Strategy (NASDAQ: $MSTR) now holds more Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) than BlackRock’s (NYSE: $BLK) market leading iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Strategy, which is the world’s largest corporate owner of Bitcoin, now has total holdings of 815,061 BTC, worth $62.35 billion U.S.
In contract, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: $IBIT) holds 802,824 BTC, leaving Strategy ahead by more than 12,000 digital tokens.
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The iShares Bitcoin Trust is the largest and most popular of about a dozen U.S.-listed ETFs that track the spot price of BTC.
Analysts say the development is important as it shows the rise of Strategy as the dominant force in Bitcoin, and that it has supplanted IBIT, which ranks among BlackRock’s top revenue drivers.
That said, the two investment vehicles remain fundamentally different. Strategy is a serial Bitcoin acquirer that buys Bitcoin using leverage or debt.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust, by contrast, is a spot ETF designed to passively track Bitcoin’s price fluctuations, offering investors straightforward exposure to the crypto without leverage.
IBIT has risen 55% since it launched in January 2024, while Strategy’s stock has gained 250% over the same time period.
Strategy overtook BlackRock’s IBIT fund during the recent market downturn, as Bitcoin’s price fell more than 50% and Strategy added nearly 80,000 BTC.
IBIT’s Bitcoin holdings have remained largely unchanged over the past six months.
BTC is currently trading at $76,500 U.S.