Strategy Trims Bitcoin Stack, Taps Markets for $653M

• Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million between August 3 and 9, at an average price of $64,262.
• The company separately raised $653.1 million by selling 6.59 million MSTR shares, directing most of it to its cash reserve.
• Strategy now holds 840,447 BTC, its fourth straight week of trimming its treasury.

Strategy disclosed in an SEC filing on Monday, August 10, that it sold 1,690 Bitcoin between August 3 and August 9 at an average price of $64,262, raising $108.6 million. Bitcoin trades near $65,211 as of this writing, according to Coinscipher’s live pricing, meaning the sale landed close to current market levels.

A Fourth Straight Week of Selling

The company used the entire $108.6 million in Bitcoin sale proceeds to repurchase 1,152,020 shares of its variable rate preferred stock, STRC. Separately, Strategy sold 6,585,682 MSTR shares through its at the market program, raising $653.1 million. It directed $650 million of that to its US dollar reserve, lifting the balance to $4.65 billion as of August 9, with the remaining $3.1 million added to cash.

The sale reduced Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings to 840,447 BTC, acquired over time for a total of $63.36 billion at an average purchase price of $75,385 per coin. That average cost basis sits well above the price Strategy sold at this week, meaning this particular batch of coins was sold at a loss even as the company’s overall position remains deeply in profit given how much of its stack was bought at far lower prices in prior years.

This isn’t a story about Strategy losing conviction in Bitcoin. It’s about which part of the balance sheet needs defending most right now, the preferred shareholders owed fixed obligations, or the Bitcoin holdings themselves.

STRC is one of several preferred stock classes Strategy has issued to fund its Bitcoin buying over the past two years, and unlike common shares, it carries a fixed dividend obligation the company has to keep meeting regardless of where Bitcoin’s price sits. Repurchasing shares of it with Bitcoin sale proceeds, rather than with cash from new debt or equity, suggests Strategy is treating that obligation as the more pressing one to manage this week.

Why the Market Reacted Differently This Time

MSTR shares fell more than 3% on the news, a sharper reaction than the roughly 2% gain the stock saw after Strategy’s prior Bitcoin sale earlier this month. The difference this time is the combination, selling both Bitcoin and new equity in the same disclosure raises the usual concern around shareholder dilution, on top of the fact that this is now the fourth consecutive week Strategy has trimmed its Bitcoin position rather than adding to it.

Coinscipher has tracked Strategy’s shift from pure accumulation toward more active balance sheet management in recent weeks, most recently in our coverage of the company’s Bitcoin ETF and treasury activity. Whether this marks a longer term change in strategy or a temporary response to preferred stock obligations coming due is not yet clear from the filing alone.

Source: Bloomberg,“Strategy Sells More Bitcoin, Stock to Bolster Cash Stockpile”