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Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, is a software company turned corporate Bitcoin treasury founded by Michael Saylor.
In a surprising development, the company has added a pair of $250 Bitcoin-branded Air Jordans to its online merch store.
Air Jordan is a high-end sports and lifestyle brand under Nike, founded in 1984 and named after NBA legend Michael Jordan. The shoe is a mid-top build on the original Air Jordan 1 silhouette with leather overlays and custom Strategy branding, a custom build, not an official Nike collaboration.
Related: Strategy CEO says 'never sell' was just a marketing slogan
The company's store now carries products ranging from a $35 Saylor-branded organic cotton shirt to $125 hoodies and a $50 Bitcoin Strategy board game.
But there's a catch that has drawn attention across the crypto community: checkout accepts only credit cards and wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Mastercard. No cryptocurrency payment option exists on the site.
Here is what everyone is wondering. A company that holds 845,050 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, making it the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, does not accept it as payment for its own merchandise.
Strategy has increasingly treated branded merchandise as an extension of its Bitcoin pitch. The sneaker drop is aimed at the overlap between crypto culture and sneaker collectors, two communities that share a taste for limited runs and scarcity-driven value. The product is currently sold out.
Smaller companies now copy Strategy's corporate treasury playbook, and branded merch doubles as a signal to that growing audience.
The MSTR stock has climbed roughly 45% over the past month, erasing six months of losses as Bitcoin rallied above $80,000. The company did not add to its Bitcoin holdings last week.
Nike, meanwhile, is having a rough stretch of its own. The stock trades around $38.05, down roughly 51% from its 52-week high and about 40% since January.
Strategy's sneaker drop won't move the needle for Nike financially, the marketing energy belongs to Saylor.
