Strategy Ditches BTC for STRC Buybacks Amid Balance Sheet Repair
Strategy, the holding company of Michael Saylor and Phong Le, repurchased $176.3 million worth of STRC preferred shares last week but made no purchases or sales of Bitcoin (BTC). The company's holdings remain at 845,050 coins, which is more than 4% of the total supply cap.
The buybacks were funded entirely from cash, with Strategy using its USD Cash pool to acquire 1,810,885 STRC shares. This move comes as the company doubled its Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program to $2 billion from $1 billion, according to an 8-K report filed with the SEC.
The board's decision to double the repurchase program and halt Bitcoin buys has been attributed to Strategy's efforts to repair its balance sheet and rebuild cash reserves. The company sold around 7,000 BTC in the $60,000 to $65,000 range earlier this year, which Phong Le said was a necessary trade at the time as it covered preferred dividends.
Strategy's Bitcoin holdings are currently worth approximately $66.1 billion at current prices, with a paper gain of around $2.4 billion. The company resumed buying BTC in late August at an average price of $80,318.