Strategy Is Buying Back Stock Faster Than It Buys Bitcoin
Key Takeaways
- •Strategy spent $368.7 million repurchasing its STRC preferred stock over two weeks, roughly seven times the $50.2 million it allocated to buying 584 BTC.
- •Strive purchased 6,133 BTC in the same stretch, exceeding TD Cowen's 4,750 BTC fourth-quarter forecast and raising its holdings to 35,595 BTC as the fourth-largest public holder.
- •Strategy's buyback funding is shrinking, with USD Cash falling to $640.5 million and about $354.8 million of repurchase authority left, enough for roughly two weeks at the recent pace.
- •MSCI finalized rules making non-operating companies ineligible for its global indexes, a simulation flagged Strategy, and MSTR dropped 9.56% to $136.83 after the news.
- •Shareholders vote on October 28 on STRC amendments that, if passed, would shift November dividends to daily payments totaling $1.00 per share at the 12% annual rate.

Strategy, which holds roughly 79% of all Bitcoin owned by public treasury companies, bought 584 BTC over the past two weeks while directing $368.7 million to repurchases of its own STRC preferred stock against $50.2 million on Bitcoin, company filings show. Over the same stretch, Strive disclosed purchases of 6,133 BTC — out-buying the sector's dominant holder.
Galaxy Research's Chart of the Week counts at least 1.073 million BTC across Bitcoin treasury companies, with 848,500 at Strategy and about 120,000 at Metaplanet, Twenty One and Strive combined. By that arithmetic, Strategy holds about 79% of the total, and the share could be lower: Galaxy's total is a floor, and roughly 104,500 BTC sit with companies it does not name. Strategy's own October 12 filing shows 848,250 BTC as of October 11 — a 250-coin gap that is probably rounding in Galaxy's figure.
Strive Out-Buys Strategy
The stack is Strategy's, but the buying lately has been Strive's. Strategy's last two weekly updates disclosed 334 BTC for $28.7 million (September 28 to October 4) and 250 BTC for $21.5 million (October 5 to 11), both at about $86,000 a coin. Over the same stretch, Strive — now the fourth-largest public holder — disclosed 3,311 BTC, about $280 million, for October 5 to 9, and another 2,822 BTC, about $235 million, on October 14, taking its holdings to 35,595 BTC. (Sources: Strategy's October 5 and October 12 filings; Strive's filings, via The Block.)
The pace exceeded forecasts: TD Cowen had projected about 4,750 BTC of Strive purchases for the entire fourth quarter. The analysts said the speed came at a cost — warrant exercises added shares and pressured Strive's Bitcoin per share — though with no $27 warrants left, they expect that pressure to ease. Strive also expanded a preferred offering to 7 million shares at $90, aiming to raise $630 million, with closing expected October 20.
Strategy has not stopped buying. It purchased 4,603 BTC, about $370 million, in late August. But an independent analyst told Cointelegraph that Strategy raised $5.41 billion from new common stock in the third quarter and ended it with only 1,666 more Bitcoin than at the end of June; much of the money, he said, went to cash reserves and preferred holders.
Where Strategy's Cash Went
In the week to October 4, Strategy's filing shows $28.7 million spent on Bitcoin and $176.3 million repurchasing STRC. In the week to October 11, it spent $21.5 million on Bitcoin and $192.4 million on STRC — about nine times as much. Across the two weeks, STRC buybacks totaled $368.7 million against $50.2 million of BTC. (Source: Strategy's October 12 filing.)
Strategy says it wants STRC to trade close to its $100 stated amount, in a range of about $99 to $100, and lists repurchases among its tools. Last week's buyback averaged about $99.58 a share. STRC then fell from $99.53 to $97.72 on Friday, its lowest close since September 16, Bitcoin.com News reported.
The pot paying for buybacks is shrinking. USD Cash, which funded the previous week's repurchases, fell from $833.4 million on October 4 to $640.5 million on October 11, and about $354.8 million of repurchase authority was left after the board doubled the program to $2 billion in early September. At the recent pace, that authority covers about two more weeks unless the board raises it again.
