Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment management firms, is now the biggest institutional shareholder of Strategy (MSTR) — Michael Saylor’s company best known for adopting Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset.
According to data from investment research platform Intel, Vanguard has accumulated more than 20 million shares of MSTR, representing about 8% of MicroStrategy’s outstanding Class A common stock. The stake gives Vanguard indirect exposure to over 200,000 Bitcoin (BTC) held on Strategy’s balance sheet, representing a 26.3% jump between January and April 2025.
Many of Vanguard’s funds include exposure to the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, which holds MicroStrategy as part of its broad US equity allocation. The stock also appears in dozens of Vanguard mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking mid-cap benchmarks.
Vanguard is a longstanding skeptic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Despite becoming Strategy’s largest institutional shareholder, the firm has consistently warned clients about crypto volatility and, unlike rivals, has refused to offer access to spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Vanguard still bearish despite IBIT’s Success
Over the years, Vanguard has been one of the biggest Bitcoin and crypto bears in traditional finance. And despite its exposure to Strategy, that attitude doesn’t seem to be changing.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV in May, Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji was asked whether the company would accommodate a client who wants to add Bitcoin to their portfolio. He declined, emphasizing that Vanguard does not get “caught up in the latest fad, but we’re dependable for the long term.”
Related: Strategy bags another $472M in BTC as Bitcoin jumps to new highs
In a recent interview with ETF.com, Ramji said that Vanguard was not “in the business of making bets on speculative assets like Bitcoin,” adding, “That’s just not consistent with the investment philosophy we’ve built over 50 years.”
Meanwhile asset manager BlackRock has seen its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) quickly become the company’s most profitable ETF. According to Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, it’s on track to reach $100 billion in assets under management in the coming months.
I wrote last wk that $IBIT could hit $100b this summer, but hell, could be this month. Thx to recent flows + overnight rally it’s already at $88b. At only 1.5yrs old is now 20th biggest in US, 7th biggest for BlackRock (and their #1 most profitable ETF). Un-freaking-believable. pic.twitter.com/r5FLwKSE7j
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 14, 2025
“God has a sense of humor”
Vanguard’s unexpected exposure to Bitcoin has shed light on the quirks of passive investing.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas summed it up: “When you have an index fund, you have to own all the stocks, for better or worse — and that includes stocks you may not like or approve of personally.” He added that Vanguard’s outsized exposure to Strategy, a company synonymous with Bitcoin maximalism, is a reminder that “God has a sense of humor.”
The fact that Vanguard is now the largest shareholder of $MSTR is proof that God has a sense of humor, or at least that was my reaction to @VildanaHajric who wrote story about it out today pic.twitter.com/TLg4iqT3kQ
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 14, 2025
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