Strategy’s MSTR a top performer in the stock market today after Trump SCR announcement

Strategy stock took off Monday morning, jumping more than 14% at the open. But the excitement didn’t last. As the crypto market took a sharp dive, so did MSTR, wiping out early gains and leaving the stock nearly flat by the afternoon.

The company, which used to be MicroStrategy, has turned itself into a massive Bitcoin holder, treating the crypto asset like its corporate treasury. Because of this, MSTR has been moving almost exactly in sync with Bitcoin’s price. When Bitcoin surged on Sunday, MSTR was expected to ride the wave. But when Bitcoin dropped more than 7% on Monday, the stock followed, struggling to keep its gains.

Bitcoin drops as crypto market reacts to Trump’s reserve announcement

The weekend’s big headline was Donald Trump confirming that the U.S. will establish a strategic crypto reserve (SCR), which will include Bitcoin and four other cryptocurrencies. The announcement sent Bitcoin soaring to nearly $95,000, before the market took a hit on Monday.

“There’s no way to interpret this other than this is bullish for Bitcoin and is bullish for the entire U.S. crypto industry,” said Michael Saylor, executive chairman at Strategy, speaking on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”

The idea is that this reserve could push Bitcoin prices higher—depending on how much of it the U.S. government actually buys. That would, in turn, increase the value of Strategy’s holdings. The company currently owns 499,096 BTC, worth about $47 billion at the latest prices, making up roughly 2.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.

According to Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani, the creation of a U.S. Bitcoin reserve could be a massive boost for Strategy’s position. “A big beneficiary of the Bitcoin reserve (Bitcoin will still be the lion’s share of the reserve) is MSTR,” he said in a client note. “This would further open up capital market access for MSTR and hyper-scale its Bitcoin strategy.”

Despite all the hype, Strategy didn’t make any Bitcoin purchases last week. The company disclosed on Monday that between February 24 and March 2, it didn’t buy any Bitcoin or sell any shares under its at-the-market stock offering plan.

Crypto stocks reverse as Bitcoin falls below key levels

Bitcoin’s price quickly turned negative on Monday, erasing Sunday’s gains. It dropped 9% to around $85,000, dragging the entire crypto market down with it. Ethereum took an even bigger hit, falling 15% to $2,100, according to Coin Metrics.

That downward momentum spilled into crypto-related stocks. Coinbase (COIN) dropped 5%, and Robinhood (HOOD) lost 6%. Strategy’s stock swung from a 14% rally to trading down more than 3% by the afternoon.

Trump’s crypto reserve plan was supposed to be a game-changer, but investors were still skeptical. Over the weekend, Trump shifted from his “Bitcoin stockpile” rhetoric to a more diversified strategic reserve, which will now include Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana’s SOL, and Cardano’s ADA, along with Bitcoin. That news sent the smaller coins soaring, but it wasn’t enough to hold Bitcoin’s momentum.

Bitcoin had already been struggling for weeks, stuck in a three-month consolidation period after hitting an all-time high in January. Last week, it fell below $90,000 for the first time in three months and, at one point, was down 25% from its all-time high, and some analysts were warning that if it dropped some more, $70,000 could be next.

Yuya Hasegawa, a crypto market analyst at Japanese Bitcoin exchange Bitbank, wasn’t convinced the Trump news would have a lasting impact. “The effect of Trump’s [crypto reserve] comment will not continue,” he said. “The price may go up because of other developments this week, but Trump’s comment is already digested.”

He also pointed out that this wasn’t actually new information. “There was no particularly new announcement,” he said. “They are still moving in the direction to establish the crypto reserve, as outlined in Trump’s January executive order on crypto. It was not an announcement to actually establish it.”

Now, all eyes are on the White House Crypto Summit, set to take place on Friday. The event is expected to give more details on the strategic crypto reserve, with White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks teasing on X that there would be “more to come.”

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