Strategy holds 846,000 BTC and trades below the market value of that bitcoin. That discount is not free money — $21bn of debt and preferred stock stands ahead of the common.
TL;DR. Strategy Inc (ticker MSTR, formerly MicroStrategy) held 846,000 bitcoin as of 20 September 2026, bought for $63.80 billion at an average of $75,416 each. At 24 September 2026 prices that bitcoin was worth about $71.4 billion while the company's market capitalisation was about $62.1 billion — an mNAV of roughly 0.87. MSTR has spent much of 2026 trading below the value of its bitcoin, not above it. That is not a free lunch: $6.7 billion of convertible debt and $14.4 billion of perpetual preferred stock rank ahead of the common. Against a Bitcoin ETF, MSTR is a leveraged, capital-structure-dependent claim on bitcoin, not a cheaper version of one.
Sommaire · 8 sections
What MSTR actually is
Strategy began buying bitcoin as a treasury asset in 2020 and now reports as two segments, Software and Bitcoin. The software business is real but small — $122.4 million of revenue in Q2 2026, $246.7 million in the first half. Everything else about the equity is the bitcoin position and the securities issued to fund it.
- 846,000 BTC as of 20 September 2026, per the 8-K filed the following day.
- Aggregate purchase price $63.80 billion, average $75,416 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees.
- 384.2 million shares outstanding (364.6M class A + 19.6M class B, as of 24 July 2026), which works out to about 0.0022 BTC per share.
That last number is worth sitting with: one share of MSTR is backed by roughly two thousandths of a bitcoin, under $200 of it.
The bitcoin is not self-custodied
A common misconception is that Strategy holds its own keys. It does not. The Q2 2026 10-Q lists three third-party custodians and their exact splits as of 24 July 2026:
| Custodian | Bitcoin | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC | 350,471 | 41.5% |
| Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. | 325,689 | 38.6% |
| Fidelity Digital Assets, NA | 167,615 | 19.9% |
The company states that none of its custodians has appointed sub-custodians and none is a related party. These are the same institutions behind the major Bitcoin ETFs: Coinbase Custody holds IBIT's bitcoin, Fidelity Digital Assets holds FBTC's. On custody, MSTR and the ETFs are not meaningfully different — see how Bitcoin ETF custody works.
mNAV: the premium became a discount
For years the case against MSTR was that it traded far above the value of its bitcoin. That is no longer the situation:
- Bitcoin held: 846,000 BTC.
- Bitcoin price, 24 September 2026: ~$84,430 — so about $71.4 billion of bitcoin.
- Market capitalisation, same date: $62.1 billion ($161.61 × 384.2M shares).
- Implied mNAV: 0.87.
The obvious reading — "a dollar of bitcoin for 87 cents" — is wrong, because the common stock is not the only claim on that bitcoin.
What stands ahead of the common
From the 30 June 2026 balance sheet:
- $6.71 billion of long-term debt, net — six series of convertible notes maturing 2028 through 2032, plus a small secured facility. That is down from $8.19 billion at the end of 2025.
- $14.44 billion of redeemable preferred stock in mezzanine equity: five perpetual series — STRF (10%), STRK (8%), STRD (10%), STRC (variable rate) and STRE (10%). Four of them trade on Nasdaq in their own right.
So roughly $21 billion of senior capital sits between the bitcoin and the common shareholder. Subtract it from $71.4 billion of bitcoin and the common's residual claim is closer to $50 billion — against a $62 billion market cap. Read that way MSTR still trades at a premium; the "discount" only appears if you ignore the capital structure. Anyone using mNAV as a signal needs to be clear about which NAV they mean.
The financing has moved too. The convertible notes that defined 2024 are being paid down — Strategy repurchased $1.5 billion of the 2029 notes in Q2 2026 — while the perpetual preferreds have become the main funding vehicle. Preferreds never mature, but they pay dividends, and those dividends are a permanent cash cost that bitcoin itself does not generate.
MSTR vs IBIT: the honest side-by-side
| Dimension | IBIT | MSTR |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying exposure | Spot bitcoin, 1:1 | ~0.0022 BTC per share, less senior claims |
| Cost | 0.25% a year | Preferred dividends, debt service, operating costs, dilution |
| Leverage | None | ~$21bn of debt and preferred against ~$71bn of bitcoin |
| Custody | Coinbase Custody + Anchorage | Coinbase Custody, Anchorage, Fidelity Digital Assets |
| Tax wrapper | Any brokerage account, IRA, 401(k) | Same — ordinary listed equity |
| What moves the price | Bitcoin | Bitcoin, plus the market's willingness to fund more buying |
We are not publishing a table of historical MSTR-versus-bitcoin returns. The numbers that circulate for that comparison rarely survive checking, and an empty row beats an unsourced one.
When MSTR makes sense, and when it does not
It can make sense if you want levered bitcoin exposure and have a view on the capital structure — whether preferred dividends stay covered, whether the notes get refinanced, whether equity can be issued accretively again. That is analytical work, and it is the work you are signing up for.
It does not make sense if what you want is bitcoin. A spot ETF gives you that for a disclosed 0.25%, with no maturity schedule, no dividend obligation and no dilution. Every dollar of divergence between MSTR and bitcoin is exposure to something other than bitcoin.
FAQ
How much bitcoin does Strategy (MSTR) own?
846,000 BTC as of 20 September 2026, according to the 8-K Strategy filed on 21 September 2026. The aggregate purchase price was $63.80 billion, an average of $75,416 per bitcoin including fees. Spread over 384.2 million shares, that is roughly 0.0022 bitcoin per share.
Does MSTR trade at a premium to its bitcoin?
Not at present. On 24 September 2026 its ~$62.1 billion market cap sat below the ~$71.4 billion market value of its bitcoin — an mNAV near 0.87. But $6.7 billion of debt and $14.4 billion of perpetual preferred stock rank ahead of the common, so relative to what common shareholders actually own, the stock still trades above net asset value.
Does Strategy self-custody its bitcoin?
No. Its Q2 2026 10-Q names three third-party custodians: Coinbase Custody (41.5%), Anchorage Digital Bank (38.6%) and Fidelity Digital Assets (19.9%). No sub-custodians are appointed and none of the custodians is a related party.
Is MSTR safer than a Bitcoin ETF?
No. A spot Bitcoin ETF is a claim on bitcoin minus a stated fee. MSTR is a levered equity: convertible notes with maturities, five series of perpetual preferred paying dividends, an operating business, and ongoing share issuance. All of that sits between you and the bitcoin.
Can I hold MSTR in a Roth IRA?
Yes. MSTR is an ordinary US-listed common stock and can be held in any standard taxable or tax-advantaged account, with the same treatment as any other equity.
Sources and further reading
- Strategy Inc Form 8-K filed 21 September 2026 — bitcoin holdings as of 20 September 2026 (sec.gov, CIK 1050446).
- Strategy Inc Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 — custodian table, long-term debt, preferred stock, segment revenue.
- Share price and market capitalisation — stockanalysis.com, 24 September 2026. Bitcoin price — our own price feed, same date.
- Internal: Bitcoin ETF vs mining stocks, Bitcoin ETF vs spot Bitcoin, BlackRock IBIT review.
À titre informatif uniquement. Ceci n’est pas un conseil en investissement.
ETH
SOL
XRP
HYPE
LINK
HBAR
AVAX
DOGE
LTC
SUI
DOT
BNB
NEAR
TRX
ZEC