The Nasdaq’s Biggest Winner Was a Bitcoin Stock That Is Still Down 56% in a Year

Strategy surged 18% to lead the Nasdaq on Thursday, yet its shareholders are sitting on a loss that dwarfs bitcoin's own slide over the past year. The same leverage that fueled one electric session has a habit of cutting just…

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The oddity of Thursday’s session: on a day markets cheered fading rate-hike odds, the Nasdaq’s single biggest gainer was Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), the leveraged Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) holding company, closing at $144.82, up 18% on the day.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would be “inclined to support holding rates steady,” which dropped September rate-hike odds from 63% to 50%. Treasury yields fell, and the most leveraged bitcoin bet on the tape ripped. Three days earlier, a CNBC panel warned that a hawkish Fed and debt financing made Strategy’s resumed bitcoin buying risky. That exact macro risk flipped for one session.

Leverage That Cuts Both Ways

Here’s the payoff investors came for. Even after Thursday’s rip, MSTR is down 56% over twelve months, while bitcoin itself has fallen roughly 31% over the past year. The leverage that made Thursday spectacular is the same leverage that cost holders nearly twice bitcoin’s annual loss. Strategy still carries $6.7B in convertible debt and $400.7M in Q2 preferred dividend obligations, against 846,000 BTC marked well below cost basis.