MicroStrategy, now called Strategy, bought just 334 Bitcoin (BTC) for $28.7 million last week. Over the same week, it spent $176.3 million buying back its own preferred stock, about six times more.
The purchase lifts holdings to exactly 848,000 BTC, according to a Monday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is a third straight weekly buy, yet only a fifth the size of the prior week’s 1,665 BTC.
Why Is Strategy Buying Back Stock Instead of Bitcoin?
The filing shows Strategy repurchased about 1.77 million shares of Stretch (STRC). That is a preferred stock that pays investors a 12% annual dividend.
Most of the money came from USD Cash, a pool of dollars the company keeps for general use. Strategy drew $154.1 million from it for buybacks and only $13 million for Bitcoin.
The remaining $15.7 million for Bitcoin came from selling 92,894 new MSTR common shares.
Last week, Strategy said it would keep STRC’s 12% rate until the stock trades steadily near its $100 issue price.
Meanwhile, gold advocate Peter Schiff argued over the weekend that Strategy has lost its Bitcoin-buying power because STRC no longer raises fresh money.
[Image placeholder: Strategy weekly Bitcoin purchases versus STRC buybacks]
Strategy Books a $20.9 Billion Bitcoin Gain for the Quarter
The same filing estimates Strategy booked a $20.91 billion gain on its Bitcoin in the third quarter.
At the end of June, its Bitcoin was worth less than it paid. The rebound let Strategy reverse a $4.12 billion tax asset tied to that earlier loss.
At the current Bitcoin price of about $85,377, its stash is worth roughly $72.4 billion. Strategy paid $63.97 billion in total, or $75,441 per coin.
The company also holds a $4.88 billion USD Reserve for dividends and interest, plus $833.4 million in USD Cash.
Shareholders vote on October 28 on a plan to pay daily dividends across its four preferred stocks. The vote arrives as more of Strategy’s cash goes to those shares than to new Bitcoin.
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