Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has identified an additional 70,816 Bitcoin (BTC) tied to MicroStrategy — now operating under the name Strategy — bringing the company’s total known holdings to 499,396 BTC, worth approximately $54.5 billion. The disclosure, made May 28 on the social media platform X, has reignited debate over transparency, privacy and the ethics of on-chain analytics.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has been a prominent corporate advocate of Bitcoin under Executive Chairman Michael Saylor. The company has accumulated a large BTC portfolio as a hedge against inflation, with an average purchase price of $62,473 per coin.
Saylor has long emphasized the importance of privacy, stating he would never disclose wallet addresses tied to the firm’s holdings.
Arkham’s findings directly challenge that stance. According to its analysis, 87.5% of Strategy’s total Bitcoin reserves — including those held in custody by firms such as Fidelity and Coinbase Prime — have now been traced.
The firm used proprietary heuristics to link previously tagged holdings, including 107,000 BTC at Fidelity and 327,000 BTC in segregated custody, to Strategy.
Combined with prior findings, Arkham’s data suggests 525,047 BTC can be attributed to Strategy, closely aligning with the 580,250 BTC estimated by Bitcoin Treasuries.
The revelation has sparked polarizing reactions across the crypto community. On X, user @Web3BeauCedric pointed to Bitcoin’s ethos of trustlessness, writing, “The whole point of Bitcoin is not having to trust anyone, Saylor included. If you’re holding coins for others, transparency isn’t a luxury, it’s a responsibility.” Others expressed concern over Arkham’s tactics, with @Ikebillion_ commenting, “No one asked for this. Respect the privacy of people/industries.”
The incident highlights a longstanding tension in the blockchain ecosystem: balancing the transparency inherent in public ledgers with the privacy expectations of individuals and corporations. A 2025 position paper in Electronic Markets called this conflict a barrier to institutional adoption of blockchain, especially in industries bound by confidentiality agreements and data protection laws like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
While there is no indication that Strategy plans to sell its holdings, some users raised concerns about market implications. “Imagine he dumps all the Bitcoins because you revealed his address,” wrote @the_praj. Another user, @W0LF0FCRYPT0, added, “All his addresses are getting doxxed and now he can’t sell.”
Arkham has embraced the controversy, promoting its tracking tools and the Arkham Exchange platform — though it acknowledged that perpetual futures trading remains unavailable in the United States due to regulatory restrictions. The company’s strategy underscores a growing trend among blockchain intelligence firms: leveraging transparency for insight, with little consensus on the ethical boundaries of such practices.
As @JanWues remarked on X: “Saylor: Trust me. Arkham: No. We verify.” For Strategy, the exposure could prompt a reassessment of its security posture. For the broader crypto space, it reopens a foundational debate: in a system built for openness, how much privacy should be preserved?
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