Strategy’s Stock Tumbles 30% Post-Saylor’s Forbes Fame: Bitcoin Bet Backfires?

Strategy (MSTR) shares have dropped 30% since Michael Saylor’s Forbes cover, falling from US$340.09 on January 30 to US$238.25 by March 10, according to Yahoo Finance.

Moreover, the decline included a 17% plunge on March 10 as the broader tech market tumbled. 

On the same day, the Nasdaq Composite lost over 4%, fueled by recession fears — with the Atlanta Fed projecting -2.4% GDP growth for Q1 2025 — and escalating trade war rhetoric. CNN’s Fear & Greed index hit 16, signaling “Extreme Fear”.

All at the Same Time

Wider market jitters also played a role: amid mounting concerns over economic growth and trade tensions with Canada, Mexico and China, investors retreated from risk assets. Bitcoin fell about 4% on Monday, trading below US$80K (AU$127K), which is a blow to Strategy, a leveraged proxy for the digital asset.

According to CoinGlass data, over US$700M (AU$1.1B) in liquidations have been registered, most of which were, unsurprisingly, long positions in Bitcoin.

Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg that both crypto-specific risks and overall market caution are weighing on the asset:

There’s specifics to the crypto trade, and then there’s sort of the overall risk trade, neither of which is particularly helpful for Bitcoin. That means Strategy, a leveraged proxy for the asset, will “suffer its own troubles as well.

Steve Sosnick, Interactive Brokers

Despite the falling stock price, Strategy doubled down on its Bitcoin strategy. On March 10, the company announced plans to raise US$21B (AU$33.4B) for corporate purposes, including further Bitcoin acquisitions and working capital. Notably, on February 24, Strategy purchased 20,356 Bitcoin for nearly US$2B (AU$3.1B).