Airdrop Army

It seems like the apes are back, chasing gains in a big way. The new MicroStrategy ETFs are drawing in the kind of attention that wasn’t expected so soon. Launched in August, MSTX, a fund offering leveraged exposure to MicroStrategy stock, already has $357.6 million under management. That’s a pretty hefty sum for a product that hasn’t been out for long, but the FOMO is real. It’s designed to give 1.75 times the daily movement of MicroStrategy stock—so you can imagine the chaos on volatile days.

Last week, things got even spicier with the debut of MSTU. This ETF takes the risk dial up even more, providing investors with 2x leverage on MicroStrategy’s stock. It’s been pulling in major inflows and now holds over $80 million. This one is for the real degen traders who don’t mind stomach-churning drops as long as they’re chasing those big gains.

Both of these ETFs are what we call “long leverage” funds, meaning they’re borrowing to juice up their bets. It’s like taking out a loan to bet on your favorite horse. If your horse wins, great. But if it trips and falls, you’re not just losing your bet—you still owe the loan. That’s why leveraged plays are a double-edged sword. Big returns? Maybe. Big losses? Definitely possible.

Wild Ride or Wild Guess?

Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas couldn’t resist chiming in on X (aka Twitter). He expressed surprise at how fast these products have taken off. In fact, he described it as “wild,” questioning whether there was really room for two such products to thrive simultaneously. Just last month, he called these ETFs the “ghost pepper of ETF hot sauce.” Yeah, it’s that volatile.

But maybe the wildness makes sense. MicroStrategy isn’t just another stock—it’s loaded with Bitcoin. The company holds 252,220 BTC, worth around $16.6 billion. It’s one of the biggest BTC whales, and that attracts plenty of attention from investors looking for high-stakes exposure to the crypto market.