Jim Chanos takes opposing bets on Bitcoin and Strategy

By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/16 10:00:12
0
Share
copy
Prominent short-seller Jim Chanos, once a vocal critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, revealed a new trading play that involves shorting shares of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and buying Bitcoin. At the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, Chanos told CNBC he’s “selling MicroStrategy stock and buying Bitcoin.” The investor described the move as buying something for $1 and selling something for $2.50, referring to what he sees as a significant price mismatch. Chanos argued that Strategy is selling the idea of buying Bitcoin (BTC) in a corporate structure, and that other companies are following suit in hopes of receiving a similar market premium. Chanos said this was “ridiculous.” He described his trade as “a good barometer of not only just the arbitrage itself, but I think of retail speculation.” Selling Strategy stock to buy Bitcoin Chanos’ recent move assumes investors overpay for Bitcoin exposure through corporate wrappers like Strategy and other firms that follow its Bitcoin accumulation blueprint. The investor’s move reflects a stance that purchasing Bitcoin directly would be better than purchasing Strategy’s stocks for indirect Bitcoin exposure. Chanos’ move suggests that holding Bitcoin through companies reflects excessive speculation and risk mispricing. It assumes that retail investors’ idea of having Bitcoin indirectly through corporate wrappers can inflate the company’s stock valuations. While shorting Strategy may seem like a good idea, investors have already lost billions shorting Saylor’s company. In 2024, investors who bet against the firm lost about $3.3 billion as the stock rose. As of May 2025, Strategy holds about 568,840 Bitcoin, valued at around $59 billion. Since the company started accumulating Bitcoin in 2020, its stock price has surged by 1,500%, outperforming the S&P 500’s gains during the same period. In a recently released documentary from the Financial Times, Strategy analyst Jeff Walton said that the company’s Bitcoin holdings would help it become the “number one publicly traded equity in the entire market” in the future. Chanos previously called Bitcoin a “libertarian fantasy” Chanos has not always been favorable toward Bitcoin. In a 2018 interview, Chanos described Bitcoin as a “libertarian fantasy.” Chanos said that having digital currency as a store of value in the worst-case scenario wouldn’t work. The investor said that if fiat currency brings the world down, the last thing he’d want to own is Bitcoin. “Food would work the best,” he said. He also criticized Bitcoin for enabling illicit activity, calling the crypto sector “the dark side of finance” in a 2023 interview, and accusing the industry of facilitating tax evasion and money laundering. Chanos also expressed skepticism about spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), saying that Wall Street needs to keep the public interested in crypto to profit from the fees. Despite those critiques, Chanos now appears to see value in holding Bitcoin directly, particularly in contrast to investing in public companies with large BTC treasuries. Related: $1B Bitcoin exits Coinbase in a day as analysts warn of supply shock Chanos’ history in short-selling Chanos is best known for his short position against the energy company Enron before the firm filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The move generated profits for Kynikos Associates, a firm that he founded. A short position involves borrowing assets from a broker, selling them at the current price, and then repurchasing the assets once the value falls to give back what is owed to the broker. Short sellers profit when the asset’s value declines, but face losses when the asset appreciates. While the investor profited from short-selling Enron, Chanos’ predictions weren’t always correct. Chanos was bearish on Tesla and announced a short position in 2016. Tesla stock skyrocketed by 2,200% between 2015 and 2021. The event caused major losses to Chanos’ fund. In 2020, the fund ended with $405 million in assets under management after having over $900 million the previous year. The fund was converted into a family office, and external assets were returned to investors. Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/chanos-shorts-microstrategy-buys-bitcoin-retail-speculation?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

You may also like

2025 South Korea CEX Listing Post-Mortem: Investing in New Coins = 70% Loss?

The 2025 South Korean exchange's new token listing performance is structurally similar to Binance's, with no significant differences.

BIP-360 Analysis: Bitcoin's First Step Towards Quantum Immunity, But Why Only the "First Step"?

This article explains how BIP-360 reshapes Bitcoin's quantum defense strategy, analyzes its enhancements, and discusses why it has not yet achieved full post-quantum security.

50 million USDT exchanged for 35,000 USD AAVE: How did the disaster happen? Who should we blame?

Due to a fatal flaw in the transaction path, a $50 million DeFi operation was executed with almost zero protection, resulting in nearly the entire amount of funds evaporating in a tiny liquidity pool.

The Cryptographic Past of the Middle East

Reality is often more exciting than fiction.

Resolving the Intergenerational Prisoner's Dilemma: The Inevitable Path of Nomadic Capital Bitcoin

When the baby boomer generation collectively sells off, who will become the "greater fool" in the next round of asset crashes?

Who Will Control AI? Why Decentralized AI May Be the Only Alternative to Government and Big Tech

AI has become critical infrastructure, and governments and corporations are competing to control it. Centralized development and regulation are entrenching existing power structures. The Web3 community is building a decentralized alternative — distributed compute, token incentives, and community governance — before that window closes.

Popular coins

Latest Crypto News

Read more