Why is $97k the "magical number" in Bitcoinland for now.

It's got to do with Strategy's goal to qualify for the S&P 500.

To qualify for the S&P 500, a company must meet several criteria, including:

-Market Capitalization: At least ~$14.5 billion.

-Profitability: Positive GAAP earnings over the last four quarters (with the most recent quarter also being positive).

-Public Float: At least 10% of shares must be publicly available.

-Liquidity & Sector Classification: Sufficient trading volume and being in an eligible sector.

Srategy is meeting all of them, except for the profitability metric.

Why the FASB Rule Change Matters: Before Q1 2025, companies had to report Bitcoin under old accounting rules that only allowed for impairment losses (but not unrealized gains). The new FASB rules (effective in Q1 2025) allow fair value accounting, meaning unrealized BTC gains count towards GAAP earnings. This helps profitability, a key S&P 500 requirement.

So know. In light of some back-of-the-envelope calculation, we can state:

An end of quarter close (March 31, 2025) with BTC at ≈ $96.5K keeps pre-Q1 holdings profitable but barely offsets Q1 losses.

An end of quarter close with BTC at ≈ $97K ensures positive Q1 net income under FASB, increasing S&P 500 eligibility.

An end of quarter close with BTC > $100K creates a much stronger profitability case, reducing uncertainty.

So yes, $97K BTC is the real "safe" threshold right now. Should we move anywhere near this price level towards the end of March, things could become very interesting. Once the profitability threshold is met and eligibility for SPY inclusion increases, we should expect a lot of front-running (in MSTR) from market participants.

This situation is obviously highly reflexive.. Well, I guess, we are here and ready for it 😁🔥