- Strategy holds 761,068 Bitcoin worth around $57 billion at current prices.
- BlackRock's IBIT holds 782,179, a gap of merely $1.5 billion.
- Strategy is likely going to overtake BlackRock, said André Dragosch of Bitwise.
Strategy is breathing down BlackRock’s neck.
Michael Saylor’s firm is closing in on the Bitcoin held by Larry Fink’s exchange-traded funds after an aggressive buying spree that saw Strategy spend over $7 billion on Bitcoin in just the first two-and-a-half months of 2026.
Strategy now holds 761,068 Bitcoin worth approximately $57 billion at an average cost of $75,696 per coin. BlackRock’s IBIT, meanwhile, holds 782,179 Bitcoin worth over $55 billion, according to Bitbo — meaning Strategy trails by just 21,111 BTC, or roughly $1.5 billion at current prices.
And for André Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise Europe, that trend will likely continue.
“Strategy is more likely to acquire more Bitcoin than IBIT as long as the macro environment stays volatile due to rising energy prices and elevated recession risks,” Dragosch told DL News.
In fact, the near-parity highlights how Strategy is “playing in its own stadium right now,” especially as corporate treasury purchases have outpaced global exchange-traded product buys by a wide margin, “mostly due to Strategy purchases only,” Dragosch said.
The narrowing gap is harder to explain than it first appears. Both Strategy and IBIT have been aggressive buyers through Bitcoin’s 40% crash — Saylor’s firm mostly through convertible debt, whereas IBIT has deployed billions through investor inflows that have proven surprisingly sticky.
The difference may simply be timing and scale: Strategy can deploy billions in concentrated bursts, while IBIT accumulates more gradually as investor appetites ebb and flow.
That said, a new instrument has propped up Strategy’s buys lately.
STRC
The key to Strategy’s advantage, according to Dragosch, are preferred equity shares called STRC.
STRC is a type of security that pays regular dividends and ranks above common stock if the company runs into any financial snafus. It comes with a variable rate, which means that dividend payments adjust over time — right now STRC is paying 11.5% yield — and has no maturity date.
“STRC issuances have increased considerably in 2026 which is allowing Strategy to continue to raise capital for BTC purchases in a rather unfavourable market environment,” Dragosch said.
For investors, it’s less risky than buying Strategy’s common stock because preferred shareholders get paid dividends first and have priority if the company goes bankrupt. Still, it offers exposure to Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy without the full volatility of common shares or direct Bitcoin ownership.
Just last week, Strategy managed to raise around $283 million in STRC to fund a whopping 4,000-Bitcoin buy. This week, STRC funded 75% of their $1.5 billion purchase, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.
Aggressively buying
Saylor has stopped at nothing to make the most of Bitcoin’s fall from $126,000 to $70,000.
The company has spent over $7 billion on Bitcoin already in 2026, with more than half of that in March. That would place it in Strategy’s top five of all-time monthly spending.
For context, Strategy spent just $231 million total during the entire 2022 bear market when Bitcoin prices collapsed below $20,000.
The monthly spending chart shows the dramatic acceleration: massive purchases in late 2024 and early 2025 as Bitcoin rallied toward $126,000, then relentlessly heavy buying through the subsequent 40% crash.
Is it sustainable?
Strategy’s ability to keep up the pace depends entirely on capital markets staying open, however.
The company has funded its Bitcoin buying through convertible debt offerings and at-the-market stock sales — continuously diluting existing shareholders to buy more Bitcoin. Strategy stock has fallen roughly 45% from its December highs, yet Saylor keeps selling shares to fund purchases.
At some point, either debt markets close down or shareholders could revolt. Other Bitcoin treasuries have been dealing with both of those situations, leaving Strategy as the majority corporate buyer these days.
BlackRock’s ETF, on the other hand, is composed of investors of all sizes, and they have shown a relentless commitment to buying Bitcoin — even as the spectre of another global geopolitical conflict rears its ugly head.
“Flows into Bitcoin ETPs are more pro-cyclical and dependent on global risk aversion compared to rather structural purchases by treasury companies like Strategy,” Dragosch told DL News.
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.
