Strategy has resumed Bitcoin purchases after a two week pause, spending $75.7 million on 950 BTC while deploying another $174 million to repurchase its STRC preferred stock.
Summary
- Strategy bought 950 BTC for $75.7 million after a two week pause, raising its holdings to 846,000 BTC.
- The company spent another $174 million repurchasing 1.77 million STRC preferred shares during the same week.
- Strategy made no ATM sales during the period, while its deployable USD Cash fell nearly 20% to $1.05 billion.
- Strive separately acquired 1,355 BTC, increasing its corporate Bitcoin holdings to 26,355 BTC.
According to a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 21, Strategy acquired the Bitcoin between Sept. 14 and Sept. 20 at an average price of $79,670 per coin, including fees and expenses.
The purchase increased the company’s holdings to 846,000 BTC, acquired for a total of $63.80 billion at an average cost of $75,416 per Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was trading near $84,925 at the time of publication, putting the market value of Strategy’s holdings at roughly $71.85 billion. Based on the company’s reported acquisition cost, the position carried an unrealized gain of approximately $8.05 billion.
Strategy shares gained 7.4% to $165.20 in Monday premarket trading as Bitcoin traded above the price paid for the latest acquisition.
Strategy returns to Bitcoin buying after two week pause
The latest purchase ended two consecutive reporting periods without any new Bitcoin acquisitions.
Strategy last returned to Bitcoin buying at the end of August, when it purchased 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318. The transaction raised its holdings from 840,447 BTC to 845,050 BTC.
Unlike the latest transaction, that purchase was financed through Strategy’s at the market common stock program. The company sold 4.53 million MSTR shares for $602.8 million in net proceeds, allocating $369.7 million to Bitcoin and $151.8 million to STRC repurchases.
Buying activity then stopped for two weeks as Strategy directed more cash toward its preferred securities.
During the first week of the pause, the company spent $176.3 million repurchasing 1.81 million STRC shares while leaving its Bitcoin holdings unchanged. Its board simultaneously doubled the Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program from $1 billion to $2 billion.
Another $139.3 million was spent on 1.42 million STRC shares during the following reporting period, while Strategy again bought no Bitcoin and made no sales through its at the market programs. As crypto.news previously reported, the company entered that period with 845,050 BTC and $1.30 billion in deployable USD Cash.
The latest 950 BTC purchase has returned Strategy’s holdings to 846,000 BTC, the same total it reported at the end of the second quarter before Bitcoin sales during July and August reduced the balance.
STRC buybacks remain larger than Bitcoin spending
Strategy continued repurchasing STRC even as Bitcoin accumulation restarted, spending $174 million on approximately 1.77 million shares between Sept. 14 and Sept. 20.
The amount was more than twice the $75.7 million allocated to Bitcoin during the same period.
STRC, formally known as Strategy’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, has a stated amount of $100 per share. The company has used repurchases and its dividend policy in an effort to keep the security trading close to that level.
Strategy had spent roughly $950.8 million repurchasing nearly 9.96 million STRC shares between July 20 and Sept. 13. The security had recovered toward $100 after falling near $70, reaching above $99 during intraday trading earlier this month before pulling back.
Monday’s latest repurchases pushed Strategy’s spending on STRC further above $1 billion since the current sequence of buybacks began.
The company has said purchases below STRC’s $100 stated amount allow it to retire preferred securities for less than their stated value while reducing future dividend requirements.
STRC was trading at $98.85 during Monday’s premarket session, up 0.35%.
Strategy retained $875.1 million in authorization for further preferred stock repurchases after the latest transaction. Its separate MSTR common stock repurchase program remained untouched, leaving the full $1 billion authorization available.
Strategy uses existing cash without ATM sales
Funding for the latest transactions came directly from Strategy’s cash balance, as the company made no sales through its at the market offering programs between Sept. 14 and Sept. 20.
Strategy used $75.7 million of USD Cash for the Bitcoin acquisition and another $174 million for STRC repurchases, bringing combined spending on the two transactions to $249.7 million.
The absence of ATM sales meant Strategy did not issue common or preferred shares to replenish the cash used during the reporting period.
Deployable USD Cash fell to $1.05 billion as of Sept. 20, down nearly 20% from $1.30 billion a week earlier. The balance had stood at $1.44 billion on Sept. 7 and $1.61 billion at the end of August as repeated STRC repurchases drew down the account.
Strategy maintains USD Cash separately from its USD Reserve. The cash account can be used for Bitcoin purchases, capital management and other corporate purposes, while the reserve is primarily intended to cover preferred stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt.
Its USD Reserve declined to $5.04 billion from $5.10 billion during the latest reporting period after $57.4 million was used for preferred dividends and debt interest.
Combined, Strategy held approximately $6.09 billion in USD assets at the end of Sept. 20.
Strive expands Bitcoin treasury to 26,355 BTC
Another publicly traded Bitcoin holder disclosed a purchase on Monday as Strive acquired 1,355 BTC, increasing its treasury to 26,355 BTC.
The purchase followed a series of recent additions to Strive’s balance sheet. The company had reached 25,000 BTC earlier this month after acquiring 469 BTC for approximately $36.6 million at an average price of $77,954 per coin. That transaction was funded through proceeds from its SATA preferred stock.
Strive had previously purchased 1,800 BTC for roughly $143 million in late August, taking its holdings to 23,156 BTC before subsequent acquisitions pushed the treasury higher.
Its latest filing places the company’s holdings at 26,355 BTC, keeping Strive among the largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holders.
ASST shares gained 6.44% to $32.03 in Monday premarket trading following the disclosure.
