Strategy's reserve capital, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has reached a level that places it alongside the financial heavyweights of the S&P 500 index. According to my analysis, based on the latest corporate data, Michael Saylor's company now controls reserves exceeding those of any financial institution in that index, with the exception of Berkshire Hathaway.
At the core of this breakthrough lies an impressive bitcoin portfolio. Strategy holds 845,050 BTC on its balance sheet. The first significant purchase was made back in August 2020, when the company acquired 21,454 coins for $250 million. Today, these assets are valued at approximately $65.2 billion. After a ten-week pause, the company resumed purchases on August 31, adding 4,603 BTC worth around $370 million.
Including $6.7 billion in dollar-denominated assets, Strategy's total reserves reach $72.3 billion. Notably, CEO Phong Le cited an almost identical figure—around $72 billion—on the same day. An important nuance: the company has no net leverage. Dollar assets of $6.714 billion are almost entirely offset by debt of the same size.
A metric created by Strategy itself
However, it is worth understanding that the Total Reserve Capital indicator is Strategy's own creation. It ignores senior claims, meaning first-priority obligations. For banks, for example, these are deposits. Therefore, for JPMorgan, this metric goes negative to approximately -$1.35 trillion. On Strategy's chart, it stands at $66 billion. The presentation from August 30 shows $21.5 billion in senior claims, of which $14.8 billion are preferred shares, with net reserves at $50.7 billion. The $66 billion figure only appears when preferred shares are excluded from the calculation, which clearly inflates the ratio of reserves to liabilities.
For comparison, Berkshire Hathaway's report shows $365.5 billion in cash and treasury bonds as of June 30. This figure is easily verifiable, unlike Strategy's position in the ranking, which is based on a non-standard methodology.
My view: Strategy's success in accumulating reserves is impressive, but investors should treat such self-made metrics with caution. A company's true financial strength is measured by its ability to meet all obligations, not just selected ones. The market, by the way, is already offering its own assessment: MSTR shares fell 2.1% to $122.3, while BTC holds around $77,200. This signals that investors are beginning to distinguish between hype and real value.