Last year, Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (MSTR), was among the most influential figures in the Bitcoin ecosystem. His company’s shares quintupled, even as U.S. Bitcoin ETFs entered the market.
This feature is part of CoinDesk 2025 Most Influential List.
The story in 2025, however, has been significantly different. MSTR has struggled to replicate the prior year’s extraordinary gains, with shares now negative year-to-date. This underperformance reflects a mix of internal and external pressures, including the compression of bitcoin’s volatility and the introduction of options on U.S. cash ETFs, which gave investors alternative exposure routes. These factors have led to a significant contraction in the MSTR multiple relative to net asset value (mNAV).
In response, Strategy launched four perpetual preferred products in 2025 – STRK, STRF, STRD and STRC – generating $4.6 billion in gross proceeds from IPOs. Three of them have already generated strong double-digit returns, providing a non-dilutive mechanism for MSTR to expand its bitcoin holdings. The company also expanded its preferred stock program internationally into Europe, with a euro-denominated preferred stock, Stream.
