The model was invented in August 2020 when Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy — now
Strategy — began converting its corporate cash into bitcoin, then kept going: selling new shares, convertible notes, and preferred stock to fund ever-larger purchases. Success is measured not in earnings but in bitcoin per share ("BTC Yield" in Strategy's terminology).
The flywheel works in both directions. When bitcoin rises, the stock trades above the value of its coins, making each new raise accretive. When bitcoin falls — as in 2026 — the premium collapses, capital gets expensive, and dividend obligations can force the company to sell the very asset it exists to hold. Dozens of companies worldwide have copied the playbook; none approach Strategy's ~843,000 BTC scale.