Last year, Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), was among the most influential people in the bitcoin ecosystem. His company’s stock rose fivefold even as US bitcoin ETFs entered the market.
This feature is part of CoinDesk’s The list of most influential 2025.
However, the story in 2025 has been markedly different. MSTR has struggled to replicate the previous year’s extraordinary gains, with shares now negative year-to-date. This underperformance reflects a mix of internal and external pressures, including bitcoin’s volatility compression and the introduction of options on US spot ETFs, which have given investors alternative exposure routes. These factors have led to a significant decline in MSTR’s multiple to net asset value (mNAV).
In response, Strategy launched four perennially preferred products in 2025 – STRK, STRF, STRD and STRC – and raised $4.6 billion in gross IPO proceeds. Three of these have already delivered strong double-digit returns, giving MSTR a non-dilutive mechanism to grow its bitcoin holdings. The company has also expanded its preferred share program internationally in Europe with a Euro-denominated preferred share, Stream.
