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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has had a dismal year, but its underperformance has been less severe than in previous crypto winters, Bernstein analysts pointed out.

In part, that's thanks to digital asset treasury company Strategy (MSTR), which "continues to be a net buyer in the market," analyst Gautam Chhugani wrote in a note on Monday.

The token traded near $62,000, down roughly 54% from its all-time high of around $125,000 in October.

"It is unclear if we are completely out of the woods, but this crypto bear market has been milder than the previous drawdown," Chhugani said.

Read more: Is bitcoin's price volatility an investing opportunity? Here's how to buy bitcoin.

The analyst noted that bitcoin inflows from leading treasury companies and ETFs stand at $10 billion in 2026 versus $60 billion last year.

Even though spot ETFs lost $5.5 billion in withdrawals this year, corporate treasury buying stepped in to keep net market inflows positive, with Bernstein noting that "inflows have been driven by treasury companies — particularly Strategy."

"Strategy's Bitcoin buying has been a balancing force in the market where leading U.S. Bitcoin miners have been net sellers as they accelerate their pivot to AI data centers," the analysts wrote.

Strategy, which went from a software company in 2020 to the largest public digital asset treasury giant, currently holds more than 843,700 tokens, equivalent to roughly 4% of the total supply.

Investor sentiment has also been pressured by spot ETF outflows and a shift in capital toward AI-related investments, both of which have weighed on bitcoin's performance this year.

Bitcoin has been particularly sensitive to Federal Reserve interest rate policy. There have been growing concerns in recent weeks that the Fed may have to hike rates later this year.

The token plunged 20% in June, its worst monthly performance in four years, amid growing expectations of a rate hike.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.

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