Michael Saylor's Strategy bought 334 BTC for $28.7 million, pushing its holdings to a record 848,000 bitcoin, according to a Monday SEC filing. Over the same stretch, the company spent $176.3 million repurchasing its STRC preferred stock — more than six times its bitcoin outlay — while also disclosing a $20.91 billion gain on its digital assets for the third quarter.
Strategy bought 334 BTC for roughly $28.7 million at an average price of $85,838.80 per bitcoin between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchase brought the company's total holdings to 848,000 BTC — its highest-ever total, worth around $73 billion at current prices.
Those holdings are equivalent to more than 4% of bitcoin's 21 million supply cap, bought at an average cost of $75,440.70 per coin for a total outlay of about $64 billion including fees and expenses. That implies around $9 billion of paper gains at current prices.
STRC buybacks outpace new bitcoin buying
Strategy spent far more buying back its own stock than buying bitcoin last week. The company repurchased about 1.77 million shares of its STRC preferred stock for $176.3 million.
The bitcoin purchases were funded by at-the-market sales of Strategy's Class A stock, MSTR, plus its USD Cash reserve. Last week the company sold 92,894 MSTR shares for approximately $15.7 million, with USD Cash covering the remaining $13 million. As of Oct. 4, $18.8 billion of MSTR shares remained available for issuance under that program.
The STRC repurchases drew $154.1 million from Strategy's USD Cash reserve and $22.2 million from interest earned on its cash holdings. A further $142.5 million of its USD Reserve funded dividends on preferred stock and interest on outstanding debt. As of Oct. 4, the USD Reserve stood at $4.88 billion and USD Cash at $833.4 million.
Digital-asset gains top $20 billion for the quarter
Strategy's filing also disclosed an estimated $20.91 billion gain on its digital assets for the third quarter, the largest figure in the filing, reflecting bitcoin's price appreciation across the period. The gain carries $1.88 billion of deferred tax expense, the company said.
Dividend overhaul heads to a shareholder vote
Strategy filed a separate proxy Monday seeking approval to pay dividends on its STRC, STRF, STRK and STRD preferred stock every business day, replacing STRC's twice-monthly schedule and quarterly payouts on the other three, without altering dividend rates. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at a special meeting on Oct. 28; if approved, STRC's daily schedule starts in November, with the other three following in January.
Saylor posted a bitcoin acquisition tracker chart to X on Sunday, captioned, according to Saylor: "More orange than ever." Similar posts have typically preceded bitcoin acquisition announcements the following day, though the company's strategy has varied recently.
Sources: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Decrypt, Cointelegraph.com News
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