title: Jim Chanos Is Shorting MicroStrategy (MSTR) Stock and Long Bitcoin (BTC)

With 177% gains over the past year and 40% since the start of 2025, investor Jim Chanos believes that this is the right time to short Strategy (MSTR) stock.

Investor Jim Chanos has announced a short position on Strategy (MSTR) stock and a complementary long position in Bitcoin (BTC).

Despite 177% gains in the past year and 40% since the start of 2025, Chanos believes this is the ideal time to short MSTR.

Previously dubbed MicroStrategy, MSTR stock has long traded at a premium to Bitcoin amid its aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy.

Speaking at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, Chanos revealed his short position on MSTR and a simultaneous long position on Bitcoin.

In an interview with CNBC, Chanos stated:

“We’re selling MicroStrategy stock and buying Bitcoin and basically buying something for $1 selling it for two and a half dollars.”

Strategy’s large bitcoin bet and MSTR stock surge

For several years now, Strategy’s stock has been a significant proxy bet on bitcoin, especially for institutional players who lacked direct access to the asset.

Despite the company’s substantial bitcoin purchases, it has managed to maintain additional alpha on bitcoin returns.

However, MicroStrategy has employed leverage to build its bitcoin reserves and currently trades at a premium relative to the value of its bitcoin holdings.

Investor Chanos cautions against this, adding:

“If you look at where MicroStrategy and now, more ominously, some of its copycat companies that are now raising lots of money are doing, they are basically selling retail investors the idea that we are going to buy bitcoin in a corporate structure. Because of what MicroStrategy has done, you should value us at a similar premium.”

A large number of publicly listed firms have recently begun adopting Michael Saylor’s bitcoin playbook and adding bitcoin to their balance sheets.

Semler Scientific (NASDAQ:SCIX) is one such firm that periodically adds bitcoins. However, its stock price has decreased rapidly due to poor financial performance.

Long BTC bets rise as LTH realized price reaches $45,340

Long-term Bitcoin bets are increasing, as blockchain analytics firm Glassnode reports a rise in the Long-Term Holder (LTH) realized price to $45,340.

This rise indicates that coins purchased at higher price levels, around $90,000–$100,000, are aging into long-term holding status.

The shift coincides with the 155-day cut-off, classifying December 2024 buyers as Long-Term Holders and gradually increasing the LTH cohort’s cost basis.