Citron Research founder Andrew Left renewed his aggressive short campaign against Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) on Thursday, dismissing the company’s complex financial architecture as “nonsense” after the firm reported a staggering $12.4 billion fourth-quarter loss.
Jargon Vs. Reality
The critique marks a sharp reversal for Left, who previously praised the company before it “completely detached from BTC fundamentals.”
The dispute centers on Executive Chairman Michael Saylor‘s recent descriptions of his firm as a “Bitcoin treasury company” powered by a “Bitcoin reactor.” Left fired back via social media, mocking the terminology used to justify the company’s massive debt-fueled acquisition strategy.
“I admit when I heard it I thought maybe I am ignorant and don’t understand, turns out the more jargon the more nonsense,” Left stated. The “nonsense” Left refers to includes Saylor’s claims that Strategy can “strip the volatility” off fixed-income securities and generate a “BTC spread” of up to 90%.
While Saylor previously bragged, “We’re making 500 million a day,” the reality of early 2026 has proven more somber. Strategy’s fourth-quarter results showed a net loss of $12.6 billion, largely due to a $17.5 billion surge in unrealized losses on its digital assets.
A Potential ‘Death Spiral’
Adding weight to the bearish sentiment, “Big Short” investor Michael Burry warned this week that Bitcoin‘s (CRYPTO: BTC) descent could trigger a “collateral death spiral.”
Burry noted that Strategy could find capital markets “essentially closed” if prices fall another 10%, potentially leaving the firm billions in the red.
Burry specifically highlighted the risk to the broader ecosystem: “At $50,000, miners would go bankrupt and be forced to sell their BTC reserves, tokenized metals futures would collapse into a black hole with no buyer”.
Mounting Pressure
Despite the volatility, Saylor remains defiant, telling investors on the post-earnings call that “the actions by big finance, the actions by the big banks and the actions by the financial regulators are the fundamentals.”
However, with Strategy’s average cost per Bitcoin sitting at $76,052 and the current market price hovering near $64,000, the firm’s “leveraged Bitcoin reactor” is facing its most severe stress test to date.
MSTR Falls Nearly 30% In 2026
Shares of Strategy have declined by 29.59% year-to-date and 71.50% over the last six months. It was also down by 68.22% over the year. On Thursday, the stock fell 17.12% to $106.99 apiece following its earnings.
MSTR maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with a poor value ranking, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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