Cryptos Are Flying. Why MicroStrategy Stock Is Falling. — Barrons.com

By George Glover

Cryptocurrencies were flying on Thursday as three bills aimed at regulating the digital-asset sector moved through Congress — but MicroStrategy stock was not getting much benefit.

Shares in the company, which is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, slipped 1% to $451.50 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were flat, and other crypto stocks including exchange Coinbase Global and miner BitMine Immersion Technologies were trading in the green.

The House of Representative passed a procedural vote late Wednesday to advance a trio of bills: The GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.

Although altcoins like Ethereum and XRP were rising, Bitcoin was a touch lower. That's bad news for MicroStrategy, which owns more than 600,000 Bitcoins, but no other cryptocurrencies.

CEO Michael Saylor is what's known as a Bitcoin maximalist — he believes the world's largest token by market cap is the only crypto worth owning. In the past, he's labeled Ethereum and Solana as "balsa wood" to emphasize his view that they're much less steady than "steel" Bitcoin.

Going all-in on Bitcoin has still given MicroStrategy stock a big boost — shares have climbed 193% over the past year, compared with a 12% gain for the S&P 500.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.