Strategy Buys 811 Bitcoin (BTC), Lifting Holdings to 849,327 BTC
By Nodora News ·
Strategy bought 811 Bitcoin (BTC) for $65.5 million last week, taking its stash to 849,327 BTC while spending $208 million on preferred-share buybacks.
Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), bought another 811 BTC for about $65.5 million between October 26 and November 1, according to an 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, November 2. The purchase lifts the company's holdings to 849,327 BTC and ends a one-week pause in buying, but the filing also shows Strategy spent more than three times that amount buying back its own preferred stock.
Key takeaways
- Strategy added 811 BTC at an average of $80,846 per coin, for roughly $65.5 million.
- Total holdings now stand at 849,327 BTC, bought for about $64.08 billion at an average of roughly $75,451 each.
- The company spent $208.2 million repurchasing STRC preferred shares in the same week.
- Its general-purpose USD Cash balance fell to $132.7 million from $242.4 million a week earlier.
- Bitcoin was trading near $77,960 on OKX, slightly below Strategy's latest buying price.
What Strategy bought and how it paid for it
The latest purchase was funded by selling 1,178,552 shares of Strategy's Class A common stock (MSTR) through its at-the-market (ATM) program, which raised about $164 million in net proceeds. An ATM program lets a listed company drip new shares into the market at prevailing prices rather than running one large offering.
Of that $164 million, about $65.5 million went into Bitcoin and the remaining $98.5 million was moved into the company's USD Cash account. According to the filing, about $18.62 billion of MSTR shares remain available for sale under the program.
Executive Chairman Michael Saylor hinted at the buy a day early, posting the company's familiar acquisition tracker chart on Sunday with the line "We found room for even more orange." Strategy's official account later confirmed it held 849,327 BTC and $4.9 billion of US dollar assets as of November 1.
The numbers behind Strategy's Bitcoin treasury
Strategy's stash is now the biggest by far among the 199 public companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data cited by The Block. Here is how the latest filing breaks down:
- Bitcoin bought this week: 811 BTC for about $65.5 million
- Average price paid this week: $80,846 per BTC
- Total holdings: 849,327 BTC, more than 4% of Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap
- Total cost: about $64.08 billion, an average of roughly $75,451 per BTC
- STRC buybacks this week: 2,092,035 shares for $208.2 million
- USD Cash: $132.7 million, down from $242.4 million
- USD Reserve: $4.79 billion, after paying $43.4 million in preferred dividends
The buying has been patchy in recent weeks. Strategy skipped the week before entirely, its first pause since mid-September, and two weeks ago it bought only 267 BTC for $22.1 million. For more on how other treasury firms are coping after the Binance hack, see our report on NXTT's possible $450 million Bitcoin sale.
Why the preferred-stock buybacks matter
The bigger story in the filing is where most of the money went. Strategy has issued several kinds of preferred stock, which pay investors a regular dividend and have helped fund its Bitcoin buying. One of them, STRC, has a variable dividend rate and a target price of $100.
Strategy's policy is not to sell new STRC shares below that $100 mark. With STRC trading around $99.22 in pre-market on Monday, according to Cointelegraph, that funding route is effectively closed for now, and the company has been buying shares back to support the price instead. Cointelegraph reported that between October 1 and October 25 Strategy spent about $664 million on STRC buybacks, compared with about $72 million on Bitcoin.
That matters because the USD Cash pool, which Strategy uses for general purposes including Bitcoin purchases, has been shrinking fast. A separate USD Reserve of $4.79 billion is set aside to cover preferred dividends and debt interest, and Strategy says its combined dollar assets could cover those payments for about 3.3 years. About $748.6 million remains available under its preferred repurchase program.
Other changes are also underway. Preferred shareholders approved a switch to daily dividend accrual on STRC, STRF, STRK and STRD last week with 99.3% of votes cast, and STRC's first daily record date fell on November 1. Strategy also said CFO Andrew Kang will step down on November 5, with chief operating officer Reza Virasteh taking over the role in January.
Market reaction: Bitcoin price and MSTR shares
The purchase landed in a quiet but nervous market. Bitcoin was trading at about $77,960 on OKX at the time of writing, down about 0.1% over 24 hours. That is roughly 3.6% below the $80,846 average Strategy paid last week, though still above the company's overall average cost of about $75,451.
Strategy's stock had a rough week before the filing. MSTR fell 9.6% last week to close at $130.51 on Friday, while Bitcoin dropped 3.6% over the same stretch amid the fallout from the record $6.3 billion Binance hack. That hack has also weighed on fund flows, with US spot Bitcoin ETFs posting their largest daily outflows in months.
Analysts are split on the outlook. Mizuho kept its Outperform rating and $165 price target on MSTR after the company's third-quarter results, citing a stronger balance sheet, but also flagged dilution, noting that Bitcoin held per share has fallen 3.7% this year, according to Decrypt. Strategy reported $19.5 billion in third-quarter net income last week, mostly from a $20.9 billion gain on the value of its Bitcoin.
You can follow Bitcoin and other major coins live on the Nodora charts page.
What to watch next for Strategy and Bitcoin
- Next Monday's filing: Strategy usually reports purchases weekly, so the next 8-K will show whether buying picks up or stalls again.
- STRC price: If STRC climbs back above $100, Strategy can resume selling it, which would reopen a key funding source for Bitcoin purchases.
- MSCI decision on November 11: Index provider MSCI will publish its list of companies affected by a new rule that treats firms dominated by a single asset as ineligible for its equity indexes. Removal could lead some index funds to sell MSTR shares.
- Leadership change: CFO Andrew Kang leaves on November 5.
For now, the filing shows Strategy is still adding Bitcoin, but at a slower pace, while more of its cash goes into defending the price of its preferred stock.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
SourcesThe Block, Cointelegraph, Decrypt +14
This article is general information, not financial advice.
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