Strategy Pauses Bitcoin Buying, Spends $205M on STRC
Strategy made no Bitcoin purchases or sales from October 19 to 25, instead spending $204.9 million to repurchase STRC preferred shares, according to an SEC filing. Its Bitcoin holdings remained at 848,517 BTC, acquired for $64.02 billion at an average cost of $75,446 per coin. With Bitcoin trading near $80,000 on October 26, the holdings had an estimated paper gain of about $3.9 billion.
Strategy’s reported USD cash balance fell 46% to $242.4 million, while its separate $4.83 billion reserve was unchanged and earmarked for preferred dividends and debt interest. Since October began, the company has spent about $664 million on STRC buybacks, compared with $72.3 million to buy 851 BTC. Strategy has not said when it will resume Bitcoin purchases. The pause came as Bitcoin retreated from a weekly high of $84,777 toward $80,000; MSTR shares fell 2.2% in premarket trading, while STRC slipped 0.01%.
Neutral
The news is neutral for Bitcoin in the immediate term. Strategy paused its purchases, removing a source of corporate demand, but it did not sell any BTC, and its substantial holdings remain unchanged. The reported cash balances and STRC buybacks concern the company’s capital management rather than a direct change in Bitcoin supply. Traders may view the pause as a modest negative signal for institutional demand, particularly while BTC is retreating from its weekly high, but the available information does not establish that Strategy will sell Bitcoin or that the pause will persist. Over the longer term, renewed buying could support sentiment, while continued prioritization of preferred-stock repurchases may limit the company’s incremental BTC demand. Bitcoin’s broader price direction will still depend more on market-wide flows and macroeconomic conditions.