What Is Strategy? Why Central Banks Are Frantically Buying Its Stock MSTR

TradingKey - On May 8, the Swiss National Bank once again increased its holdings by $9 million in the world's largest Bitcoin ( BTC) strategic reserve company, MicroStrategy ( MSTR) shares. To date, the central bank holds a cumulative total of over 760,000 MicroStrategy shares. Based on the current MSTR share price of $187, the total value of the position is approximately $140 million.

Why is the Swiss National Bank so bullish on MicroStrategy? Which other central banks or national institutions hold its stock, and is MSTR a suitable investment for individual investors? In the following sections, we will address these questions one by one.

What is strategy?

Strategy Inc. is the world's first and largest Bitcoin strategic reserve (DAT) company. Formerly known as MicroStrategy, it was a prominent business intelligence software firm whose core business focused on software sales.

However, driven by founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company officially rebranded as Strategy Inc. in early 2025 and fully transformed into a financial and technology giant with Bitcoin as its core reserve asset. As of press time, Strategy holds a total of 810,000 Bitcoins—nearly 4% of the total supply—ranking first globally and significantly surpassing nations or entities such as the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and XXI.

Top 10 entities by Bitcoin holdings. Source: CoinGecko

Which central banks hold Strategy stocks?

Currently, central banks and sovereign wealth funds from several countries, including Switzerland, Norway, South Korea, and the United States, hold Strategy stock. Among these institutions, Norges Bank holds the largest position in Strategy stock, as follows:

Why such a bullish outlook on Strategy?

Central banks and sovereign institutions are optimistic about the Strategy because it offers a "high-yield and fully compliant" channel for national capital to achieve stable systemic returns.

Many central bank charters strictly forbid holding "non-sovereign digital currencies" directly on their balance sheets, meaning they cannot hold Bitcoin directly. MSTR is a Nasdaq-listed stock that fits perfectly within the investment regulatory frameworks of traditional banking. Consequently, by holding MSTR, these central banks can legally link national reserves to Bitcoin's long-term upside without navigating technical hurdles like private key management and custodial security.

The automatic accretion of BTC Yield is the financial metric of the Strategy that most intrigues institutions. Through precise capital operations—issuing debt to acquire Bitcoin—it ensures that the "Bitcoin per share" continues to grow. According to the latest financial results, the company has realized a 9.4% BTC Yield year-to-date as of early 2026. This implies that even without additional investment, the potential Bitcoin equity held by these central banks increases automatically, serving as a vital tool against fiat currency inflation.

Is strategy suitable for retail investors?

Due to MicroStrategy's use of leverage (via debt issuance) to acquire Bitcoin, its stock price volatility is generally 1.5 to 2 times that of Bitcoin. In other words, when Bitcoin rallies, MSTR's stock price gains typically outpace those of Bitcoin. Conversely, if Bitcoin falls, MSTR's decline will also be more pronounced.

If you cannot accept Bitcoin as MSTR's underlying asset or its "roller-coaster" volatility, you should stay away from it. Of course, if you can accept these terms, you might consider a small allocation to MicroStrategy stock.