Strategy Inc. now holds a $3 billion cash reserve alongside 843,775 BTC worth roughly $55 billion, a barbell that executive chairman Michael Saylor pitches as the company's way through the downturn. The firm has bought no bitcoin since June 22 and even sold coins to build the buffer.
Michael Saylor's Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR), the world's largest corporate bitcoin holder, has stopped stacking coins and started hoarding dollars. The company now pairs a $3 billion U.S. dollar reserve with 843,775 BTC worth roughly $55 billion as of July 16, a structure observers describe as a barbell: a mountain of bitcoin on one end, a growing cash buffer on the other, and nothing in between.
Saylor builds the cash end
Earlier this week Saylor added $450 million to the cash pile, disclosing on X that as of July 12 the firm held 843,775 BTC and $3.0 billion in reserves. Strategy raised about $467 million that week through a common stock sale under its at-the-market program, its third consecutive week without a bitcoin acquisition.
The pivot has a cost. Strategy's 843,775 BTC were accumulated at an aggregate cost basis of $63.69 billion, about $75,500 per coin, leaving the company nursing an unrealized loss of nearly $9.9 billion with bitcoin down about 30% this year. Building the buffer meant selling 3,588 BTC in recent weeks, a move that drew criticism from longtime supporters.
Yield instruments over new coins
Saylor has cast the shift as a product strategy rather than a retreat, framing the company as a manufacturer of yield instruments built on its bitcoin base. According to Bitcoin News, Saylor wrote alongside his slides: "Bitcoin is Digital Capital. Strategy transforms it into Digital Credit".
He showcased an effective yield of 16.69% on the junior STRD preferred securities and 13.79% on the flagship STRC offering, against roughly 4% on comparable U.S. government bond funds. Critics counter that those yields are inflated by depressed prices, with STRD trading near $60.42 and STRC near $88.28, meaning the market is demanding a steep risk premium.
The $3 billion reserve gives Strategy roughly 20 months of coverage for the dividend and interest owed on its preferred stock and debt, the runway the company has prioritized over new bitcoin purchases since June 22. It is a cushion built to keep the firm from selling coins into a falling bear market.
Source: Bitcoin News
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