Strategy disclosed on October 19 that its discretionary U.S. dollar cash balance had fallen to $447.3 million. During the week, the company bought about $22.1 million of bitcoin, repurchased roughly 1.94 million STRC preferred shares and increased its authorization for STRC buybacks from $2 billion to $3 billion.
The moves show that Strategy continues to expand its bitcoin reserves while using cash to support the market price of STRC. But discretionary cash is down about 72% from the $1.61 billion reported on August 30, putting the pace of future buybacks and the company's ability to raise additional capital under closer scrutiny.
Bitcoin holdings rise to 848,517 BTC
Strategy, whose executive chairman is Michael Saylor, said it bought bitcoin during the latest week at an average price of $82,900 per coin. The purchase totaled about $22.1 million, lifting the company's holdings to 848,517 bitcoin as of the disclosure date. Strategy said its cumulative investment in the asset was approximately $64.02 billion.
About $22 million of the bitcoin purchase was funded through the sale of 140,872 common shares. Only $100,000 of discretionary dollar cash was used for the acquisition. The company's discretionary cash declined by about $193.2 million during the week, with most of that reduction tied to STRC repurchases rather than bitcoin purchases.
Strategy also maintains a separate dollar reserve for preferred-share dividends and debt interest. That reserve stood at about $4.83 billion, after the company drew $45.5 million from it to pay preferred-share dividends. The two cash pools have different purposes, and the dividend and interest reserve should not be treated as funds available for additional STRC buybacks or bitcoin purchases.
STRC buybacks near par value
In the week ended October 18, Strategy spent $193.1 million repurchasing STRC at an average price of about $99.60 per share. STRC has a stated value of $100, so the latest purchases were made at a discount of roughly 0.4%.
The board increased the repurchase authorization for the digital credit security by 50%, from $2 billion to $3 billion. Since the buyback program began in July, Strategy has spent approximately $1.84 billion, leaving about $1.16 billion under the current authorization.
Buyback spending has accelerated over the past month. In the four weeks through October 18, Strategy used about $713.5 million to repurchase STRC. Approximately $561.8 million of that amount was spent in the three weeks beginning September 28, when STRC traded between $99 and $100 for most of the period.
That pace differs from the approach outlined earlier by Strategy Chief Executive Officer Phong Le. In July, Le said the company planned to buy more aggressively when preferred shares traded at a deeper discount and reduce spending as STRC returned toward its target range. Strategy's average price in its earlier purchases was about $86.53, representing a discount of nearly 13.5%. With recent purchases close to $100, the direct price advantage has narrowed substantially.
Market commentator Mark Harvey noted that Strategy has repurchased about one-fifth of STRC's outstanding shares, yet the security has not remained consistently at its $100 stated value. He questioned whether demand for STRC remains weaker than the company expected after the large capital commitment.
At the latest weekly repurchase rate of $193.1 million, Strategy's $447.3 million of discretionary dollar cash would cover approximately 2.3 weeks of buybacks. Maintaining that pace would require the company to replenish its cash through additional share sales, security issuance or other financing measures.
MSCI changes add pressure to common-stock funding
Strategy's capital-management plans also face pressure from a decline in its common stock and a potential change to its index eligibility. In the five trading sessions through October 16, MSTR fell 11.35%, from $154.34 to $136.83.
On October 15, MSCI announced that companies classified as non-operating entities under new rules would no longer be eligible for inclusion in its Global Investable Market Indexes. Strategy and Japan's Metaplanet could be affected. The final list of companies is expected on November 11, with the new rules taking effect after the November 30 close.
A removal from relevant MSCI benchmarks could affect Strategy's model of using common-stock financing to continue expanding its bitcoin holdings. JPMorgan estimated that passive investment funds could generate about $2.8 billion in selling pressure if Strategy were removed from the affected MSCI indexes. The actual impact will depend on the final list, fund holdings and the direction of flows following the index changes.
VanEck's Matthew Sigel said STRC briefly rose to $99.90 last week before falling to $97.72 after MSCI announced the rule changes. He said preferred-share exposure linked to MSCI indexes was relatively limited, making STRC's ability to return to around par value an important measure of whether Strategy can resume larger bitcoin purchases funded by stock issuance.
Analysts tracked by CryptoQuant remained broadly constructive. CryptoQuant Chief Executive Officer Ki Young Ju cited price targets of $240 from Citigroup, $175 from Barclays and $195 from B. Riley for Strategy. He also said some of the potential selling pressure related to the MSCI changes may already be reflected in MSTR's valuation.
Ju added that the ratio of Strategy's market capitalization to net asset value, STRC's distance from its stated value and the liquidity reserve supporting preferred-share dividends may provide a clearer view of the company's funding position than the index change alone. The cash balance, the pace of preferred-share repurchases and the terms available in future financing will nevertheless directly affect Strategy's ability to keep buying bitcoin.
Strategy plans to report its third-quarter 2026 results on October 29. MSCI is scheduled to publish the final list of index deletions on November 11, and the new rules will take effect after the market close on November 30.