Vanguard’s $505mln MSTR bet – Is the Bitcoin blockade officially over?

After a bruising Q4 in 2025 that saw Strategy (MSTR) weather a staggering $17.4 billion unrealized loss on its BTC holdings, sentiment has shifted in early 2026.

In a move that has sent shockwaves through Wall Street, the $12 trillion asset management titan Vanguard Group disclosed a massive $505 million acquisition of MSTR shares.

This shows that Bitcoin treasury strategies are becoming impossible for institutions to avoid.

Strategy sets the bar high

As Strategy aggressively expanded its treasury to 687,410 BTC, its market capitalization swelled, demanding a higher weighting in major mid-cap and broad-market indices.

For passive giants like Vanguard, this created a technical trap.

Even though Vanguard had openly opposed Bitcoin for years, its index-tracking rules left it with no choice. To avoid tracking errors, it had to buy shares of Strategy.

This has effectively turned Saylor’s company into a backdoor way to own Bitcoin [BTC].

Across its funds, Vanguard’s total exposure is now estimated at $3.2 billion.

Vanguards’ shift in sentiment

That said, Vanguard’s path to this $505 million investment was far from smooth.

Through 2024 and early 2025, it was the most outspoken opponent of Bitcoin among major asset managers.

Under former CEO Tim Buckley, Vanguard blocked Spot Bitcoin ETFs and removed Bitcoin Futures products, arguing that Bitcoin lacked real economic value.

That changed in late 2025, when Salim Ramji became CEO. He previously worked at BlackRock’s iShares team behind the IBIT ETF, bringing a more practical approach.

By the 2nd of December 2025, Vanguard allowed its 50 million customers to trade third-party Bitcoin and Ethereum [ETH] ETFs.

While Vanguard still doesn’t offer its own crypto products, its long-standing resistance has clearly faded.

The MSCI exclusion loop

Vanguard’s move also came at a critical moment for the Bitcoin treasury model.

In early 2026, index provider MSCI said it would not move forward with a plan to remove Digital Asset Treasury Companies from its benchmarks.

That proposal would have treated companies holding large amounts of digital assets as non-operating businesses, forcing many institutions to sell their shares. By dropping the plan, MSCI ensured that Strategy would remain part of major global indices.

Even with growing institutional interest, Strategy remains a risky stock.

MSTR stock price action

While it recently rose 2.80% in a single day, it is still recovering from a steep six-month decline after falling sharply from its 2025 highs.

Meanwhile, BTC was trading around $95,000 as per CoinMarketCap.

This coincided with a board member, Carl Rickertsen, recently buying 5,000 Strategy shares at an average price of $155.88, spending about $780,000.

For nearly four years, Rickertsen had mostly sold shares after exercising stock options. This was his first open-market purchase since 2022, showing a shift from selling to buying.

His purchase suggested that insiders see the recent volatility not as a failure, but as a necessary reset before future growth.

Taken together, the forced buying by large index funds like Vanguard and renewed confidence from long-time insiders point to a major shift in 2026.

Final Thoughts

• MicroStrategy is no longer just holding Bitcoin; instead, it is distributing exposure across global portfolios.
• MSCI’s decision quietly legitimized the Bitcoin Treasury model. Without it, institutional ownership could have unraveled overnight.