Strategy's Smallest Bitcoin Purchase in 2026 Amid Preferred-Stock Repurchases
Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, made its smallest Bitcoin purchase of 2026, acquiring just 334 BTC for $28.7 million between October 1 and October 4. This brought its total holdings to 848,000 BTC, purchased at an average cost of $75,440.70 each. The acquisition marked a significant slowdown, falling below the previous yearly low of 520 BTC bought in June.
Despite the minimal new investment, Bitcoin's 43% rally in the third quarter boosted the value of Strategy's holdings to $70.82 billion as of September 30. The company estimated a $20.91 billion gain under fair-value accounting, though this does not represent realized trading profit. Chaitanya Jain, Strategy's head of investor relations, noted that every $1,000 increase in Bitcoin's price during the quarter represented an $848 million gain for the company.
Strategy financed the latest Bitcoin purchase by selling 92,894 MSTR shares for $15.7 million and using an additional $13 million in cash. Meanwhile, the company has allocated significantly more capital to repurchasing its variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, STRC, spending $176.3 million to buy back about 1.77 million STRC shares between September 28 and October 4. This pushed total spending under its preferred-stock repurchase authorization to roughly $1.45 billion, with $547.2 million remaining under a program doubled to $2 billion in September.
Strategy aims to stabilize STRC's trading price around $100, its stated amount, but the security has remained below that level for nearly 100 consecutive trading sessions. To address this, the company proposed a redesign to accrue dividends daily, including weekends and holidays, with payments made on the next business day. The proposal, which will be voted on by MSTR shareholders on October 28, is intended to reduce price fluctuations, improve liquidity, and attract additional demand for STRC.
The outcome of the vote will test Strategy's preferred-stock funding model, as the company increasingly relies on preferred securities to raise capital for Bitcoin purchases. If approved, STRC would begin accruing dividends daily on November 1, with the first payment under the revised schedule due on November 2. The proposal arrives after an earlier recovery benchmark passed without STRC returning to par, highlighting the challenges Strategy faces in stabilizing the security's price.