Strategy bought 811 bitcoin for about $66 million from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, while spending a record $208 million to repurchase STRC preferred shares. The buyback cost more than three times the bitcoin purchase and helped cut the company's flexible U.S. dollar cash by 45.3% in a week, to $133 million. Strategy separately holds a $4.79 billion reserve earmarked for preferred dividends and debt interest; that reserve is not available for general use.
Bitcoin holdings reach 849,327
In a regulatory filing on Nov. 2, Strategy said it paid an average of $80,846 per bitcoin for the 811 coins, for a total cost of about $66 million. Its holdings rose to 849,327 bitcoin, acquired at a cumulative cost of about $64 billion and an average price of $75,451 per coin.
The purchase marked a return to larger bitcoin buying after Strategy paused for a week and directed more funds to preferred-share repurchases. In the first three reported weeks of October, the company bought 334, 250 and 267 bitcoin, respectively. The latest purchase was its largest since Sept. 28, when it disclosed buying 1,665 bitcoin for about $143 million.
MSTR sales fund about 40% of bitcoin purchase
During the reporting period, Strategy sold about 1,178,552 shares of its MSTR common stock through its at-the-market offering program, raising $164 million net. It used $66 million, or about 40% of the proceeds, to buy bitcoin. The remaining roughly $99 million was added to flexible U.S. dollar cash. Strategy issued no new preferred shares during the week, making common-stock sales its only source of new equity financing for the period.
Despite the $99 million cash contribution, the flexible dollar balance fell from about $242 million to $133 million. STRC repurchases were the main drain: after accounting for the funds added, cash declined by about $110 million over the week. This balance supports broader funding needs and is separate from the reserve set aside for fixed payment obligations.
STRC buybacks set a weekly record
Strategy repurchased about 2,092,035 STRC shares for approximately $208 million, surpassing the previous weekly record of $205 million set in late October. The average repurchase price was about $99.52 a share, roughly 0.5% below the security's $100 par value. The prior week's average was about $99.06.
STRC is a perpetual, floating-rate preferred security with an annualized dividend rate of 12%. Strategy has said the buybacks are intended to support its trading price near $100 while reducing outstanding preferred capital. The week's repurchase spending substantially exceeded the amount spent on bitcoin, underscoring the emphasis on preferred-share buybacks in its capital allocation during the period.
Reserve balance and remaining buyback authorization
The dollar reserve for preferred dividends and debt interest declined from about $4.83 billion to $4.79 billion. Strategy used about $43 million from the reserve to pay preferred dividends during the reporting week. Although the reserve is far larger than the $133 million in flexible cash, it is restricted to its stated purpose and cannot be treated as cash available for other uses.
Since launching its buyback program in July, Strategy has spent more than $2 billion repurchasing preferred shares. It still has about $749 million available under its expanded $3 billion digital credit securities repurchase program, as well as an unused $1 billion authorization to repurchase MSTR common stock.