Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has been in the headlines recently following the Bitcoin price crash into the $84,000 territory. The market crash had put it dangerously close to the company’s average buy price of $74,443, with only a 30% crash separating the company’s massive 649,870 BTC holding from being in the red. This has led the company to publicly defend its position and strategy amid call-outs from the likes of economist Peter Schiff.
Strategy’s Bitcoin Stash In Trouble?
Last week, economist Peter Schiff first called out the Strategy team, questioning the viability of its Bitcoin strategy given that the price of the digital asset was crashing. This came amid call-outs that Michael Saylor’s strategy of issuing MSTR shares to buy Bitcoin was already failing.
Schiff, in an X post, called out the company’s entire business model of issuing preferred stocks and then using the proceeds to actually buy more Bitcoin. According to the analyst, the company’s entire business model was actually based on the fact that the issued preferred shares were being bought by income-oriented funds while the company accumulates Bitcoin.
However, Schiff called out the company that it would not be able to actually pay out the published yields. In this case, once the fund managers realize that these published yields will never be fulfilled, they would have no choice but to begin dumping out their MSTR stocks, triggering a ‘death spiral.’
At the time, the company had addressed the rumors of its potential bankruptcy, explaining that the company had a very long runway. As the post made on X read, “At current $BTC levels, we have 71 years of dividend coverage assuming the price stays flat.” Additionally, the post explained that only a 1.41% appreciation in the Bitcoin price actually covers the company’s dividend obligations.
Despite this, Schiff has not let up on the company, with another post addressing Strategy’s claim that a 90% Bitcoin crash would not affect the company. The economist explains that even if this were true, it is unlikely that Strategy’s investors would actually be fine with losing 90% of their investment.
In the event that the Bitcoin price does crash 90%, Peter Schiff explains that the MSTR stock will likely be trading at a huge discount compared to its BTC holdings. In this case, it could accelerate the losses of its investors.
On the BTC front, with the price still trending above $80,000, the Strategy stash is still firmly in profit. According to data from the Bitcoin Treasuries website, the company is still sitting on 16% gains, bringing its current profit on its holdings to over $5 billion at the time of writing.
