For years, Michael Saylor’s Strategy was one of the market’s favorite ways to gain leveraged exposure to Bitcoin. But after a 72% decline in Strategy’s stock (MSTR) over the past year, Google search interest is cooling, and investors are increasingly debating whether Strategy’s aggressive fundraising model is still benefiting shareholders.
MSTR Stock’s Biggest Problem May Not Be Bitcoin
Despite the stock’s decline, Strategy continues expanding its Bitcoin holdings. This week alone, the company purchased 520 BTC for $35 million, bringing its total holdings to 847,363 Bitcoin, worth roughly $64.1 billion at current prices.
Yet Strategy’s market capitalization has fallen to around $53.2 billion, meaning the stock market now values the entire company at roughly $11 billion less than the Bitcoin sitting on its balance sheet.
The decline comes as Bitcoin itself trades near $62,000, down nearly 20% over the past month, putting additional pressure on companies heavily tied to the asset’s price.
Google Trends Suggests Retail Excitement Is Fading
Google Trends data shows global interest in “MSTR,” “Bitcoin Strategy,” and “Michael Saylor” has dropped significantly since the major spikes seen in February 2026.
Among the three terms, MSTR remains the most searched with an average interest score of 40, compared with 13 for Bitcoin Strategy and just 6 for Michael Saylor. All three trends have weakened in recent weeks.
The decline suggests that retail investors who once closely followed Strategy’s Bitcoin-first playbook may be shifting their attention elsewhere.
Critics See Risk, Supporters See Opportunity
The bigger concern for investors is not Bitcoin itself but how Strategy continues funding its purchases. The company relies heavily on at-the-market (ATM) share sales and preferred stock offerings. One of those securities, STRC (Stretch), recently fell to around $88 after trading near $100 in May.
At the same time, Strategy now carries roughly $15 billion in preferred stock obligations that require an estimated $1.7 billion in annual dividend payments.
Several prominent investors believe this structure is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
FullStack CEO Flood recently argued,
“No bottom until Saylor sells a few billion into a huge V-bottom recovery.”
Next Gen Venture founder Jason Huang echoed those concerns, claiming Strategy recently issued new shares without meaningfully increasing Bitcoin exposure per share. “The amount of Bitcoin held per share has been decreasing.”
He warned that if MSTR continues underperforming Bitcoin while issuing additional shares, shareholder dilution could accelerate.
“As soon as MSTR underperforms Bitcoin by another 10% in negative alpha, every time they use the ATM to issue stock, they’ll be diluting their Bitcoin per share even further. That is when the death spiral truly begins.”
For now, supporters argue that Strategy remains the largest corporate Bitcoin holder and continues attracting capital.
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