Fidelity's parent company sharply expanded its exposure to the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the third quarter, more than doubling its common stock position in Strategy (MSTR) while adding to a preferred-stock stake tied to the same trade.
FMR held 1,022,050 Class A shares of the Bitcoin treasury company at the end of September, up roughly 132% from 439,718 shares three months earlier, according to a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The position was valued at about $156.5 million as of Sept. 30, compared with approximately $38.2 million at the end of June.
The jump reflects a combination of new purchases and a steep rally in Strategy's shares during the quarter, the filing showed. The stock was down more than 4% in overnight trading following the disclosure.
Most of the buying came from a single unit. Strategic Advisers LLC, which manages client portfolios and funds of funds for Fidelity, lifted its Strategy position to 762,555 shares from 237,010, accounting for roughly 90% of the shares FMR added. Fidelity Management & Research Co., the firm's largest fund manager, also raised its holding, to 246,657 shares from 192,923. Two smaller Fidelity units added modest amounts.
The filing also detailed holdings across five series of Strategy convertible notes and the company's 8% Series A perpetual Strike preferred stock (STRK), both established in June. The face amount of outstanding notes was little changed, while their value edged up to about $128.5 million from $126.6 million. FMR dropped four note series and added one during the period.
Preferred exposure grew as well, with FMR holding 170,500 Series A preferred shares at the end of September, up from 134,400. Fidelity Institutional Asset Management Trust Co. accounted for most of that increase through a new 40,000-share position.
The disclosure lands against a volatile stretch for Strategy's preferred securities. Its STRC instrument fell to a 52-week low of $88.50 and closed at $89 on June 17, and STRK slipped more than 3% in overnight trading after the filing.
Strategy combines a software business with the largest Bitcoin treasury among publicly traded companies. Its third-quarter results showed net income of $19.53 billion, driven mainly by $20.91 billion in unrealized gains on its Bitcoin holdings, according to CoinPost.
The build-out at Fidelity was not isolated. Amundi increased its own Strategy stake by about 44%, the same report said, suggesting European asset managers are also warming to the leveraged Bitcoin proxy.
For investors, the filing offers a window into how mainstream fund managers are gaining Bitcoin exposure without holding the token directly. Strategy's shares and its preferred and convertible securities give institutions a regulated route into the asset, though the leverage embedded in the structure amplifies both gains and losses. The concentration of Fidelity's buying in a single portfolio-management unit also means the position reflects allocation decisions across client accounts rather than a single conviction bet by one fund.
Retail sentiment around MSTR on Stocktwits remained in the 'extremely bearish' zone, while discussion volume recovered to 'normal' from 'low' levels over the past day. Sentiment on STRK stayed 'neutral' as chatter similarly picked up.
