Risky cryptocurrency investments are increasingly creeping in to the retirement savings of ordinary Americans. 

Many workplace retirement plans with well-known companies such as Vanguard, Fidelity, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley, are investing in a company called MicroStrategy. 

MicroStrategy is an American development company, and is a holding in many traditional retirement stock portfolios, according to The New York Times. 

While Americans are responsible for choosing where their 401(K) is invested, they are often unaware of the exact details of the funds they hold in their account. 

MicroStrategy started as a provider of business software, but has pivoted to focus on buying Bitcoin.

The company has made a more than 3,000 percent gain since August 2020, according to the outlet.

But it also suffered a catastrophic year in 2022, losing more than 74 percent, as did many companies focusing on cryptocurrency due to the collapse of the FTX exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Americans who are skeptical about the risks of cryptocurrency may be concerned to know that they are investing in this stock indirectly through their retirement accounts, experts are warning. 

‘You can’t get colossal returns like these without taking on outsize risks – exposing investors to hazards that they may never have dreamed of taking in their retirement accounts,’ wrote New York Times columnist Jeff Sommer. 

MicroStrategy’s overall stock return in the last several years is substantial. 

Tech company Nvidia, for comparison, has gained 1,179.7 percent since August, 10, 2020, according to The New York Times. 

This year alone, shares in the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm founded by billionaire Michael Saylor have surged more than 500 percent. 

With a stock market value exceeding $90 billion, it has surpassed major American companies including Target, CVS and General Motors.  

The company has embarked on an unconventional plan to raise capital solely to purchase and hold more Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.

It has announced multibillion-dollar acquisitions of the cryptocurrency every Monday over the past five weeks.

Bitcoin prices have surged in the weeks since Donald Trump won the presidential election, with the cryptocurrency rallying above $100,000 for the first time. 

The cryptocurrency has since dipped, but has settled around $95,000.  

The President-elect, as well as those he has so far chosen for the top posts in his administration, have openly embraced digital assets, bolstering investors’ hopes that the cryptocurrency industry’s place will be cemented in financial markets.

MicroStrategy now holds more than $40 billion worth of Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.

However, its underlying software business had a net loss of $340 million in the third quarter of this year. 

This means that the company’s market capitalization is largely based on its Bitcoin buy-and-hold strategy, the outlet reported. 

Investing in cryptocurrency is a divisive issue, with many arguing that it is risky.

The financial services company Charles Schwab, says on its website: ‘We suggest that clients who are interested in cryptocurrency approach them as speculative investments and consider their goals as well as the risks involved.   

‘For those who already have a diversified portfolio and a long-term investment plan, we see cryptocurrency as being used primarily for trading purposes outside the traditional portfolio.’

If the appeal of Bitcoin should wane for any reason, Sommer writes in The New York Times, ‘MicroStrategy would spread the pain to many thousands of people.’

DailyMail.com reached out to MicroStrategy for comment.