Saylor’s Strategy Buys 535 BTC; Holdings Reach 818,869 BTC

Strategy acquired 535 bitcoin between May 4 and May 10 for about $43 million, an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. The purchases averaged roughly $80,340 per coin and bring the company's total holdings to 818,869 BTC.

At current prices, Strategy's bitcoin stake is worth about $66.5 billion. The company reported an aggregate cost, including fees and expenses, of roughly $61.9 billion, an average cost of about $75,540 per bitcoin. The holdings account for more than 3.9% of bitcoin's 21 million supply cap and imply about $4.6 billion in unrealized gains at prevailing market rates.

The acquisitions were funded through at-the-market sales of the company’s Class A common stock, MSTR, and its perpetual preferred Stretch shares, STRC. In the week before the purchases Strategy sold 231,324 MSTR shares for about $42.9 million and 1,412 STRC shares for roughly $100,000. As of May 10, the company reported about $26.35 billion of remaining MSTR issuance capacity and $19.46 billion of remaining STRC capacity under those programs.

Strategy also maintains ATM programs for other perpetual preferred shares: STRK, STRC, STRF and STRD, which the company lists at $21 billion, $4.2 billion, $2.1 billion and $4.2 billion respectively. Those programs form part of a broader capital plan called the “42/42” initiative, which targets roughly $84 billion in equity and convertible-note raises through 2027 to fund bitcoin purchases. The company recently extended capacity to include up to an additional $21 billion of MSTR and $21 billion of STRC, plus $2.1 billion of STRK.

In the first quarter Strategy reported a $12.5 billion net loss, driven primarily by a $14.5 billion unrealized markdown on its bitcoin holdings. Company executives highlighted demand for STRC as a notable funding source for recent purchases. STRC is a variable-rate, cumulative preferred stock that pays adjustable monthly dividends and the company reports a current annualized yield of about 11.5%. Strategy has proposed switching STRC dividend payments from monthly to twice monthly to shorten reinvestment lag and improve liquidity and price stability.

Michael Saylor flagged the recent buys on social media, posting “Back to work” after a one-week pause in purchases ahead of the company’s first-quarter earnings. During the earnings call he indicated the firm may sell bitcoin to cover STRC dividends, saying, “We'll probably sell some bitcoin to fund the dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it.” In subsequent interviews he clarified that any sales would be small and quickly offset by purchases, adding, “In these periods, even if we were to sell one bitcoin, we'd be buying 10 to 20 more bitcoin,” and “You should be a net accumulator of bitcoin. When I said ‘never sell your bitcoin,' I mean make sure if you were to spend it on something, you replenish in the time you spend it.”

Nearly 200 public companies report holding some bitcoin; Strategy remains the largest corporate holder. Strategy's stock closed last week at $187.59, up 21.4% year-to-date, while bitcoin rose about 2.2% over the same trading week.