Bitcoin and Altcoins Under Pressure: Strategy Continues Buying While Traders Lose Millions

Strategy Continues Aggressive Accumulation Strategy

Strategy, the NASDAQ-listed company co-founded by Michael Saylor, once again acquired Bitcoin at the beginning of this week, continuing its aggressive buying strategy. The company purchased an additional 1,229 Bitcoin at an average price of $88,568 per coin ^[1]. This brings the total holdings to 672,497 Bitcoin with total acquisition costs of approximately $50.44 billion ^[1].

Particularly noteworthy is the intensification of purchases after the US elections: Before the elections last year, Bitcoin holdings stood at 252,220 BTC, and since then Strategy has expanded its holdings by more than 420,000 Bitcoin ^[1]. The average purchase price of all Bitcoin is $74,997 ^[1].

Stock Loses Massive Value

The aggressive buying strategy stands in stark contrast to the performance of Strategy's stock. At the beginning of the year, the price was still around $300 and even reached almost $500 at its peak ^[1]. However, in the course of the correction in the crypto market, the stock came under massive pressure: Since the beginning of the year, Strategy's stock has lost around 47 percent of its value and was last trading below $160 ^[1].

Well-known economist and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff commented under Michael Saylor's tweet: "And even with this purchase, you're already in the red. What's the point of depleting the newly built treasury reserve to buy even more Bitcoin – especially when the stock is trading at a discount to the value of the Bitcoin the company already holds?" ^[1] Nervousness is also gradually spreading among Strategy shareholders in light of weak stock performance and new capital-raising measures ^[1].

Top Trader Loses Millions on Ethereum Short

While Strategy continues to accumulate Bitcoin, a crypto trader considered particularly accurate had to absorb a heavy loss. The wallet address "pension-usdt.eth" closed its short position on Ethereum, realizing a loss of approximately $3.4 million ^[4].

The trader is credited with an above-average successful trading record: In total, he has completed around 70 trades, achieving a success rate of approximately 83 percent ^[4]. Despite the current misstep, his cumulative profits amount to around $21.84 million ^[4]. The loss did not result from a series of bad decisions, but from a single trade that went against short-term market developments ^[4].

Ethereum is currently trading at around $3,000, just under 40 percent below its all-time high in August 2025 ^[4]. Last night, the price rose by almost 5 percent, but then fell back to the $2,900 mark ^[4].

Altcoins Show Mixed Performance

Apart from Bitcoin and Ethereum, some altcoins showed remarkable developments in 2025. XRP was among the year's winners and outperformed most cryptocurrencies despite the absence of an altcoin season ^[2]. The token benefited from growing regulatory clarity, including reports about the end of the long-running lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC against Ripple Labs ^[2].

Zcash also stood out in 2025, supported by renewed interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies ^[2]. Algorand attracted attention at the beginning of the year through signs of expanded real-world implementation ^[2]. The network continues to work on developer tools, including the planned launch of AlgoKit 4.0 in early 2026 ^[2].

Outlook for 2026

Despite the difficult price performance in 2025, optimistic voices for 2026 are increasing. Banks, asset managers, and other institutional players have integrated crypto to a depth that would have been hardly imaginable just a few years ago ^[3]. Tokenization, custody, regulatory-compliant products, and especially stablecoins have established themselves as central infrastructure ^[3]. Signs are mounting that liquidity conditions could loosen through interest rate cuts ^[3].