Renowned short seller James Chenos has officially ended his $MSTR/Bitcoin hedging trade for the first time in 11 months, ending his high-profile bet on Bitcoin-related stocks and strategy stocks.
The Bitcoin vault ecosystem has been battered and bruised in recent weeks. Most companies' stocks have fallen significantly from their peaks earlier this year, and analysts are calling on investors to short stocks like MSTR. They passionately warned that there was a bubble in Bitcoin treasury companies that was about to burst unexpectedly.
But just as short-selling pressure was reaching its peak, a temporary easing may be on the horizon. On Saturday, Bitcoin Bond Company CEO and financial sage Pierre Rochard declared that the Bitcoin treasury company's bear market is “gradually coming to an end.”
In his mind, the elimination of institutional shorts, one of the cleanest signals in the game, suggests the tide may be turning.
“We expect volatility to continue, but we would like to see this as a signal of reversal.”
It's not champagne-popping territory, but for those who have weathered endless bearish sentiment and mNAV headaches, hope is as welcome as rain in the desert.
James Chanos unwinds short Bitcoin government bonds
One of those short films was by none other than James Chanos. He is a well-known investor and long-time enemy of anything with “Bitcoin” on the label.
Chanos officially ended his $MSTR/Bitcoin hedging trade for the first time in 11 months, ending a high-profile bet on a leading figure in corporate Bitcoin accumulation. For those keeping score at home, MicroStrategy currently holds over 640,000 BTC and has been steadily buying every dip as if Michael Saylor had never heard of risk management.
Chanos confirmed the move in X, sparking a series of takes and a “Is this the bottom?” thread across Cryptocurrency Twitter. He posted:
“Following several inquiries, we can confirm that we have unhedged $MSTR/Bitcoin as of the start of trading yesterday.”
Institutional investors changing the game
Meanwhile, the institutional mood is quietly changing. Traditional financial heavyweights are also joining the chat. Not as naysayers, but as stakeholders, participants and, importantly, financial innovators.
JPMorgan's recent manipulation of BlackRock's Spot Bitcoin ETF, as well as the large number of custody and settlement transactions that have surfaced in the news, indicate that corporate Bitcoin adoption will be less of a Wild West and more of an executive strategic world. Changes are happening behind the scenes, including increased ETF flows, tweaks to government bond yield strategies, and ratings for digital assets on par with real-world securities.
Of course, none of this suggests that Bitcoin treasury companies can escape from volatility any time soon. Bitcoin remains haunted by the specter of macro uncertainty and regulatory U-turns. But the closure of headline short shows, especially those run by prominent skeptics like Chanos, is not just about money. It's a psychological turning point.
For both Bitcoin’s price and institutional narrative, the message is clear. The worst may have just passed, and the next chapter won't be written by the usual suspects.
