Strategy buys 1,036 BTC but spends more than twice as much buying back its STRC preferred stock

Strategy (MSTR) bought 1,036 BTC for $81.9 million from November 2 to 8, at an average price of $79,012 per coin, and held 850,364 BTC as of November 8, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9. In the same week, the company spent $188.3 million—more than twice what it paid for the Bitcoin—buying back shares of its STRC preferred stock.

Where the money went

Strategy sold 2,051,348 shares of its class A common stock for $283.8 million in net proceeds through its at-the-market program, which lets it sell new shares gradually into the market at prevailing prices. According to the filing, the money was split three ways:

Use of MSTR sale proceeds	Amount
Bitcoin purchases	$81.9 million
Repurchases of STRC preferred stock	$188.3 million
Added to its USD Cash balance	$13.6 million

The company repurchased 1,887,464 STRC shares. It sold no preferred stock through its at-the-market program during the week. It also paid $21.1 million in preferred dividends from its USD Reserve, a cash pool meant to cover those dividends and the interest on its debt.

As of November 8, the USD Reserve stood at $4.77 billion and the USD Cash balance at $146.2 million. Strategy said $560.3 million remains available under its program for repurchasing preferred stock.

Strategy's Bitcoin purchase and holdings

Item	Figure
BTC bought, November 2–8	1,036
Cost	$81.9 million
Average purchase price	$79,012
Total holdings, November 8	850,364 BTC
Total cost	$64.16 billion
Average cost per BTC	$75,456

Why it matters

Strategy is still buying Bitcoin, but less than a third of the $283.8 million it raised from November 2 to 8 went to Bitcoin. It follows a purchase of 811 BTC the week before. In that week, too, the company spent more on STRC repurchases ($208.2 million) than on Bitcoin ($65.5 million), according to its November 2 filing. The week before that, from October 19 to 25, Strategy bought no Bitcoin and spent $204.9 million on STRC repurchases, according to its October 26 filing.

STRC is a variable-rate preferred stock, a class of shares that ranks ahead of common stock for dividends, and buybacks reduce the number of shares on which Strategy pays those dividends.

On the same day, Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings said in its third-quarter shareholder letter that it had sold 13,597 BTC after the quarter ended and intends to keep selling; our report on MARA's sales has the details.

What it could mean for traders

Bitcoin traded at about $74,229 at 11:19 UTC on November 10, according to CoinGecko data, below Strategy's average cost of $75,456 per BTC. The price had slid on November 8 and 9 to its lowest level since August.

In the past two weeks, Strategy paid for its Bitcoin with money from selling MSTR shares. From November 2 to 8, most of that money went to STRC buybacks instead; the week before, the buybacks were paid from its USD Cash balance. The figures to watch in the next filing are the size of the Bitcoin purchase, how much of the stock-sale money goes to preferred buybacks instead, and how the USD Reserve changes. Strategy's last three weekly updates were filed on Mondays: October 26, November 2, and November 9.