National Bank of Canada increased MicroStrategy’s shareholdings by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its recent 13F-HR form filing.

According to the filing, the commercial bank’s MicroStrategy shares rose to 1,768, valued at $516,822 as of March 31 — up 8.8% from 1,625 held as of January 24.

With the acquisition, the financial institution joins a long list of traditional firms making a play for Bitcoin (BTC) through MicroStrategy shares.

Although MicroStrategy is a business intelligence firm, it has cemented itself as a significant holder of the flagship digital assets with its rampant acquisitions.

Traditional firms pile into MicroStrategy shares

Several firms and hedge funds are now gaining BTC exposure through MSTR stocks. These include financial giants such as Fidelity, BlackRock, and Bank of America. These firms acquired over $75 million in MicroStrategy stocks in the first quarter of 2023.

The Bank of America bought 226,506 MicroStrategy shares within the period, while Fidelity and BlackRock bought 96,800 and 10,800 MSTR stocks, respectively.

Other major investment firms are also bullish on the company’s stocks, with The Vanguard Group and Capital Research buying 28,000 and 154,100 shares. The Vanguard Group is one of the largest holders of the company’s stocks, with 905,164 (9.44%) of its shares.

Proprietary trading firm Group One Trading also disclosed in its filing that it took an option to buy 1.3 million shares of MicroStrategy.

MicroStrategy BTC bet turns positive

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy’s BTC holding became profitable for the first time in months after the flagship digital asset’s value rose above $30,000.

According to available data, the company has spent around $4.17 billion to acquire nearly 140,000 BTC. The value of these holdings shot to more than $4.21 billion on April 12 after BTC’s price surge.

However, crypto hedge fund founder Hal Press has highlighted the danger in MicroStrategy’s BTC approach. According to Press, the firm’s BTC acquisition model is unsustainable as “every single one of Saylor’s coins will need to be sold.”

Press further described the Bitcoin acquisition strategy as comically stupid.

Meanwhile, the criticism has not dissuaded the firm or its founder Michael Saylor from touting the digital asset.

MSTR is trading at $344, increasing by more than 6% today. Its year-to-date performance is a positive 142%.