MicroStrategy and perpetual accumulation

It is a long-term purchasing strategy, where a public company relentlessly and programmatically drip-buys bitcoin and other crypto assets. It is dollar-cost averaging at corporate scale, turning public entities into ongoing bitcoin and crypto vacuum cleaners. This strategy often entails taking leveraged price bets, differing from our Liberty Bitcoin Accumulation Fund (LBAF), which generates sustainable BTC-denominated yield through quantitative trading. This month we are going to dive into the perpetual accumulation strategy, exploring what it is, who is doing it, how it works, how it might benefit the crypto industry and the longer-term risks that accompany it.

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The blueprint for the perpetual accumulation strategy was laid by MicroStrategy and its co-founder Michael Saylor in 2020. MicroStrategy, once a low-profile business intelligence software firm, shocked markets by converting the bulk of its corporate treasury into bitcoin and continually raising capital to buy more. Saylor’s bold pivot opened the playbook; treat bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset and use traditional capital markets (debt and equity issuance) to execute a rolling bitcoin accumulation strategy. In essence, MicroStrategy became a de facto bitcoin ETF surging on the Nasdaq, inspiring others to follow suit. What started as a niche experiment is now a burgeoning trend that could have profound implications for both crypto and traditional finance.

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MicroStrategy’s bitcoin pivot has become legendary in crypto and corporate finance circles. The company’s initial purchase in August 2020 was 21,454 BTC for around USD250m. A month later, it scooped up another 16,796 BTC. The real fireworks began when Saylor tapped capital markets to fund even larger buys. In December 2020, MicroStrategy issued USD650m in convertible notes (carrying a minimal 0.75% coupon) and plowed the proceeds into bitcoin. In early 2021, it issued another USD1.05bn of 0% convertible debt, again entirely for BTC acquisition. Over 2021 and 2022, Saylor continued buying and by the end of 2022, MicroStrategy had well over 100,000 BTC. In 2023 and into 2024, as Bitcoin markets ebbed and flowed, MicroStrategy accelerated its pace. Purchases became so frequent that MicroStrategy (which rebranded informally as just “Strategy”) was adding bitcoin almost weekly.

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As of early June 2025 the company holds about 592,100 bitcoins (valued at ~USD62bn) on its balance sheet. To put this in perspective, that stash is larger than the entire reserves of many mid-sized countries’ central banks (in USD terms) and represents roughly 2.8% of all bitcoin that will ever exist. MicroStrategy’s cost basis is approximately USD40 billion, with the average purchase price around USD68k–70k per BTC. With bitcoin now trading around USD105k, MicroStrategy sits on an unrealized gain of over 50% on those holdings.

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The market’s reaction to MicroStrategy’s bitcoin gambit has been dramatic. The stock has gained roughly 2,800% in the past five years since adopting the bitcoin strategy. Few equities in history (outside of early-stage tech moonshots like Tesla or Nvidia) have seen that kind of performance. By comparison, bitcoin’s price itself is up about 10x since mid-2020, and the Nasdaq 100 index is up only modestly (~40–50%) in that period. In summary, MicroStrategy has transformed into a high-beta bitcoin proxy. During uptrends, MSTR often outpaces BTC; during downturns, it can suffer heavier drawdowns. This reflects the embedded leverage in MicroStrategy’s approach. It has used debt and new equity to buy bitcoin, effectively leveraging its exposure. Today, Strategy trades at a NAV premium (MSTR’s market cap divided by its BTC holdings) of ~1.68x, reflecting the market’s willingness to overpay for leveraged, publicly traded crypto exposure.

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MicroStrategy’s playbook has not gone unnoticed. Over the past couple of years, a slew of other public market entities have adopted similar “buy and hold crypto” strategies. Some explicitly copied the MicroStrategy approach of raising capital to accumulate bitcoin. Others have focused on different crypto assets or used different mechanisms (like mining or fund inflows) to build positions. Some examples include:

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• Semler Scientific: a Nasdaq-listed medical device company that in 2024 abruptly shifted to a bitcoin accumulation strategy under its CEO (and major shareholder) Eric Semler. Over 2024–2025, Semler Scientific sold roughly 3 million new shares through an ATM program, raising about USD115m, and used a large portion of that to buy bitcoin. As of May 2025, Semler holds around 4,264 BTC (worth ~USD470m).
• Marathon Digital Holdings: one of the largest Bitcoin miners listed on the NASDAQ. Marathon earns BTC through mining rewards, but it has also leaned into the treasury accumulation narrative. It made a one-time purchase of 4,812 BTC in early 2021, but generally its growth in holdings comes from mining. The company reported 12,232 BTC (~USD1.25bn) held as of year-end 2024, and this is likely higher now. 
• Metaplanet: a publicly traded Japanese firm listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that has adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy and is aiming to become Asia’s leading bitcoin holder among public companies. As of June 2025, Metaplanet holds 8,888 BTC (~USD933m), with a long-term goal of accumulating 210,000 BTC by 2027. Metaplanet uses financing methods like bond issuances and selling cash-secured BTC put options, achieving a stock price surge of over 3,900% since April 2023. The firm currently trades at a whopping 7.2x NAV premium.
• SharpLink Gaming: an online performance marketing company listed on the NASDAQ, which has pivoted to become an Ethereum treasury vehicle. In May 2025, SBET announced a USD425m private placement through a PIPE offering, to acquire ETH as its primary treasury reserve asset. On the day that SBET announced the private placement, the stock jumped +433%, giving the company a market cap of USD2.5bn (worth a premium of ~5.9x the amount raised from the original PIPE offering).
• SOL Strategies: an investment company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange that is focused on accumulating Solana (SOL) as its primary treasury reserve asset. The company has acquired over 420,355 SOL tokens (worth ~USD66 million) and operates validator nodes, staking 1.5 million SOL (including third-party delegations) to earn rewards. It currently trades at a 4.2x NAV premium.

