AIMCo Buys $219M Stake in Strategy Inc., First Bitcoin Bet

Alberta Investment Management Corporation disclosed a purchase of about 1.38 million shares of Strategy Inc. (ticker: MSTR) worth roughly $219 million in a regulatory filing that surfaced on April 30, 2026. AIMCo has not issued a formal statement confirming the filing.

AIMCo is an Edmonton-based asset manager that oversees approximately CAD 194.7 billion for provincial pension plans, endowments and government accounts, including the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

Strategy Inc., formerly MicroStrategy, holds 818,334 bitcoin and is the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. The value of the company’s bitcoin treasury has been a major driver of its stock performance, and many institutional investors treat MSTR as a public-market proxy for bitcoin exposure.

Pension funds and large asset managers have increasingly taken equity exposure to bitcoin rather than holding spot bitcoin. Factors cited by institutional investors for that approach include custody requirements, compliance frameworks, accounting standards and fiduciary rules that make an equity position easier to fit inside existing fund structures.

Canadian financial institutions with disclosed Strategy Inc. positions include National Bank of Canada, with roughly 1.47 million shares valued near $273 million; the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which opened a position in the third quarter of 2025 with about 393,322 shares; Royal Bank of Canada, with a reported stake valued around $230 million; and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, holding a smaller position worth about $31 million. AIMCo’s $219 million position places it among the larger disclosed Canadian holders.

Critics note that holding MSTR shares is not the same as holding bitcoin directly. MSTR stock has shown higher volatility than bitcoin, and the company has raised capital through equity offerings, preferred share sales and debt, actions that can change the amount of bitcoin held per share over time. During periods when bitcoin has fallen, MSTR has at times experienced steeper declines than the underlying cryptocurrency.

Market reaction to the filing was modest. Strategy Inc. shares registered small pre-market gains after the disclosure and were up about 0.75% at the start of the trading session; the stock had fallen nearly 10% over the five trading days prior to the filing.

The disclosure was made through a standard regulatory filing for institutional holdings in U.S.-listed securities and has not been independently confirmed by AIMCo. Strategy Inc. has been accumulating bitcoin since 2020 through equity offerings, preferred share sales and debt issuance, a practice that has made the stock a common route for institutions seeking bitcoin exposure without taking direct custody.

Any change to AIMCo’s position would depend on future bitcoin price movements and on actions Strategy Inc. takes regarding its bitcoin treasury.