Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and its competitor Strive opened November with new bitcoin purchases. However, the latest deals are raising concerns among Strategy shareholders: the amount of bitcoin per company share continues to decline.

Both companies announced new acquisitions on Monday, November 2.

  • Strategy bought 811 BTC for $65.5 million. The company's total holdings reached 849,327 BTC.
  • Strive acquired another 124 BTC. Its balance now holds 43,124 BTC.

The impact of these deals on shareholders turned out to be fundamentally different.

Why Strategy shareholders may lose out

Strategy issued about 1.18 million new MSTR shares and raised $164 million. Only $65.5 million went toward buying bitcoin — the company kept the rest as cash.

Simply put, Strategy is issuing new shares faster than it is increasing its bitcoin holdings.

As a result, the amount of bitcoin per diluted MSTR share declined by approximately 0.17%. Each shareholder now has slightly less bitcoin per share, even though the company continues to buy this cryptocurrency.

At the same time, Strategy spent $208 million on repurchasing STRC preferred shares — three times more than on bitcoin. This measure reduces future dividend payments. Strategy CEO Phong Le previously called such buybacks a way to "strengthen STRC."

Strive's bitcoin purchase: a different approach

Strive's latest reporting shows that the company's number of diluted shares remained unchanged while its bitcoin holdings grew. As a result, bitcoin per diluted share increased by approximately 0.29%.

From the start of the year through October 25, each diluted Strategy share corresponds to 3.7% less bitcoin. In addition, the company still has authorization to issue another $18.6 billion in MSTR shares — this could intensify share dilution.

With additional pressure from its exclusion from MSCI indices, investors have to think not only about the bitcoin price but also about how much bitcoin actually backs each Strategy share.

Cryptalist analysis: The Strategy case clearly demonstrates the fundamental risk of bitcoin treasury models: aggressive capital dilution can offset the effect of growing reserves even with a rising BTC price. While Strive demonstrates a more disciplined approach to shareholder value, the market will be closely watching the balance between bitcoin exposure and dilution at the largest corporate holder of bitcoin.