The corporate Bitcoin accumulation strategy continues to deliver impressive results. To date, the reserve capital of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) exceeds that of any financial corporation in the S&P 500 index. The only exception remains Warren Buffett's legendary Berkshire Hathaway.
However, this figure should be approached with a certain degree of caution. The calculation methodology proposed by the company itself looks unconventional. The official investor presentation features a more modest amount—around $15 billion.
The path to the record: from the first purchase to $72 billion
Strategy currently holds 845,050 BTC on its balance sheet. The company made its first tranche back in August 2020, spending $250 million on 21,454 Bitcoins. Today, those coins are valued at approximately $65.2 billion. Purchases resumed on August 31 after a ten-week pause, with 4,603 BTC worth $370 million added to the portfolio.
Including $6.7 billion in dollar-denominated assets, the company's total reserves have reached $72.3 billion. Notably, CEO Phong Le cited nearly the same figure on the same day—around $72 billion—confirming the accuracy of the calculations.
Le also emphasized that the company has no net leverage. Dollar-denominated assets of $6.714 billion are almost fully covered by debt of the same size, reflecting a conservative approach to financing.
A questionable metric or a new standard?
The Total Reserve Capital indicator used by Strategy does not account for senior claims—liabilities that are repaid first. For banks, these are primarily deposits, which is why JPMorgan's figure goes deep into negative territory—approximately minus $1.35 trillion.
On the chart, Strategy positions itself at the $66 billion level. The presentation from August 30 shows $21.5 billion in senior claims, of which $14.8 billion are preferred shares. Net reserves, meanwhile, stand at $50.7 billion. The $66 billion figure is only achieved by excluding preferred shares from the calculations, even though bank deposits remain in the formula.
Such a methodology naturally inflates the ratio of reserves to senior obligations. On the chart, it reaches 10.75, but when preferred shares are included, it drops to 3.4. Strategy itself calls this indicator "a metric with significant caveats."
Berkshire Hathaway's report shows $365.5 billion in cash and Treasury bonds as of June 30—this figure is verifiable. However, the company's position in a ranking compiled using such a specific methodology is already a matter of interpretation.
My view: Such statements are primarily a communication tool with the market, designed to strengthen investor confidence in the business model. However, comparing a company that owns Bitcoins with banks operating on a deposit base is methodologically incorrect. Reserves in a volatile asset and reserves in fiat money are fundamentally different categories of risk.