MicroStrategy Sells BTC to Strengthen Liquidity, Plans to Resume Buying in 2026

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MicroStrategy sold Bitcoin to strengthen liquidity zones and support preferred stock. CEO Phong Le said the firm will resume buying in 2026 after preferred shares return to par. Holdings now stand at 840,447 BTC, with proceeds used for STRC repurchases and dividends. Management also sold common shares to raise USD reserves to $4.65 billion. Le noted the next Bitcoin buying phase will likely occur later in 2026, balancing risk-to-reward ratio.

Strategy says it will resume buying Bitcoin in 2026 after trimming its stash to shore up liquidity and shore up preferred stock Strategy CEO Phong Le told Fox Business the company plans to start accumulating Bitcoin again in 2026, even after recent sales that lowered its reserve to 840,447 BTC. The buyback plan, Le said, is tied to the company rebuilding its U.S. dollar liquidity and supporting its variable-rate preferred security, STRC. Why the sales happened - Over the past several weeks Strategy has been running a capital-management program that included selling Bitcoin and common shares. - Proceeds from Bitcoin sales have been used mainly to repurchase STRC preferred shares and to pay preferred dividends. Common-stock sales have been routed into the company’s designated U.S. dollar reserve. - Le framed the activity as tactical: reduce preferred obligations when STRC trades below its $100 stated value, then issue new STRC and buy Bitcoin once STRC returns to par. Recent transactions and the balance sheet - Aug. 3–9: Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for roughly $108.6 million after fees (average price ~$64,262) and repurchased 1,152,020 STRC shares at about $94.29 each. That left roughly $785.2 million available under its STRC repurchase authorization. - Week ending Aug. 2: Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for about $104.73 million (avg. ~$63,957). - Combined across the two latest reporting periods the company sold 3,328 BTC for roughly $213.3 million, reducing reported holdings from 847,363 BTC on June 22 to 840,447 BTC. - Earlier moves included selling 3,588 BTC between June 29–July 5 (about $216 million) and a small 32-BTC sale in late May. - Strategy’s remaining Bitcoin holdings were acquired for about $63.36 billion, at an average price of $75,385 per coin, per the filing. Dollar reserve and equity activity - Strategy sold 6,585,329 MSTR common shares through at-the-market programs, generating approximately $653.1 million net. - Management deposited $650 million into the company’s designated U.S. dollar reserve and added $3.1 million to unrestricted cash, lifting the reserve to $4.65 billion as of Aug. 9. - The reserve — established in December 2025 to support preferred and debt payments — is management-designated liquidity (not a legally restricted account). Management previously said a $4 billion reserve provided about 2.3 years of coverage for preferred dividends and interest. - Adjusted MSTR shares outstanding rose to about 423.85 million after the common-stock sales. The company still has about $11.7 billion of MSTR shares available to issue across two ATM programs. - Strategy retains a separate $1 billion authorization to repurchase MSTR common shares but had not used it as of Aug. 9. STRC mechanics and strategy - STRC is a variable-dividend preferred share designed to trade near its $100 stated amount; management can change the dividend rate monthly to influence trading. The dividend was kept at an annualized 12% for August even though STRC traded below $90 at the end of July. - Strategy has been repurchasing STRC when it trades under par to reduce outstanding preferred shares and boost what it calls STRC’s “Bitcoin credit” (a measure of Bitcoin and cash backing versus preferred obligations). - Le has said the company wants STRC to trade between $99 and $100 and will issue more STRC — and buy more Bitcoin — once the security returns to par. He framed the next buying phase as likely later in 2026, not an immediate move. What this means for investors - MSTR (common stock) and STRC (preferred) are U.S.-listed (Nasdaq), so these activities directly affect U.S. investors and are disclosed via SEC filings. - MSTR provides equity exposure to Strategy’s Bitcoin reserve and its corporate balance sheet; performance can diverge from Bitcoin’s price because of share issuance, cash reserves and capital structure changes. - STRC offers a different flavor of exposure: a variable cash dividend rather than direct Bitcoin ownership, no maturity date, and no guarantee it will trade at its $100 stated amount. Bottom line Strategy’s near-term focus is on liquidity and preferred-stock management; a return to active Bitcoin accumulation is conditional on STRC recovering toward par. If STRC reaches that level, CEO Phong Le says Strategy will issue more preferred shares and resume buying Bitcoin in 2026.

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