After fending off concerns about a potential MSCI index exclusion, Strategy (the company formerly known as MicroStrategy) — the most prominent corporate holder of Bitcoin — is once again under scrutiny. This time the community is asking whether the firm truly controls all the BTC on its balance sheet or if some of it might be “paper” Bitcoin: derivatives or rehypothecated coins held and reused by custodians.
What Strategy says
- Michael Saylor, Strategy’s founder and chairman, pushed back hard on the rumors: “We buy real Bitcoin. We audit our custodians. We don’t rehypothecate. You shouldn’t either.”
- Saylor has not publicly posted additional proofs for the portions of the holdings that are currently difficult to trace.
What the numbers show
- Strategy’s reported treasury: 712,000 BTC.
- Major purchases: roughly $20 billion in BTC in 2024, $23 billion in 2025, and nearly $4 billion so far in 2026 — adding over 40,000 BTC this year.
- Strategy’s 2026 purchases outstripped newly mined supply this year (about 11,700 BTC), prompting some analysts to argue this should create a supply squeeze and fuel a rally.
Why some remain skeptical
- Security researcher Jameson Lopp questioned whether the company can verify that custodians aren’t rehypothecating its coins: “Your thesis is sensible (BTC rallying as Strategy buys more)… under the assumption that he’s buying real bitcoin,” he wrote, adding that he’s skeptical unless Strategy can prove custodial exclusivity.
- On-chain analysts report that roughly 420,000 BTC of Strategy’s stash is traceable at custodians that use segregated addresses (Coinbase and Anchorage), and Arkham Intelligence tracks about 415,000 BTC there.
- Around 183,000 BTC was reportedly sent to Fidelity’s custody, but Fidelity does not appear to separate wallets in a way that makes those coins easily trackable on-chain.
- That leaves more than 110,000 BTC across custodians that analysts say cannot be individually traced — the core of the controversy and the basis for critics’ doubts. Analyst Sani highlighted this unaccounted-for portion.
Market reaction and context
- Despite Strategy’s aggressive buying, BTC’s price reaction has been muted; MSTR stock dipped around 2% to $157.45 at press time, following a roughly 1.5% BTC pullback after the FOMC meeting.
- Strategy’s purchases remain significant relative to supply, which is why the debate over whether the company’s coins are fully isolated on-chain matters for market dynamics and confidence.
Bottom line
Strategy insists its BTC is real and fully audited with non-rehypothecated custody. On-chain trackers confirm large, segregated holdings at some custodians, but a meaningful tranche — roughly 110K BTC by current estimates — is hard to trace, leaving room for legitimate questions about custody practices. That transparency gap, rather than the headline size of the treasury, is fueling today’s FUD.
Disclaimer: This summary is informational and not investment advice. Cryptocurrency markets are high risk; readers should do their own research before making decisions. Sources cited in reporting include CryptoQuant and Arkham. © 2026 AMBCrypto
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
