Strategy pauses bitcoin buys, repurchases $205 million of STRC preferred shares

Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Strategy Strategy, Inc. (MSTR) did not buy or sell any bitcoin between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25, ending a five-week acquisition streak, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Strategy's bitcoin holdings therefore remain at 848,517 BTC, worth around $67.9 billion, equivalent to more than 4% of bitcoin's total supply. The haul was bought at an average price of $75,446 per bitcoin for a total cost of around $64 billion, including fees and expenses.

Instead, Strategy repurchased 2.07 million STRC preferred shares last week for around $204.9 million, using its USD Cash reserve.

As of Oct. 25, the firm's USD Reserve and USD Cash balances were $4.83 billion and $242.4 million, respectively, Strategy said in the filing.

MSCI concerns

Earlier this month, MSCI said it will adopt new rules against "non-operating" companies that could ultimately mean Strategy's MSTR stock is excluded from its indexes.

Exclusion from MSCI's indexes could make it harder for Strategy to raise money to buy more bitcoin. Steve Lee, co-founder of Neoclassic Capital, previously told The Block that reduced demand from index investors could push shares closer to the value of their underlying bitcoin holdings, making it less attractive to raise funds through new stock sales.

Meanwhile, Strategy dominates the 200 public companies that have adopted some form of bitcoin acquisition model. Metaplanet, Tether-backed Twenty One, Strive, and MARA make up the rest of the top five, holding 44,000 BTC, 43,514 BTC, 43,000 BTC, and 35,577 BTC, respectively, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.

Strategy's stock fell 6.9% last week, closing Friday at $146.02, according to The Block's MSTR price page. Bitcoin slipped 1.1% over the same period and briefly dropped below $80,000 earlier on Monday.