Washington — Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. reports $14 billion Bitcoin windfall, exposing fragile foundation beneath crypto-fueled profit
In a spectacle of financial theater that captivated crypto-obsessed investors, Strategy Inc., the enterprise formerly known as MicroStrategy, posted a staggering $9.97 billion in net profit for the second quarter of 2025. This marks its first profit in six quarters, driven not by innovation or sales, but almost entirely by an accounting mirage built on Bitcoin’s soaring price.
The so-called profit surge comes on the back of an unrealized $14.3 billion gain in the company’s Bitcoin holdings, enabled by new fair-value accounting rules. These regulatory changes, effective this year, allow companies to recognize both gains and losses on digital assets like Bitcoin — not just losses as previously mandated. As of June 30, Strategy held approximately 597,325 Bitcoins, acquired at an average price of $70,982. With Bitcoin trading well above $116,000 during the quarter, the paper gains ballooned.
While Michael Saylor continues to champion Bitcoin as a reserve asset superior to gold, critics see this latest performance as financial illusionism. “Saylor didn’t innovate his way to profit, he rode a volatile asset class like a speculator dressed in enterprise robes,” one market analyst said in a note to institutional clients.
The markets, however, cheered the results. Strategy’s stock has jumped nearly 40% year-to-date through June, handily outperforming Bitcoin’s own 25% rise over the same period. This enthusiasm seems tethered to faith in Saylor’s ultra-bullish narrative — that Bitcoin is not only the future of money, but an existential hedge against global monetary decay.
To fund its buying frenzy, Strategy leaned heavily on capital markets, raising an additional $4.2 billion through at-the-market stock offerings in Q2. That capital, too, went largely into purchasing more Bitcoin. The company had previously raised $21 billion in Q1 under the same model, essentially diluting shareholders to double down on a speculative bet.
Yet despite the show of confidence, Strategy quietly paused Bitcoin purchases between June 30 and July 6, a rare moment of restraint from a company that has spent years acquiring BTC at virtually every price. That timing, suspiciously close to the end of the quarter, raised eyebrows among financial analysts and regulators alike.
While the fair-value rules offer temporary reprieve, they also expose Strategy’s dependence on a single asset class. Unlike tech giants such as Apple or Amazon, Strategy’s quarterly success is now almost exclusively dictated by Bitcoin’s price volatility. In other words, the firm has evolved into a publicly traded Bitcoin proxy with a software business on the side.
Some industry watchers now question whether this approach will hold when — not if — the crypto market undergoes another sharp correction. Bitcoin’s track record of punishing drawdowns has devastated leveraged traders before. A company tethered so closely to its whims risks implosion with every downturn.
According to Bloomberg, “Strategy posted an unrealized gain of about $14 billion in the second quarter, the most ever, as new accounting rules let it reflect Bitcoin’s market price. The company reported net income of $9.97 billion, its first profit in six quarters.”
While the headlines trumpet billions in profits, the deeper truth remains unaltered — Strategy is not a company growing through innovation or enterprise value, but rather a leveraged bet on a digital coin whose future is as unpredictable as ever.
