Strategy Inc. MSTR has officially surpassed BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) as the world’s largest institutional holder of bitcoin (bitcoin).
On April 20, 2026, Strategy’s Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that the company purchased 34,164 bitcoins at an average price of $74,395 per coin between April 13 and 19. Strategy had previously exhausted the $2.54 billion raised through a public stock offering. Increase As of the time of reporting, the company holds 815,061 bitcoins, valued at approximately $61.14 billion.
On the other hand, BlackRock's IBIT held 802,823.45 BTC as of April 17, with a market value of approximately $60.22 billion. Last week, IBIT recorded $906.09 million in net inflows, a figure corroborated by Finbold data, which reportedly increased its Bitcoin holdings by approximately 11,000 BTC.
In particular, BlackRock may lose its lead in bitcoin holdings due to its increase in MSTR shares rather than purchasing IBIT shares. Additionally, according to reports, as of December 31, 2025, BlackRock held 14.61 million shares of Strategy, valued at approximately $2.39 billion.Data from Yahoo Finance.
Why do Bitcoin investors focus more on strategies than spot ETFs?
This strategy has become the preferred tool for investing in Bitcoin because investors are expected to achieve higher returns compared to holding solely through IBIT. Essentially, the strategy has delivered a 9.5% Bitcoin return year-to-date, indicating that its equity financing accumulation approach has generated higher earnings per share.
Michael Saylor, founder and chairman of Strategy, recently stated: "Strategy proposes to change the dividend payment frequency for STRC from monthly to biweekly. The annual dividend obligation and dividend rate will remain unchanged. These proposed adjustments aim to stabilize the stock price, reduce cyclical volatility, enhance liquidity, and promote demand growth." Statement.
As a result, the Strategy has attracted additional capital from top institutional investors, including several large investment firms and banks. Major supporters of the Strategy include Vanguard Group Inc., Capital International Investors, BlackRock, Capital Research Global Investors, State Street Corporation, UBS Group AG, Amundi, Geode Capital Management LLC, and Bank of America.