Bitwise: Strategy's Dominance as Bitcoin Buyer Is Over
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- Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan declared that Strategy's era as the most dominant Bitcoin buyer is "likely over" following last week's STRC turmoil, predicting investment banks, asset managers, pensions, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds will replace Strategy as Bitcoin's primary demand driver.
- Strategy's STRC perpetual preferred stock broke sharply from its $100 par value to below $75, raising fears about the sustainability of its dividend model in what Hougan called "classic end-of-cycle dynamics."
- The STRC incident coincided with Bitcoin falling to a 21-month low of $58,190 on June 25, rattling confidence across the broader crypto market.
- Strategy responded by committing to sell Bitcoin where necessary to fund dividends and expanding its US dollar reserve to $2.55 billion, easing immediate concerns but weakening its position as the industry's most aggressive Bitcoin accumulator.
- Hougan noted Strategy still has $52 billion in liquid assets against just $7 billion in debt, meaning Bitcoin would need to drop another 70% (to roughly $18,500) to put the company at risk — and Strategy's reserves could cover STRC dividends for 28 years.
- Strive CEO Matt Cole pushed back on the dominant framing, arguing the STRC incident has drawn outsized media attention and that Strategy's 847,363 Bitcoin represents just 4% of total supply, below the SEC's 5% materiality threshold.
Why it matters: If Bitwise is right, Bitcoin's demand engine shifts from one leveraged corporate accumulator to a broader institutional base — a structural change for the market, even though Hougan still expects Strategy to remain a net buyer in the next bull cycle. The immediate trigger, however, is a specific product (STRC) whose collapse dragged the entire preferred-stock dividend thesis into question.
