Strategy (MSTR) Pops 9% As Bitcoin Price Gets Back To $78k
Shares of Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) saw a significant surge of around 9% on Friday as Bitcoin made its way back up to the $78,000 level. This positive movement in the stock price followed a headline-grabbing keynote delivered by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas.
During Friday’s trading session, MSTR climbed above $180 per share, continuing its upward momentum from a previous close near $165. This uptick in price closely mirrored Bitcoin’s own increase, with BTC reaching $78,961 by Friday afternoon as reported by Bitcoin Magazine Pro.
For investors in MSTR, this rally provided a much-needed relief as the stock has been struggling, down more than 70% from its all-time high of over $457 back in November 2024. This recent price action is part of a broader recovery in Bitcoin, which has been steadily climbing back up since experiencing a sharp pullback to the mid-$60,000s earlier this year.
The recent surge in Bitcoin past the $78,000 mark was attributed to short liquidations and positive macro sentiment following reports of progress in U.S.-Iran diplomatic talks. Polymarket contracts on May 1 BTC pricing showed full confidence that the asset would finish in the $78,000–$80,000 range.
As a leveraged proxy for Bitcoin, MSTR tends to amplify BTC’s movements in both directions. Strategy currently holds approximately 818,334 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, representing about 3.9% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist, acquired at an average cost of around $66,385 per coin.
The increase in MSTR’s stock price was also fueled by the excitement generated by Saylor’s keynote at the Bitcoin 2026 conference. Instead of focusing solely on Bitcoin price targets or additional Bitcoin purchases, Saylor highlighted STRC – Strategy’s Bitcoin-backed preferred stock – and presented a compelling argument that digital credit is set to disrupt trillions of dollars in the traditional credit market.
Saylor emphasized that the $300 trillion credit market presents a much larger opportunity than the $2 trillion Bitcoin market, and Strategy has created a product to bridge the two. STRC, which offers an 11.5% monthly variable dividend and trades on Nasdaq, has quickly grown to around $8.5 billion in notional value in less than nine months.
“This is going viral,” Saylor declared to the audience, pointing out that BlackRock’s iShares Preferred & Income Securities ETF has already invested approximately $210 million in STRC. He also noted that STRC has facilitated the acquisition of approximately 77,000 BTC year-to-date in 2026, which is about ten times the net inflow of all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs combined during the same period.
The positive momentum in both Bitcoin and MSTR reflects the growing interest and confidence in digital assets and the innovative products being developed within the space. Investors are eagerly watching as Strategy continues to navigate the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency and digital credit.
