A seemingly costly round of "selling low and buying high" has restored Strategy's upper hand. After a pause of over two months, Strategy has finally resumed its Bitcoin purchases.
On the evening of August 31, Beijing time, Strategy announced it had acquired 4,603 BTC between August 24 and August 30, spending roughly $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318 per coin. As of August 30, Strategy's total holdings reached 845,050 BTC, with an aggregate investment of approximately $63.73 billion and an average cost basis of $75,412.
During that same week, Strategy made two other notable moves — injecting about $30 million into its "USD Cash" liquidity account and spending roughly $151.8 million to repurchase 1.557 million shares of STRC. By August 30, Strategy's "USD Reserve" stood at $5.1 billion, with USD Cash at $1.61 billion, bringing the combined total to $6.71 billion.
A distinction worth noting: the USD Reserve can only be used to pay dividends on Strategy's preferred shares and interest on outstanding debt, whereas USD Cash is available for broader treasury purposes, including Bitcoin purchases, replenishing the USD Reserve, general capital management, and similar objectives.
Looking purely at price, Strategy's recent BTC trading over the past two months appears somewhat awkward. Data from Lookonchain indicates that Strategy sold a total of 6,916 BTC during this period at an average price of approximately $62,081, only to buy back at an average price of $80,318 — a move that seems like an unwise "sell low, buy high."
However, zooming out reveals that this series of transactions was far from a failure for Strategy overall — it was actually quite successful. The primary purpose of selling coins over the past two months was not to time the top or to signal that BTC's price would decline. The real objective was to resolve a crisis that was even more challenging than BTC's price volatility: the de-pegging of STRC and the cash reserve issues that came to light.
Now, after a series of measures — selling a portion of BTC, bolstering the USD Reserve, adjusting the STRC mechanism, and launching a large-scale buyback — Strategy has finally returned to purchasing Bitcoin. In a sense, this also means the major risk that hung over Strategy over the past two months has, at least, been provisionally addressed.
Where the Crisis Originated
For investors who have long followed Michael Saylor and Strategy, much of this summer's events came as a surprise. In previous years, Strategy had built an extremely simple yet resolute business narrative: raise capital, then buy BTC. Whether through issuing common stock, convertible bonds, or the series of preferred share products later introduced — STRK, STRF, STRD, STRC — Strategy's capital maneuvers ultimately aimed at one goal: continuously raising funds from the capital markets and expanding its BTC holdings.
Within this framework, the most critical factor was not how much cash flow Strategy's software business could generate, but whether the capital markets would continue to fuel this "financing machine." In June, however, problems first surfaced with STRC.
As Strategy's most significant floating-rate preferred share product, STRC's core positioning was to trade close to $100. To maintain this, Strategy would adjust dividends and take other steps to keep STRC attractive, enabling it to absorb capital as a relatively stable financing tool. But as STRC began to de-peg and the situation worsened, this mechanism started to face mounting challenges.
For Strategy, the gravest issue with STRC's de-pegging was this: if the market price stayed below the issue price for an extended period, the company's ability to continue raising funds by issuing more STRC would be significantly impaired. This strikes at the very heart of Strategy's capital model.
Strategy's ability to expand its BTC holdings over the past few years relied on continuous financing. When common stock and preferred share channels operated smoothly, the company could secure new capital and channel it into BTC. But if a major financing channel fails while the company simultaneously faces ongoing cash outflows for preferred dividends and debt interest, liquidity pressure can quickly emerge.
On June 29, Strategy introduced a self-rescue plan called the "Digital Credit Capital Framework." One of its key changes was that, for the first time, selling BTC was formally sanctioned. Under the new arrangement, management could sell a portion of BTC holdings to fund preferred dividends, debt interest payments, or replenish the USD Reserve if doing so proved more advantageous than issuing common stock or pursuing other capital market financing.
In other words, the BTC treasury that was once "only in, never out" was now also designated as a liquidity source during periods of capital market stress. Shortly after, Strategy began executing large-scale BTC disposals — before this, there had been a small-scale test sale of just 32 coins.
Progress on the Remediation Front
Looking back since the June 29 announcement of the Digital Credit Capital Framework, the main thread of Strategy's operations over the past two months is clear: sell some BTC for liquidity, use MSTR ATM offerings to steadily bolster cash reserves, and buy back STRC heavily to repair its de-pegging, until reserve pressures eased.
On the BTC sale side, Strategy sold 3,588 BTC in the week of July 6 at an average price of around $58,603, generating about $210 million; sold 1,638 BTC in the week of August 3 at around $61,660, bringing in roughly $101 million; and sold 1,690 BTC in the week of August 10 at around $64,260, raising about $108.6 million. In total, Strategy offloaded 6,916 BTC and cashed out approximately $430 million.
But selling coins was only part of the broader recovery plan. Over the past two months, Strategy's main source of capital was MSTR's ATM share sales. By consistently selling common stock, the company increased its USD Reserve from $2.55 billion on June 29 to $5.1 billion. It also established a USD Cash account in late August, reaching $1.61 billion by August 30. Together, these two dollar-denominated assets totaled $6.71 billion, up approximately $4.16 billion from the end of June — a gain of more than 160%.
Simultaneously, Strategy has continued to buy back STRC, with the latest week seeing another $151.8 million used to repurchase 1.557 million STRC shares. Since the buyback began in late July, the company has deployed roughly $635 million in total.
The results of this triple-pronged approach are starting to show. Besides the improved cash reserve position, the most evident sign of repair is STRC narrowing its de-pegging gap. As of the morning of September 1, Beijing time, following the U.S. market close, STRC had recovered to around $97 — roughly 3% away from its $100 target. Management had previously stated on the Q2 earnings call that the goal was to bring STRC back to near $100 by September 8, and the odds now look favorable.
What Lies Ahead
At this stage, it would be premature to conclude that Strategy has fully escaped danger. Whether STRC can return to parity by September 8 and then hold near $100 over the long term remains to be seen. Strategy's extensive preferred share structure still implies ongoing cash demands, and the "raise-buy" capital machine's return to normal operation will ultimately depend on sustained market appetite to fund it.
Still, compared with two months ago, Strategy has regained a measure of initiative. Cash reserves have grown substantially, STRC's de-pegging has visibly narrowed, and the company has shifted from continuous selling back to buying. In short, the past two months' decisions amount to a clever form of "selling low and buying high." On the surface, it may look like a loss, but in exchange, Strategy secured over $4 billion in new dollar assets, hundreds of millions in STRC buybacks, and — crucially — the breathing room to recalibrate its capital system at a moment when de-pegging and reserve concerns were rattling the market. The huge shadow that once loomed over the market may not be entirely gone, but it is certainly far less menacing than before.
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