For the first time since the second quarter of 2024, Strategy (MSTR) has surpassed BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in terms of bitcoin holdings.
The largest publicly traded holder of $BTC recently made headlines by announcing its third-largest bitcoin acquisition ever, purchasing 34,164 $BTC. This brings its total to an impressive 815,061 $BTC.
In contrast, IBIT currently possesses 802,824 $BTC, placing Strategy ahead by over 12,000 $BTC. Although this difference may seem minor in relative terms, it carries significant symbolic weight considering IBIT’s rapid ascent since its inception. Notably, IBIT achieved the milestone of $70 billion in assets faster than any other ETF and ranks among BlackRock’s top revenue sources.
At the beginning of Q1 2024, Strategy held only 189,150 $BTC. By early Q2 that year, IBIT had overtaken it with approximately 273,000 $BTC, compared to Strategy’s then-holdings of about 214,400 $ BTC . This lead was consistently maintained until now.
It is essential to note that these two entities operate on fundamentally different principles. Strategy functions as an operating company utilizing financial strategies such as at-the-market (ATM) equity issuance and convertible debt to acquire bitcoin through leveraged means. In contrast,
IBIT is a spot ETF designed for passive tracking of bitcoin prices—providing investors with straightforward exposure without leverage or corporate risks involved.
Since its launch in January 2024,
IBIT has seen gains around 55%, while Strategy has experienced a remarkable increase of roughly 250%, largely due to its leveraged approach.
A notable aspect is that during recent market fluctuations—where bitcoin plummeted more than 50% from its peak last October—Strategy ramped up acquisitions significantly and added nearly 80 ,000$ BTC in just two years leading into
2026.
The perpetual preferred equity known as STRC has played a crucial role for Strategy by providing a scalable capital source that facilitated much of their recent accumulation efforts.
On the other hand,
IBIT’s asset management remained relatively stable throughout this period with only slight declines noted in their holdings.