Oh, MSTR! The Stock Everyone’s Love-to-Hate (But Maybe Not?)

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Markets

What to know (if you’re still awake after this headline):

  • Short sellers are practically camping out on MSTR’s doorstep, with bets hitting 14% of its market cap-the highest since the invention of shorting, apparently.
  • Analysts insist this isn’t just pure hate. Some think it’s a “basis trade,” which sounds like a bad rom-com about Bitcoin ETFs and MSTR’s awkward love triangle with IBIT. Others? Pure schadenfreude.

Move over, GameStop-MSTR’s stock is now the Wall Street equivalent of a punchable face. According to FactSet and Goldman Sachs, short bets are at 14% of its $34 billion market cap. For context, Coinbase is fourth with a mere 11% of punters betting on its demise. Because nothing says “healthy market” like betting against companies with a combined net worth of a small island nation.

Now, MSTR’s Bitcoin stash is down $7 billion on paper. But hey, who cares? Not the stock, which is shrugging off losses like a breakup that’s “totally fine, actually.” The company’s been buying BTC since 2020-717,722 coins worth $47 billion, if you’re into that kind of math. Yet somehow, its market cap is $42 billion. Spoiler alert: Accounting is a social construct.

Here’s where it gets spicy. Traders might be shorting MSTR while buying BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, hoping to profit from the “basis trade.” Translation: Bet on Bitcoin without actually betting on Bitcoin. It’s like ordering sushi at a steakhouse-tech bros love it. One analyst noted Jane Street’s “conspicuously large” IBIT purchase. Coincidence? Or a financial telenovela in the making?

But plot twist! This trade has been a dumpster fire so far. MSTR is down 20% this year, while IBIT plummeted 27%. So much for that “market-neutral” plan. Maybe they should’ve just bought a lottery ticket and called it a day.

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2026-02-25 13:10