Cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez drew a parallel on Monday between the recent events surrounding Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and the 2022 collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Strategy And FTX: Similarities?
In an X post, Martinez noted the sequence of events that led to the downfall of FTX in 2022, starting with Binance’s (CRYPTO: BNB) announcement to liquidate its remaining FTT holdings, the exchange’s native token.
This was followed by a surge in withdrawals, an $8 billion deficit in FTX’s accounts, culminating in a liquidity crisis when FTX suspended user withdrawals, and eventually the exchange’s collapse.
Martinez said the event marked the “final bottom” of the 2022 Bitcoin bear market.
Is This Leading To BTC Bottom?
Martinez then suggested that the current situation around Strategy felt “eerily similar.”
They pointed to speculation that Strategy may be forced to sell Bitcoin after its preferred stock offering (NASDAQ:STRC) failed to maintain its $100 par value.
The firm eventually sold 32 BTC, and the stock fell from roughly $98 to $71. Ali then highlighted Strategy’s latest disclosure of selling more than $216 million worth of BTC to fund preferred stock dividends.
“I am not saying Strategy is FTX. My point is about market psychology,” Martinez added. “Rumors create doubt. Doubt creates selling. Selling exposes vulnerabilities.”
They argued that these dynamics could mark a bottom for Bitcoin, as it happened in the fall of 2022.
Strategy Becomes BTC Seller
Strategy’s potential shift from being Bitcoin’s largest corporate buyer to selling Bitoin to fund its operations has pressured investor sentiment, undermining the ‘never sell’ thesis that Michael Saylor had strongly advocated.
Longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff said that Strategy has fundamentally changed its operating model, and would need to sell a “lot more” of its BTC holdings to preserve dollar reserves amid the ongoing slump.
As of this writing, the firm’s paper losses on its BTC stash have ballooned to over $10 billion.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $63,154.85, down 0.03% over the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Strategy shares were up 1.03% in after-hours trading after closing at $100.77 during Monday’s regular trading session.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MSTR has underperformed with a weaker price trend across short-, medium-, and long-term timeframes.
Photo Courtesy: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com
Recent Comments