Bitwise’s chief investment officer Matt Hougan thinks Strategy’s days as Bitcoin’s biggest buyer are done. The STRC preferred stock mess last week shook confidence in the company’s whole playbook.
STRC was supposed to deliver high yields with low volatility. Problem is, Bitcoin doesn’t do either. “This money never really fit Bitcoin,” Hougan said. He sees investment banks, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds stepping in to replace Strategy as the main demand driver.
STRC dropped from $100 to below $75. That rattled markets. Bitcoin hit a 21-month low of $58,190 on June 25. Strategy’s response? They committed to selling Bitcoin if needed to cover dividends and built a $2.55 billion US dollar reserve. That calmed things down, but it also signaled weakness.
Hougan still expects Strategy to be a net buyer in the next bull run. He just doesn’t expect them to dominate like before.
Not everyone agrees. Strive CEO Matt Cole says the STRC panic is overblown. Strategy holds 847,363 Bitcoin — about 4% of total supply. By SEC standards, that’s not even material. “If one person owned 4%, you don’t even have to report that publicly,” Cole pointed out.
And panic aside, Strategy isn’t in danger. Hougan noted they’ve got $52 billion in liquid assets against $7 billion in debt. Bitcoin would need to crash another 70% — down to roughly $18,500 — before the company would be at risk. Even then, if they started selling today, they could cover STRC dividends for 28 years.
The bottom line? Strategy’s not going anywhere. But the era of one company carrying Bitcoin on its back? That’s probably over.
