Strategy buys 267 bitcoin for $22.1 million as holdings reach 848,517 BTC

Strategy adds 267 bitcoin, lifting its pile to 848,517 BTC

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy bought another 267 bitcoin for about $22.1 million between Oct. 12 and Oct. 18, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The average purchase price was $82,900 per bitcoin.

The company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, now holds 848,517 bitcoin. It paid about $64 billion for that total, an average of $75,446 per coin, and says the holding equals more than 4% of all bitcoin in existence.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor signalled the purchase the day before, posting a chart on Sunday with the message: "We found room for more orange."

The numbers behind the latest purchase

• 267 BTC bought for roughly $22.1 million at an average of $82,900 per bitcoin.


• 848,517 BTC held in total, bought for about $64 billion at an average of $75,446 per coin.


• The new coins were paid for with money raised by selling company shares and with cash the firm already held.

How the filing says the purchase was funded

Strategy used proceeds from at-the-market sales of its Class A common stock, which trades as MSTR. In this kind of sale, a company sells new shares into the market over time rather than in one block.

The company sold 140,872 MSTR shares for about $22 million last week, the filing says, and $18.79 billion of shares remain available to sell under that program. It used $0.1 million from its USD Cash reserve to cover the rest of the bitcoin purchase price.

In the same week, Strategy bought back 1,938,780 of its STRC preferred shares for about $193.1 million using its USD Cash reserve. Preferred shares are a class of stock that pays dividends. It also used $45.5 million of its USD Reserve to pay dividends on its preferred stock.

As of Oct. 18, Strategy reported USD Reserve and USD Cash balances of $4.83 billion and $447.3 million. Its board also approved raising the total amount it is allowed to spend repurchasing its digital credit securities from $2 billion to $3 billion.

Saylor's pitch for a bitcoin-backed dollar token

At the ParaFi Investor Day last week, Saylor described what he called "perfected" digital money: a token designed to hold a steady value tied to the U.S. dollar, backed by bitcoin. Such tokens are known as stablecoins.

He said it could offer yields of 6% to 8% and described it as the next step for digital capital and digital credit products. These are his stated views, not confirmed products or results.

Index rules and analyst doubts about preferred stock

Earlier in the week, MSCI said it will adopt new rules that could lead to Strategy being removed from its indexes, along with other treasury companies such as Metaplanet and Sharplink, under its position against "non-operating" companies.

Analysts at K33 also warned that Strategy's preferred stock financing model may ultimately cost it bitcoin because of growing dividend obligations on its STRC shares. K33 head of research Vetle Lunde argued that issuing common stock is a more efficient way to fund future bitcoin buys.

Market moves over the week were mixed for the company. Strategy's stock fell 11.3% last week and closed Friday at $136.83, according to The Block's MSTR price page, while bitcoin declined 2.6% over the same period.

Strategy's place among public bitcoin holders

Strategy is the largest of 198 public companies that have bought bitcoin, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data cited by The Block. The rest of the top five are Metaplanet with 44,000 BTC, Tether-backed Twenty One with 43,514 BTC, Strive with 35,595 BTC and MARA with 35,577 BTC.

What is confirmed and what is not

Confirmed by the SEC filing: the size and dates of the purchase, the average price, the total holdings and cost basis, the share sales, the preferred share repurchases, the reserve balances and the board's decision to raise the repurchase authorization.

Not confirmed: the "perfected" digital money idea is a vision Saylor described, not an announced product. The K33 warning is an analyst view, and the MSCI change is a rule decision that could, but has not been stated to, remove Strategy from its indexes.

Why the purchase draws attention

Strategy's buying is closely watched because of its scale: the filing puts its holding above 4% of all bitcoin. The week's news also shows the trade-offs involved. The company funded a small purchase mainly by selling stock, while spending far more of its cash on buying back preferred shares and paying dividends.

Sources

• The Block

Read also: Microsoft drops Nscale's Essex AI data center as power wait stretches to 2030s

Read also: Strategy buys $22M in Bitcoin and repurchases $193M in STRC shares

Read also: Strategy buys 267 more bitcoin, lifting October spending to $73 million