Key Insights:
- Adam Back reassures the community that Strategy holds real BTC, highlights Fidelity and Coinbase as custodians.
- Michael Saylor reveals that Strategy does not rehypothecate its BTC holdings.
- MicroStrategy MSTR stock plunges on the daily charts, but is still up over the past month.
MicroStrategy stock plunged on Wednesday, Jan. 29, amid community concerns about the company’s Bitcoin (BTC) holding validity. MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor, however, confirmed in a recent post that the company buys real Bitcoin.
Concerns Around MicroStrategy Stock and Bitcoin Holdings
In a recent thread on X, crypto community members discussed the validity of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings. The discussion started after Michael Saylor announced the firm’s latest BTC purchase. Saylor said Strategy acquired 2,932 BTC, worth about $264.1 million at approximately $90,061 per Bitcoin.
The Strategy Chairman pointed out that the firm held a total of 712,647 BTC as of Jan. 25, 2026. These assets were purchased for about $54.19 billion at approximately $76,037 per BTC.
Responding to the post, Jesse Myers, Head of Bitcoin Strategy, commented that the BTC firm has acquired 40,150 BTC so far in 2026. According to Myers, only 11,700 BTC have been mined so far in 2026. He is therefore bullish on Bitcoin and predicts that the BTC price will rise.
Jameson Lopp, another community member, acknowledged the logic of the thesis. However, he conditions it on Strategy actually acquiring “real Bitcoin.” Lopp questioned whether the BTC holdings are fully owned and controlled by Strategy or if they involve rehypothecation.
Cryptographer Adam Back quickly countered Lopp. Back pointed to Strategy’s custodians, Fidelity and Coinbase, which are institutional-grade providers.
He emphasized that these custodians undergo rigorous oversight from Big 4 auditors, with a serious focus on asset existence, key control, and security. In his view, this makes claims of paper BTC unlikely from credible sources.
Back further noted that the auditors verify claims with the external claimants, address balances, total balance, total claims, and key control.
Michael Saylor Confirms Real BTC Purchase
Amid the ongoing discussion about Strategy’s BTC holdings, Saylor defended the firm. He reassured community members that Strategy’s holdings are legitimate on-chain Bitcoin.
“We buy real Bitcoin. We don’t rehypothecate,” Saylor wrote, responding to a post on X.
Sani, founder of Timechainindex, made the post on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. In the post, Sani revealed that Strategy holds around 420,000 BTC at Coinbase Custody & Anchorage Digital Custody.
This is in addition to about 185,000 BTC held at Fidelity Custody. According to Sani, these assets are untraceable because of how Fidelity manages their clients’ funds.
He added that he has not located clear on-chain signatures for 110,000 BTC. Therefore, he emphasized that there is no evidence of rehypothecation claimed across any custodian.
MicroStrategy MSTR Stock Price Outlook
The MicroStrategy stock has fallen dramatically and is currently trading in the lows. Over the past 24 hours, MSTR stock dropped 1.94% to $158.45, according to Google Finance.
MSTR day range is now between $157.00 – $165.72, while the market cap stood at $46.4 billion. The MSTR stock also dropped by 3.5% over the past 5 days.
Nevertheless, MSTR jumped 1.97% over the past month and 4.26% year-to-date (YTD).
It is important to note that MSTR often moves with the price of BTC. Hence, a breakout in BTC price usually sees MSTR price trading upwards. At the moment, optimism about BTC has dropped as the coin declined 1.7% over the previous day to $87,807.
As regards MSTR, the stock looks ready for a recovery. The potential MicroStrategy stock recovery is largely triggered by recent adoption from top institutional players. For instance, Vanguard recently revealed that it acquired MSTR crypto stock valued at $505 million.