Degens Are Searching for Further Leverage on MicroStrategy and Winning Massively

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Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR).
Two MicroStrategy (MSTR) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have started up this year. The Defiance Daily Target 1.75X Long MSTR ETF (MSTX), introduced Aug. 15, initially promised investors 1.75 times the daily percentage change in the software maker’s share price. The fund saw 176% returns in 2.5 months, prompting the issuer to raise its leverage — and change its name — to 2x.
The increase brought the product to the same level as the T-REX 2X Long MSTR Daily Target ETF (MSTU), which started trading a month later, on Sept. 18, and generated even better returns. The ETF promises investors twice the daily performance of MSTR and has generated returns of 235%. MSTR has gained 87% in the same period.
“T-Rex’s 2x Microstrategy ETF MSTU launched a mere six weeks ago and is already up 225% (annualized equivalent of 57,000%) and trades half a billion in volume (Top 1% among ETFs),” said Eric Blachunas, a senior Bloomberg ETF analyst. “It’s so funny they’ve long had 3x MSTR ETFs in Europe but no one cares, no assets, volume. It’s the market for that amount of heat, no degens. The U.S. on the other hand, it’s ‘make it volatile and they will come.'”
MicroStrategy, together with executive chairman Michael Saylor, has been one of the key crypto narratives in 2024 as investors look to gain exposure to bitcoin (BTC) without investing directly into the digital asset. Shares of MSTR, which reports third-quarter earnings after the close of U.S. markets, have more than tripled this year and holds 252,220 BTC.
Edited by Sheldon Reback.
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As the senior analyst at CoinDesk, James specializes in Bitcoin and the macro environment. Previously, his role as a research analyst at Swiss hedge fund Saidler & Co. introduced him to on-chain analytics. He monitors ETFs, spot and futures volumes, and flows to understand Bitcoin.