The separate USD Reserve, which can pay only preferred dividends and debt interest, stood at $4.88 billion. In its June 29 framework, Strategy put its yearly dividends and interest at about $1.76 billion and set a policy floor of 12 months of coverage. Against that June figure, today's reserve would cover about 33 months, up from 17.4 in June.
Strategy has also sold Bitcoin to fund that reserve. Between June 29 and July 5, it sold 3,588 BTC for about $216 million — its largest disposal ever — to pay preferred distributions and replenish the dollar reserve, The Block reported. The June framework authorizes further sales to fund the reserve (up to $1.25 billion), dividends and interest, and repurchases.
At about $81,600 on Sunday, Bitcoin sits roughly 8% above Strategy's $75,444 average cost, a paper gain of about $5 billion. In July, at about $64,000, the position was roughly $9.7 billion under water. The 250 coins bought last week cost an average $86,194, more than today's price.
The Week MSCI Hit the Premium
On October 15, MSCI finalized rules that make “non-operating companies” ineligible for its global indexes, replacing an interim limit on companies with 50% or more of their assets in digital assets. A simulation flagged Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake. MSCI publishes the affected list on November 11, and changes take effect at the close on November 30. Current members come out only if they fail the screen in each of their two most recent annual filing periods, so removal is not automatic — and Strategy argues that Bitcoin is an operating segment under US accounting rules.
MSTR fell 9.56% to $136.83 on Friday, the first session after the news. Strategy says MSCI-linked funds hold about 13 million of its shares — about 3.1% of the total and less than a day of trading volume — roughly $1.8 billion at Friday's close. TIKR argues the larger cost is to the premium: losing a class of passive buyers makes it harder to sell shares above the value of the Bitcoin behind them.
That premium is what Strategy calls mNAV, its market value compared with the value of its Bitcoin after debt and preferred stock. Above 1.0x, selling new shares adds Bitcoin per share. Strategy's own figures, filed with the SEC, put it at 1.06x on August 10. In June, CEO Phong Le said Strategy was moving “from one-way capital issuance to active capital management,” and the framework says common-stock issuance will stay disciplined at or near 1.0x. TIKR reported Saylor saying that if MSTR traded at “a very, very deep discount to NAV,” Strategy would probably buy it back. A $1.0 billion authority remains.
The STRC Vote on October 28
Shareholders vote on October 28 on amendments giving STRC and other preferred securities a record date every calendar day. If they pass by October 31 and the amended terms take effect by November 1, November's dividends will be paid daily, totaling $1.00 a share at the 12% annual rate. If not, the dividend declared for November 15 is paid instead.
The October 16 filing says management will recommend keeping the rate at 12% until STRC shows sustained, healthy trading near $100 a share. It also says Strategy expects the November payments to be treated as a return of capital for US tax purposes, to the extent of a shareholder's tax basis. TIKR reports third-quarter results the next day, after the close on October 29.
What Monday's Filing Could Show
Saylor posted Strategy's Bitcoin tracker on X on Sunday with the caption “We found room for more orange.” His Sunday orange-dot posts have frequently preceded a Monday filing disclosing a Bitcoin purchase, The Block notes, and the last two did: 334 BTC on October 5 and 250 BTC on October 12.
We found room for more orange.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) October 18, 2026
Three numbers in Monday's filing will matter. One is how much Bitcoin was bought. The second is how it was paid for: in the last two weeks, $15.7 million and $21.0 million came from selling MSTR shares, while $13.0 million and $0.5 million came from USD Cash — the same pot that funds buybacks. The third is how much STRC was repurchased.
Sources: Strategy, Strive and MSCI statements; The Block; TIKR for the October 29 results date.
The first test is Monday's filing. If its Bitcoin purchase is again smaller than its STRC repurchase, the 79% will keep describing what Strategy has bought rather than what it is buying.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
Source: Coindoo