Is Strategy actually larger than First Abu Dhabi Bank as a business?

No. FAB has a diversified loan book, deposit base, and hundreds of billions in assets across the Gulf. Strategy's market-cap lead reflects public equity pricing of its Bitcoin stack plus a premium, not comparable operating scale.

What is driving Strategy's valuation above FAB?

A combination of Bitcoin's price, Strategy's roughly 600,000+ BTC treasury position, and a persistent mNAV premium that lets the equity trade above the underlying coin value. When BTC rallies, the premium widens before it compresses.

Could FAB retake the lead?

Yes, and quickly. A BTC drawdown that compresses Strategy's mNAV premium, or a strong FAB earnings print, could flip the ranking within weeks. Treat this as a marker, not a permanent state.

Strategy Market Cap Passes First Abu Dhabi Bank as Bitcoin Treasury Bet Compounds

Strategy Inc., the Michael Saylor-led software firm turned Bitcoin treasury vehicle, saw its market capitalization overtake First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates' largest lender, CryptoBriefing reported Monday. The crossover, flagged in a September 28 report, marks the moment a single-asset Bitcoin proxy passed one of the Gulf's most systemically important banks by equity value. It's a headline number, but it's also a data point about where public-market capital is willing to sit in 2026.

By Clara Hoffmann· AI-assisted· L2 & scaling

What happened

CryptoBriefing reported on Monday, September 28, that Strategy Inc. 's equity market capitalization has moved above that of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE's largest lender by assets. The publication framed the crossover as evidence that Bitcoin-focused corporate treasury vehicles are pulling capital away from traditional financial institutions.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has spent the past four years converting its balance sheet into a Bitcoin holding company while retaining a legacy enterprise software business. First Abu Dhabi Bank, or FAB, is a state-linked lender formed from the 2017 merger of First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and it sits at the center of the UAE's banking system. The relative valuation is calculated on public equity price times shares outstanding, per the source report.

Why it matters

This isn't a story about a small-cap tech name catching a bid. FAB manages hundreds of billions in assets and is one of the Gulf's most systemically important banks, so a US-listed Bitcoin proxy passing it on market cap is a genuine signal about how public-market investors are pricing exposure right now. Strategy trades at a persistent premium to the net asset value of its Bitcoin stack, and that premium is what pushes it past a lender with actual deposit franchises, loan books, and regulator-supervised capital.

The headline looks clean. The composition doesn't. One side of the comparison is a bank funded by customer deposits and priced on earnings and book value.

Strategy Market Cap Passes First Abu Dhabi Bank as Bitcoin Treasury Bet Compounds

What happened

Why it matters

Market impact

What to watch

Disclaimer

Key takeaways

Frequently asked

Sources