Famed short seller Jim Chanos recently took to the X social media network to mock Strategy's Michael Saylor for failing to announce another Bitcoin purchase.
Chanos has noted that Saylor did not actually buy Bitcoin following a major price correction, which appears to be counterintuitive.
"Isn’t that when they should be buying more?" Chanos asked on the X social media network.
Chanos's anti-Saylor bet
As reported by U.today, Chanos bet against Strategy’s common stock while simultaneously buying Bitcoin.
He was essentially betting that MSTR’s premium over its Bitcoin holdings ("mNAV") would compress.
Chanos argued that Strategy’s stock was overvalued relative to the net value of its BTC holdings. As reported by U.Today, he harshly criticized Saylor’s model, calling parts of it “financial gibberish.”
The thesis ended up being correct. The MSTR premium has collapsed, with the stock vastly underperforming BTC. The famed short seller, who initially rose to prominence by betting against Enron, publicly announced that he "unwound" his hedged trade earlier this month.
Chanos hasn’t publicly disclosed exact fund‑wide numbers, but his win is certainly impressive.
Accelerating purchases
As reported by U.Today, Saylor recently stated that the company was going to accelerate its Bitcoin purchases.
A week ago, the company announced that it had bought a total of $836 million worth of Bitcoin.
However, the fact that Saylor missed the opportunity to buy Bitcoin during a major sale shows that the company could be potentially running out of firepower.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team