Strategy is selling bitcoin again: STRC buyback and dollar reserve growth to $4.65 billion
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has again resorted to selling bitcoins to stabilize its preferred stock STRC. During the week from August 3 to 9, 1,690 BTC were sold for $108.6 million, with all proceeds directed toward repurchasing the securities.
This is the second consecutive week the company has acted as a net seller: previously, it disposed of 1,638 BTC. As a result, Strategy's balance sheet holds 840,447 BTC — the largest corporate reserve of the leading cryptocurrency in the world. However, the company is now selling coins below its average cost basis, recording a loss relative to its own purchase price.
Deal details and market reaction
The average sale price was $64,262 per coin. In the 8-K report filed with the SEC, it is stated that the proceeds were used to repurchase 1,152,020 STRC shares. This perpetual preferred security with a floating rate was issued to finance bitcoin investments. Its dividend is reviewed monthly and currently stands at 12% annually — the goal being to keep the price near the $100 par value.
The market, however, is not rushing to embrace this mechanism. On Friday, STRC closed at $95.01 (+1.16% for the day), but over the past year the security has fallen to $71.25. In Monday's premarket, the stock rose slightly to $95.55. The measures have partially worked: STRC has recovered about 33% from its lows, but even the 12% dividend and $109 million in buybacks have not yet returned the price to par.
Dollar reserve and company plans
In parallel, Strategy sold 6,585,682 MSTR shares under its ATM program, raising $653.1 million. Of that, $650 million was directed into the dollar reserve, which now stands at $4.65 billion. CEO Michael Saylor called this week a "credit operation," emphasizing that this is not a departure from bitcoin but rather capital management.
"Strategy increased its dollar reserve by $650 million and repurchased $109 million of STRC. This extended the duration of the USD reserve by 143 days — to 2.7 years — and reduced the bitcoin-backed STRC credit by 10 bps. As of August 9, 2026, we hold 840,447 BTC on the balance sheet and $4.65 billion in the dollar reserve," Saylor noted.
Almost the entire remaining quota for purchasing preferred shares has been used up by the buyback: only $785.2 million is currently available. For comparison, the limit on issuing new MSTR shares remains nearly untouched — about $22 billion remains. On Friday, MSTR closed at $100.01 (+3.26% for the day), but in Monday's premarket the stock dipped slightly by 0.21%.
Reasons and outlook
The current actions are tied to the Digital Credit Capital Framework plan approved in late June. It permits limited bitcoin sales to fund dividends, buybacks, and reserve replenishment when issuing new shares is less advantageous. Since the plan's launch, Strategy has paused BTC purchases and has been building cash reserves almost weekly, asserting that the reserve is sufficient to cover payments across the entire preferred securities line for years to come.
Bitcoin is trading around $65,019 on Monday (+1.5% over 24 hours), but the market is still roughly 13% below Strategy's average purchase price. The question remains open: will the current pace of sales continue, or will the company return to accumulation. Shareholders now face a difficult choice — their bitcoin proxy has turned into a treasury with active management in the interests of its own capital structure.
My view: repurchasing STRC by selling BTC at prices below cost is a signal that the company prioritizes protecting its capital structure over pure accumulation. This is reasonable from a short-term stability standpoint, but it sets a precedent that could undermine confidence in the "bitcoin treasury" model if the market sees it as a forced measure rather than a tactical move.