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There are several implications of these perpetual accumulation strategies. The first and most obvious impact is that there is persistent buy pressure on the crypto assets being accumulated. The strategy creates a demand floor. Rather than whale purchases that come and go, this strategy drips in capital consistently. Over time, this may compress volatility on the downside. Price dips may be shallower or shorter if there is always some public company buying the dip. In addition, BlackRock noted that this type of continual buying improves liquidity and price discovery, which “can lead to more price stability” in previously volatile assets. Continuous accumulation acts as a volatility dampener akin to how share buybacks can reduce a stock’s float and volatility.

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Secondly, these vehicles are helping with the financialization of crypto, through providing equity access to the asset class. A traditional equity investor who would never touch a crypto exchange or wallet can simply buy MicroStrategy stock to gain Bitcoin exposure. The launch of spot ETFs in the U.S. has supercharged this for bitcoin and ether. The financialization of crypto is also taking place in a more nuanced way, through the blurring of asset class lines. In 2020, Bitcoin sat outside of the financial system. Now, in 2025, Bitcoin is inside the financial system. It is held on corporate balance sheets and in ETF custodians alongside stocks and bonds. Generalist stock analysts are forced to follow crypto news closely and are reporting and spreading further awareness of the asset class. If one believes capital flows drive asset prices, then increased reporting and easier access via equities means more capital will flow into crypto, which is generally positive for prices.

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Thirdly, in addition to adding to demand, these accumulation vehicles are removing crypto assets supply from circulation. In Bitcoin’s case, over 8% of supply is now estimated to be held by public treasuries and ETFs that are long-term holders. MicroStrategy famously stated it plans to hold its bitcoin “for 100 years”, and ETF investors also tend to be long-biased. This narrative does more than just remove supply from circulation; it anchors market sentiment and encourages market participants to contemplate the longer-term fundaments of these crypto assets.

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For all the enthusiasm of this trend of perpetual accumulation, it is not without risks and detractors. There are several new vulnerabilities that the strategy introduces:

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1. Concentration risk: should corporations like MicroStrategy become forced sellers, this would have serious price implications for bitcoin and other crypto assets. Michael Saylor as of 2025 is one of the largest Bitcoin whales on the planet, controlling over half a million BTC. This gives him outsized influence both in crypto circles and in markets. If MicroStrategy indicated it might become a seller (forced or otherwise), this would be disastrous for the price of BTC in the short term. The primary concern here is that a leveraged holder could face liquidation. These accumulation strategies may work wondrously well in bull markets, but could unravel painfully in bear markets.
2. Key man risk: related to concentration risk is the fact that a lot of the accumulation strategies hinge on a single strong personality such as Saylor. Their conviction is driving the strategy. The replacement of these leaders could make accumulation companies suddenly reverse course, impacting the market significantly. 
3. Corporate overexposure: the corporation may become over-exposed to a single highly volatile asset. It is one thing for an ETF (a passthrough vehicle) to be all-in on bitcoin; it is another for an operating business to be highly leveraged to a crypto asset. For example, Semler Scientific shareholders are now holding a bitcoin fund wrapped in a medical company, plus the operational and legal baggage of that company.

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Looking ahead, despite the risks, the perpetual crypto accumulator company seems destined to become a staple of capital markets. Rather than converting existing operating companies, it is more likely that we will start seeing companies become crypto accumulators from inception. This could take the form of SPACs or IPOs that raise cash explicitly to buy crypto (essentially an ETF, but structured as a corporation). There is historical precedent for this in other assets. For example, in the 1980s and 90s, some closed-end funds existed just to hold gold or bonds but traded like stocks. These will become permanent capital vehicles for crypto without the redemption pressures of an ETF. If market demand is high, this could become a new asset class of its own, like how REITs are companies that hold real estate, we could have “crypto holding companies” as a category.

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The perpetual accumulation strategy represents a remarkable blending of narratives; it is part investment thesis, part corporate strategy, and part monetary revolution. In a few years, we have gone from Bitcoin being dismissed by TradFi to a scenario where major corporations and the world’s largest asset manager are effectively dollar-cost averaging into it perpetually. The narrative of Bitcoin and crypto has shifted with Bitcoin now discussed in the same breath as treasury reserves, inflation hedges, and foundational long-term assets. Public market accumulation has helped reframe crypto as prudent rather than speculative.

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Yet, there remains a longer-term question as to the sustainability of this strategy. While it has unlocked tremendous value to date, it introduces new systemic interdependencies with crypto market swings now directly impacting equity markets and vice versa. There is a cross-market symbiosis that did not exist to the same extent before 2020. There may be risks that we cannot fully predict. While it can be exciting to invest in these leveraged vehicles, the downside swings on these investments will be far greater than the pull backs of the underlying crypto assets. For those looking for a more measured and disciplined approach to bitcoin accumulation, our Liberty Bitcoin Accumulation Fund is designed exactly for this purpose.

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For now, the sentiment and outcome of these public vehicles has been incredibly favourable and positive. Crypto’s integration into the fabric of capital markets appears to be here to stay, one buy order at a time. It is hard to bet against an asset class that has a persistent bid underpinning it.