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JPMorgan Chase increased its stake in Strategy (MSTR) by 36% during the third quarter, according to Bitcoin Magazine, lifting the position to 848,932 shares worth $131.3 million as of Sept. 30. The bank reported 624,387 shares valued at $57.87 million three months earlier.
The share count rose by 224,545, but the dollar value more than doubled because Strategy’s implied price on the two filings climbed from $92.68 to $154.67. The disclosure came in a Form 13F that JPMorgan filed with the SEC on Nov. 12, signed in New York by Executive Director Michael T. Lees.
Also read: Saylor Teases Bitcoin Buy as Strategy Holds $1B Paper Loss
Key facts
- JPMorgan’s Strategy line rose to 848,932 shares worth $131.3 million at Sept. 30, up from 624,387 shares worth $57.87 million at June 30.
- The same filing lists 11,408,930 iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares worth $539.98 million, a 9.6% increase in share count from 10,407,635 shares worth $355.73 million.
- Smaller spot fund positions — 155,785 Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust shares worth $5.76 million and 66,264 Bitwise Bitcoin ETF shares worth $3.00 million — brought total spot bitcoin ETF holdings to about $549 million, excluding options.
- Strategy put options covering 1,148,500 shares were valued at $177.64 million, more than the common stock line, alongside calls on 349,500 shares worth $54.06 million.
- Crypto Briefing reported that State Street raised its own Strategy stake 6% to 7,946,663 shares worth about $1.22 billion, a net purchase of 419,102 shares, and lifted its Strive (ASST) position 12% to $50 million.
Two banks, two directions of scale
The two filings describe different kinds of exposure. JPMorgan’s report covers 35,990 entries valued at $1.84 trillion and folds in positions across 17 other included managers, so the Strategy and IBIT lines may reflect client, fund and discretionary holdings rather than a single proprietary bet. The figures also stop at Sept. 30, and the firm may have traded since.
State Street’s numbers are smaller in percentage terms but larger in dollars, per Crypto Briefing. Its 7,946,663 Strategy shares were worth roughly $1.22 billion at quarter-end against $3.44 trillion in total reported 13F holdings, and the outlet noted the position had previously exceeded $2 billion. Crypto Briefing also traced State Street’s MSTR holding back to Q2 2013, when the company was still known as MicroStrategy and sold business intelligence software.
JPMorgan’s filing shows other bitcoin-linked equities: 1,581,814 Coinbase (COIN) shares worth $300.58 million, up 13% from June, and 128,788 Strive shares worth $3.77 million, a 179% jump in share count. BNY Mellon, in a 13F filed Nov. 5, raised its Strive stake 28% to 237,100 shares, Bitcoin Magazine reported.
Why it matters
Strategy’s place in mainstream indexes is changing before the next round of filings. MSCI is removing the stock from its MSCI USA Index after the close on Nov. 30, which also drops it from the MSCI World and ACWI indexes, and index funds tracking those benchmarks will have to sell. Strategy traded near $114.60 on Thursday morning, down about 6% on the day, which would put the 848,932 quarter-end shares at roughly $97 million rather than the $131.3 million marked on the 13F. Bitcoin traded near $71,300, below $72,000.
The options lines complicate any reading of the filing as a directional bet. A 13F does not disclose whether listed puts and calls are hedges, market-making inventory or client positions, and JPMorgan’s IBIT options — calls on 3,703,200 shares worth $175.27 million and puts on 2,915,000 shares worth $137.97 million — sit outside the $540 million share figure.
What to watch
Managers with discretion over $100 million or more in 13F securities had until Monday, Nov. 16, to file, because the 45-day window ended on Saturday, Nov. 14. Wells Fargo, Millennium Management and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors had not appeared on the SEC’s EDGAR system as of Thursday morning, per Bitcoin Magazine. MSCI’s Nov. 30 deletion is the next scheduled event affecting Strategy’s shareholder base.
The filings record quarter-end positions, not forecasts of where bitcoin or these stocks head next. This is not financial advice, and crypto and equity markets are volatile and uncertain.
Reported by Bitcoin Magazine.