Retirement security is in danger for thousands of workers as pension fund managers grapple with a cryptocurrency catastrophe they never saw coming. Eleven U.S. public pension systems are now sitting on $337 million in paper losses from their bets on Michael Saylor’s Strategy stock, a decline that’s turned boardroom confidence into quiet panic.
These funds hold 1.8 million shares of Strategy that have crashed 67% over six months, according to the data of NS3.AI, an AI-powered platform that aggregates real-time data to provide analytics and insights. The holdings, once worth $577 million, now sit at $240 million—a decline that’s rattled the fund managers.
Bitcoin’s Freefall Exposes Pension Vulnerability
Strategy, the cryptocurrency sector’s biggest whale, finds itself in trouble as Bitcoin sinks to less than $78,000—levels not seen since April. The numbers tell an uncomfortable story. Strategy has accumulated 713,502 bitcoins since August 2020, at an average purchase price of $76,052 per coin. With Bitcoin now trading in the low-to-mid $70,000s, the company’s massive treasury is underwater on paper, with unrealized losses mounting amid the slide. Strategy hasn’t sold a single coin in over 2,000 days (since accumulation began), which means there’s no way out as markets continue their slide.
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Ripple Effects Across Crypto Markets
The damage goes beyond Strategy. Coinbase, Circle, Gemini, and BitMine Immersion Technologies have all seen stock prices decline by more than 3% as investors offload crypto-linked stocks amid Bitcoin’s falling prices. Wall Street analysts anticipate further pressure, casting doubt on the long-term viability of heavily leveraged Bitcoin strategies during bear markets.
For retired people who embraced the Bitcoin vision, reality has delivered a harsh lesson. These are not speculators playing with spare cash but common people who have put in their hard-earned money in these funds. The losses raise uncomfortable questions about whether volatile digital currencies belong in conservative pension funds at all.
