Strategy Pauses BTC Buys, Spends $25M to Repurchase STRC

Strategy paused Bitcoin purchases for five weeks and used $25 million to repurchase 288,930 STRC preferred shares at an average price of $86.52, the company disclosed in a July 27 SEC filing. The repurchase, executed between July 20 and July 26, is the first disclosed use of a $1 billion preferred-stock repurchase program approved last month.

STRC traded well below its $100 stated amount in recent weeks, falling under $77 before recovering to about $88 at the time of the filing. Strategy’s policy is not to issue new STRC shares below $100, and the buyback program provides a mechanism to address the security’s discount.

CEO Michael Saylor wrote that the company intends to be a “regular, disciplined buyer” of STRC while it trades under $100, increasing purchases as the discount widens and tapering as the shares approach their stated amount. He wrote repurchases will be funded outside the USD Reserve and could include sales of Strategy’s Class A common stock and Bitcoin, depending on market conditions. “Our objective is for STRC to trade near $100 with high liquidity, low volatility, and healthy, sustainable independent demand. We will not issue below $100,” he wrote.

Chief Executive Phong Le wrote that repurchases below par can reduce future preferred dividend obligations and allow Strategy to remove securities from its capital structure at a discount. At last week’s average purchase price of $86.52, the company effectively retired STRC at about 86.5 cents for every dollar of stated value. After the $25 million transaction, about $975 million remains available under the repurchase authorization.

The repurchase coincided with an increase to Strategy’s USD Reserve of $525 million, raising the balance to a record $3.75 billion. The company reported the reserve is sufficient to cover roughly 25 months, or 2.1 years, of expected preferred-stock dividend payments.

The added cash primarily came from an at-the-market offering of 5,429,160 shares of Strategy’s Class A common stock, which generated about $544.5 million in net proceeds. Management transferred most of the proceeds into the USD Reserve, a liquidity pool set up to support preferred dividends and interest payments on outstanding debt.

Strategy paused active Bitcoin accumulation during the five-week stretch, the longest pause since 2024, and remains the largest public holder with 843,775 BTC on its balance sheet. The company acquired those coins at an average price of $75,476 per Bitcoin, representing roughly $63.69 billion in aggregate acquisition cost.

Future repurchases will depend on STRC’s price and liquidity, available capital and broader market conditions. The company disclosed it may modify, suspend or terminate the program and reiterated that repurchases will be funded outside the USD Reserve.