost 17.44 billion dollars in the fourth quarter, and the Bitcoin holding premium was almost eliminated

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bitcoin holding giant Strategy (MSTR.US), headed by Michael Saylor, recorded an unrealized loss of 17.44 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter due to the shrinking market value of its cryptocurrency assets worth about 62 billion US dollars.

According to information, the company adopted new accounting standards last year, requiring that the fair value of Bitcoin holdings be included in revenue. This adjustment caused its results for the first three quarters to fluctuate sharply between huge profits and losses. In the same period last year, the company had a net loss of US$670.8 million, or a loss of US$3.03 per share. Despite this, the company acquired 1,286 bitcoins between the end of December 2025 and the beginning of January 2026, bringing its total holdings to 67,3783 bitcoins. The Tysons Point, Virginia-based company said Monday in US Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it also confirmed $5 billion in deferred income tax benefits in the most recent quarter.

For this company that changed from a software vendor in the Internet age to a highly leveraged Bitcoin investment target, this huge loss coincided with a critical moment in life and death. More than five years ago, Saylor, the company's co-founder and chairman, pioneered the “enterprise capital allocation in Bitcoin” model, but now investors have begun to lose confidence in this strategy. Since the transition, the company (formerly MicroStrategy)'s common stock performed better than the benchmark stock index, but plummeted 48% in 2025.

The continued decline in stock prices has raised concerns in the market: since cryptocurrencies do not generate any revenue and the positive cash flow generated by the company's software business is limited, Strategy may have to sell Bitcoin to cope with increasing future expenses such as dividend and interest payments. To ease these concerns, the company established cash reserves through the sale of common shares on December 1 last year. As of January 4, 2026, the company's total cash reserves reached US$2.25 billion.

Saylor began buying bitcoin in 2020 and used it as a hedge against inflation. Against the backdrop of the sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices in the fourth quarter, Saylor was not alone in facing huge losses. Last year, many listed companies followed Strategy's position strategy to attract investors who wanted to use the stock market to gain exposure to highly leveraged cryptocurrencies by hoarding digital assets. For example, the stock price of BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. (BMNR.US), supported by Thomas Lee, also soared during a digital asset bull market and then plummeted as the industry declined. These companies also apply fair value accounting standards, so they all face similar fluctuations in performance pressure.

Meanwhile, Strategy's investor confidence may be hit hard again. The company's corporate value is on the verge of falling below the total value of its Bitcoin holdings, a phenomenon that highlights growing market doubts about the sustainability of the “corporate capital heavy cryptocurrency” model. According to data compiled by the company, its current corporate value (including total nominal value of liabilities and permanent preferred shares) is about 61 billion US dollars.

Currently, the company's stock price has fallen nearly 70% from the all-time high hit in November 2024, causing its MNaV (market capitalization and debt ratio to the value of tokens held) to a level slightly above 1. The premium investors were previously willing to pay for their shares was the core basis for Saylor's Bitcoin purchase strategy.