Prominent short seller James Chanos has officially closed his 11-month hedge against Bitcoin in Strategy Inc. ($MSTR), marking the end of his high-profile short-selling operations against Bitcoin-related stocks and Strategy Inc., a benchmark stock.
The closing of institutional short positions is a trend reversal signal, which may indicate that the darkest period for Bitcoin reserve companies is over.
In recent weeks, the ecosystem of Bitcoin reserve companies has been severely impacted.
The stock prices of most related companies have fallen sharply from their highs earlier this year. Analysts had previously advised investors to short stocks such as Strategy, and warned that a bubble had formed in the Bitcoin reserve company sector and could burst at any time without warning.
But just as short-selling pressure reached its peak, a turning point may be on the horizon. Last Saturday, Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company and a veteran expert in cryptocurrency reserves, declared that the bear market for Bitcoin reserves is "gradually coming to an end."
In his view, the liquidation of institutional short positions is one of the clearest signals in the industry, indicating that market sentiment may be shifting: "The market is expected to continue to fluctuate, but this signal is a key signal needed for a trend reversal."
While this is far from something to celebrate, for investors who have been struggling with negative sentiment and plagued by adjusted net asset value (mNAV) issues, this hope is as precious as rain after a long drought.
James Chanos is a key figure among these short sellers. This well-known investor has always been averse to any asset associated with Bitcoin.
His closing of his 11-month-long Strategy and Bitcoin hedge transaction also marks the official end of his high-profile short selling against this "benchmark company for corporate Bitcoin hoarding".
It's worth noting that MicroStrategy currently holds over 640,000 Bitcoins and continues to accumulate them on dips. This behavior suggests that its founder, Michael Saylor, has never even heard of the concept of "risk management."
Chanos confirmed this move on the X platform, which immediately sparked heated discussions in the cryptocurrency Twitter community, with numerous posts discussing whether the market had bottomed out.
He posted: "Given the numerous inquiries, I would like to confirm that I have closed out my hedging positions in Maistre and Bitcoin at yesterday's opening."
At the same time, institutional attitudes toward cryptocurrencies are quietly changing. Traditional financial giants are entering the market, no longer as pessimists, but as stakeholders and market participants. More importantly, they are also joining the ranks of cryptocurrency reserve innovators.
JPMorgan Chase's recent moves in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETF) business, along with a series of custody and clearing cooperation agreements that have been recently revealed, indicate that corporate adoption of Bitcoin is no longer a "wild and disorderly exploration," but is gradually becoming a strategic decision at the corporate board level.
Whether it's driving capital inflows into exchange-traded products, adjusting reserve yield strategies, or assigning digital assets the same ratings as real-world securities, this transformation is quietly underway.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Bitcoin reserve companies will soon be free from volatility. Macroeconomic uncertainties and fluctuating regulatory policies remain the sword of Damocles hanging over Bitcoin.
However, the closing of heavy short positions by prominent skeptics like Chanos is not simply a matter of capital flow; it represents a significant turning point in market psychology.
The signal is clear, both for Bitcoin prices and for institutional narratives: the darkest hour may have passed, and the next chapter of the industry will be written by those familiar faces.
