Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) founder Michael Saylor has broadcasted many dubious claims over the years, but this week’s likening of MSTR to “digital treasuries” might take the cake.
At first glance, Saylor’s tweet might mislead some into believing that he referred to MSTR as a type of treasury bond — as in a US Treasury.
However, a careful review of the lengthy presentation attached to the tweet reveals that he merely meant to call Strategy — the business — a digital asset treasury (DAT).
Still, the claim that MSTR is a company in the digital treasuries sector is still incredible just on the basis of dictionary definitions.
Rather than an actual treasury that holds assets for a saver, Strategy holds bitcoin (BTC) that it repeatedly tells shareholders that they will never own.
In numerous Security and Exchange Commission filings, including its most recent quarterly earnings report, the company emphatically tells MSTR shareholders that they don’t own Strategy’s BTC.
“Ownership of our securities, including our class A common stock and preferred stock, does not represent an ownership interest in, or a redemption right with respect to, the bitcoin we hold,” it explains.
This contrasts with the dictionary definition of treasury: a place in which stores of wealth are kept. No MSTR shareholder stores their BTC in Strategy’s treasury, and the BTC in Strategy’s treasury doesn’t store MSTR shareholders’ wealth.
For months, the company has published variations of that disclaimer to clarify that MSTR isn’t a BTC treasury — by the company’s own admission — except in name only.
MSTR: Not a treasury, not amplifying BTC recently
During the same presentation, Saylor also called MSTR “amplified BTC.”
That claim is equally incredible, albeit also vague enough to avoid the scrutiny of his first claim that MSTR is digital treasuries.
Although it’s true that the enterprise value of MSTR exceeds the value of the BTC that it holds by 21%, its multiple-to-Net Asset Value (mNAV) of 1.21x has been declining for over a year.
Read more: How Jim Chanos outplayed Michael Saylor: short MSTR, long BTC
Rather than amplifying the returns of BTC, any MSTR holder has lost money versus simply holding BTC since February 2024. Only over much longer timeframes has MSTR outperformed BTC.