Strategy repurchases $208.2 million in STRC shares, triples recent Bitcoin spend

Strategy, a prominent Bitcoin-focused corporate treasury and investment firm led by Michael Saylor, spent $208.2 million repurchasing its STRC preferred shares last week, a figure more than three times its Bitcoin investment for the same period.

STRC buybacks overshadow Bitcoin acquisitions

According to a Monday 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Strategy allocated $65.5 million to purchase 811 Bitcoin at an average price of $80,846 per coin. In contrast, the company spent heavily on its STRC preferred share buyback program, marking a substantial prioritization of STRC over further Bitcoin accumulation during the week.

The company’s use of capital for share buybacks follows a broader pattern observed in October, when it repurchased $664 million in STRC shares between October 1 and October 25. Over that same period, Strategy invested about $72 million in Bitcoin, reflecting a consistent trend of STRC buybacks outpacing direct Bitcoin buys.

Strategy’s recent filing indicates the company spent $208.2 million on STRC repurchases last week, compared to $65.5 million allocated for buying 811 Bitcoin, continuing a recent pattern of prioritizing share buybacks over Bitcoin acquisitions.

This emphasis on preferred share buybacks comes as the price of STRC preferred stock advanced by 0.1% in pre-market trading on Monday, reaching $99.22. This remains roughly 0.8% below the company’s $100 target price, a threshold the firm uses to govern new issuances.

Company policy prohibits issuing new STRC preferred shares below the $100 mark, limiting available funding from this source unless the stock rises above the target price.

Strategy sold about 1.18 million of its MSTR shares, raising $164 million in net proceeds. Of this amount, $65.5 million was used for Bitcoin purchases, while the remaining $98.5 million was allocated to its US dollar cash reserves.

As of Sunday, the company reported holding $132.7 million in USD cash and $4.79 billion in a separate US dollar reserve. These reserves position Strategy to continue both strategic share repurchases and Bitcoin investments amid market volatility.

Metaplanet follows with multi-billion yen share buyback

Metaplanet, a Tokyo-based Bitcoin treasury company, also reported major share buybacks. The firm spent approximately 25.27 billion yen ($160 million) to repurchase 96.45 million of its common shares from October 14 through Saturday. This represented around 7.1% of its issued shares.

Large-scale buybacks by both Strategy and Metaplanet reflect persistent efforts by crypto-focused companies to manage their capital structure while pursuing Bitcoin acquisition strategies.

Mini dictionary: Metaplanet is a Japanese publicly listed company known for its significant corporate Bitcoin holdings, similar to US-based MicroStrategy, and frequently engages in treasury management involving both equity buybacks and digital asset purchases.

The continued accumulation of Bitcoin and share repurchases by companies such as Strategy and Metaplanet come as institutional discussion around Bitcoin’s hashrate and market prospects intensifies.