The California Public Employees' Retirement System holds roughly $35.5 million in Strategy Inc. shares, giving more than 2 million state workers and retirees indirect exposure to Bitcoin through a single equity position.
CalPERS is the largest public pension fund in the United States, managing retirement benefits for firefighters, DMV clerks, and other public employees. Strategy Inc., formerly MicroStrategy, is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally, sitting on more than 629,000 BTC. Owning Strategy stock functions as a leveraged bet on Bitcoin wrapped in equity market packaging.
Position Fluctuates With Bitcoin
The $35.5 million figure is a snapshot. CalPERS' Strategy holdings peaked above $144 million during more favorable market conditions. By late 2025, the value had retreated to around $80 million as both Strategy's share price and Bitcoin itself declined.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the fund added 22,475 shares to its Strategy position.
Strategy's entire corporate identity has merged with its Bitcoin treasury strategy. Executive chairman Michael Saylor has built the company's massive BTC position through cash purchases and debt-funded acquisitions over several years. The stock tends to amplify Bitcoin's moves in both directions, making it a higher-beta play on the underlying asset.
That amplification cuts both ways. The decline from $144 million to $35.5 million illustrates the volatility risk inherent in the approach.
Smaller Fraction of Total Assets
At $35.5 million, the Strategy position represents a tiny fraction of CalPERS' total assets under management, which historically run into the hundreds of billions. By purchasing Strategy shares, the fund gains Bitcoin exposure through a publicly traded equity on Nasdaq that files with the SEC and carries governance structures pension trustees can present to boards.
Strategy itself made news recently by selling 32 BTC for $2.5 million in May 2026. That marked the company's first Bitcoin sale since 2022, breaking a long streak of exclusively accumulating the asset.