Strategy pauses bitcoin purchases, spends $205 million on STRC buybacks

Strategy paused its Bitcoin acquisition streak during the week of October 19 to 25, 2026, choosing instead to spend $204.9 million buying back 2,068,459 shares of its STRC preferred stock. The buyback reduced Strategy's general USD Cash balance by 46% to $242.4 million while leaving its 848,517 BTC reserve unchanged. Company executive Phong Le noted that repurchasing STRC below face value efficiently cuts future dividend claims. Meanwhile, Strategy faces potential exclusion from MSCI equity indexes under new rules targeting single-asset treasury firms.

Bitcoin holdings and recent purchasing activity

• ▪Strategy bought zero Bitcoin during the week of October 19 to 25, 2026, keeping its total holdings unchanged at 848,517 BTC
• ▪Strategy's total 848,517 Bitcoin holdings were acquired for $64.02 billion at an average cost basis of $75,446 per coin

STRC preferred stock repurchases and authorization

• ▪Strategy funded its $204.9 million STRC stock buyback entirely from its USD Cash bucket earmarked for general operational purposes
• ▪Strategy repurchased 2,068,459 shares of its STRC preferred stock for $204.9 million during the week of October 19 to 25, 2026
• ▪Strategy expanded its preferred stock repurchase program authorization limit to $3 billion, leaving $956.8 million in remaining allocation following the latest $204.9 million STRC buybacks

Rationale for repurchasing STRC preferred shares

• ▪Strategy President Phong Le stated that repurchasing STRC shares below $100 face value reduces future preferred dividend requirements at a discount
• ▪Retiring STRC preferred stock below its $100 face value reduces STRC's preferred claim by an amount larger than the cash spent, lifting net Bitcoin per share

Strategy's USD Cash and reserves balances

• ▪Strategy maintained an unchanged separate USD Reserve of $4.83 billion designated to cover preferred stock dividends and corporate debt interest obligations
• ▪Strategy's total USD Assets, comprising its general-purpose USD Cash and dedicated USD Reserve, reached roughly $5.1 billion as of late October 2026
• ▪Strategy's general-purpose USD Cash balance dropped by roughly 46% to $242.4 million following its latest STRC preferred share repurchases

MSCI rule changes for digital asset treasury companies

• ▪MSCI finalized rules on October 15, 2026, that exclude non-operating companies dominated by a single asset from its equity indexes starting after November 30, 2026
• ▪Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor publicly criticized MSCI's October 15, 2026 index eligibility rule changes as discriminatory against digital-asset treasury companies
• ▪MSCI plans to publish on November 11, 2026, the list of digital-asset treasury companies affected by its new index exclusion rules