Michael Saylor's Strategy acquired 40,150 Bitcoin (BTC) in January, accounting for 93% of all purchases by publicly traded digital asset treasury firms.
The remaining 3,080 BTC came from all other companies combined, according to a Bitcoin Treasuries report - the fourth consecutive month Strategy's competitors have seen their share shrink.
In total, digital asset treasuries added roughly 43,230 BTC worth $3.5 billion last month, up from 28,900 BTC in December but a fraction of the 147,000 BTC bought in November 2024 during the post-election rally.
A One-Company Market
The numbers paint a picture of a corporate Bitcoin market increasingly dependent on a single buyer. While 30 public companies announced purchases in January - up from 20 in December - the volume outside Strategy continued to decline.
That concentration carries risk. Strategy's stock has fallen roughly 70% from its highs, and the company reported a $12.4 billion fourth-quarter net loss driven by $17.4 billion in unrealized losses under fair-value accounting.
Its holdings of more than 714,000 BTC - over 3% of total supply - now sit more than $7 billion underwater at current prices.
The firm's market-to-net-asset-value ratio has slipped below 1.0, meaning shares trade at a discount to the Bitcoin backing them. That dynamic complicates further equity raises, since issuing stock below NAV dilutes existing shareholders rather than adding value.
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Cracks in the Broader Model
Strategy is not the only treasury firm under pressure. Standard Chartered noted last year that half of the roughly 60 publicly traded Bitcoin treasury companies had an average purchase price of about $90,000.
With Bitcoin trading around $68,000, that leaves many sitting on steep losses.
Four public companies sold BTC in January. Miners Riot Platforms and Bitdeer offloaded 1,363 and 490 BTC respectively.
What Saylor Says vs. What the Numbers Show
Saylor said this week that Strategy will never be forced to sell and will keep buying "forever." The company has built a $1.4 billion cash reserve covering roughly 21 months of preferred dividend and interest payments, according to a DL News report - a buffer designed to avoid forced liquidation in a downturn.
But the firm's growing reliance on preferred shares adds ongoing costs. Its variable-rate preferred offering (STRC) pays annualized dividends of 11.25% and has raised $3.4 billion to date.
Prediction market Myriad currently prices a 25% probability that Strategy sells Bitcoin before year-end - a wager that will test whether Saylor's cash buffer outlasts the drawdown.
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