In brief
- Shares of Strategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) are two of the most shorted stocks on the market, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs.
- Strategy has been a popular short target for use in arbitrage trades, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan told Decrypt.
- The firm’s stocks have both fallen heavily amid crypto’s decline, dropping 60% and 40% respectively in the last six months.
Big money is betting against crypto equities like Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) and American crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), new data compiled by Goldman Sachs Research shows.
The firms find themselves ranked first and fourth in short interest as a percentage of market cap at 14% and 10%, respectively, among companies valued at $25 billion or greater.
“Crypto is like cilantro: Some people love it and some people hate it,” Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan told Decrypt. “It’s not surprising to see it at the top of the short interest list,” he said of MSTR and COIN’s ranking.
While the data, gathered from reported hedge fund holdings at the end of 2025, shows no notable change in hedge fund ownership for the two firms from Q3 to Q4, the pair have been some of the weakest performers among top shorted stocks.
While up about 9% on Wednesday to a recent price of $135, shares of MSTR have plunged around 60% in the last six months as Bitcoin has fallen precipitously from its October all-time high of $126,080. The top crypto asset, and the bedrock of Strategy’s business, is now changing hands at $68,614—over 45% below that all-time high mark.
That extended decline has led to mounting losses for Michael Saylor’s firm, formerly known as MicroStrategy, which now finds itself facing unrealized or paper losses of around $5.3 billion.
Skeptics have previously noted that if MSTR shares fall far enough, it could force the firm to sell some of its Bitcoin holdings to repay debts, creating a cascading event within the market as its biggest player liquidates its BTC. The company established a cash reserve in December to cover stockholder dividends, but didn’t rule out potential Bitcoin sales in the future.
Users on Myriad, a prediction market platform operated by Decrypt‘s parent company Dastan, currently pencil in a less than 15% chance that Strategy sells Bitcoin by the end of 2026. That mark has fallen from a peak above 35% earlier this month.
“Shorting MSTR has been a popular trade for the past couple of years,” said Hougan, noting that some have been running arbitrage trades like “long Bitcoin and then shorting MSTR,” or “long the convertible bonds and short the stock.”
While those trades are “reasonable” in Hougan’s eyes, he said some traders shorting the firm are misinterpreting its business model.
“Some people don’t understand MSTR’s balance sheet, and think the company is at some kind of threat of going bankrupt if the value of Bitcoin falls below their purchase price,” he added.
“This is, of course, wrong, and anyone shorting for this reason will learn they are wrong the hard way.”
Saylor recently defended the firm amid similar concerns, noting that Strategy would be fine even if Bitcoin dropped all the way down to $8,000.
Despite its business not being centered on only Bitcoin, shares in Coinbase too have taken a dive amid falling crypto prices over the last six months, dropping around 40% during that time. The firm recently missed expectations for its fourth quarter earnings, but with shares trading around $167 at the time, analysts from Bernstein indicated the stock was “too ‘cheap’ to sell.”
COIN shares are trading higher today, above $184 amid a 14% boost on Wednesday, but sit well off its 52-week high of $444.
Other firms with crypto ties on the most shorted list include CoreWeave (CRWV), Robinhood (HOOD), and PayPal (PYPL).
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