Strategy President and CEO Phong Le said in a Bloomberg interview that the company does not make decisions based on Bitcoin’s specific price. Over the past two months, they did not buy any coins but reduced their net liabilities from approximately $7 billion to zero, holding $72 billion in assets—$65 billion in Bitcoin and $7 billion in U.S. dollar reserves, with reserves increasing by 34% over the two-month period. He described this as an “impregnable” balance sheet.
(Prior context: Michael Saylor shouts "We're Back," MicroStrategy may resume Bitcoin purchases after two-month pause)
(Background: MicroStrategy surges 11.5% in a single day; Peter Schiff casts doubt: Short squeeze propping up prices, death spiral unresolved)
Key Highlights
- Phong Le said Strategy holds $72 billion in assets, with net debt reduced from approximately $7 billion to zero.
- SEC filings show that 4,603 bitcoins were repurchased last week at an average price of $80,318.
- Net sell-off of 6,916 coins over the two-month buying halt, with an average selling price near $64,000.
Holding 845,000 bitcoins, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) President and CEO Phong Le was asked on Monday (9/1) on Bloomberg’s program “Bloomberg Crypto” why the company paused its bitcoin purchases for two months. His response was that the company’s decisions are not based on price.
We do not make decisions based on Bitcoin's specific price. So what did we do? Over the past two months, even though we did not buy Bitcoin, we strengthened our balance sheet.
The numbers he provided are: the Strategy currently holds $72 billion in assets, of which $65 billion is Bitcoin and $7 billion is U.S. dollar reserves, with reserves increasing by 34% over two months. During the same period, the company reduced its net liabilities from approximately $7 billion to zero.
“By strengthening our balance sheet, we’ve actually increased our equity value, making it more profitable to sell MSTR and buy Bitcoin,” said Phong Le, noting that it is now a “bulletproof” fortress balance sheet.
Strategy has resumed buying Bitcoin. According to the company’s 8-K filing with the SEC last Friday (8/31), it purchased 4,603 BTC between August 24 and 30 for $369.7 million, at an average price of $80,318. Total holdings now stand at 845,050 BTC, with a cumulative cost of $63.73 billion, averaging $75,412 per BTC.
Sixty percent of the funds are converted into Bitcoin, and forty percent are used to address preferred shares.
The source of the funds is clearly outlined in the 8-K cash flow statement. Last week, Strategy sold 4,531,421 shares of common stock MSTR via ATM, netting $602.8 million at an average price of $133 per share.
These over $600 million were allocated across four transactions: $369.7 million to purchase Bitcoin, $151.8 million to repurchase STRC preferred shares, $50.7 million to pay STRC dividends, and the remaining $30 million to replenish the USD liquidity account.
In other words, only 60% of the money raised from selling stocks last week actually became Bitcoin; the remaining 40% was used to handle special shares issued by the company itself. This is what Phong Le referred to as “strengthening the balance sheet.”
The growth of dollar reserves is also significant: the dedicated dollar reserves disclosed in the 8-K increased from $1.4 billion on June 21 to $3.75 billion on July 26.
During the two-month buying halt, the Strategy was a net seller.
Line up the position numbers from the weekly 8-Ks, and you’ll have a complete picture of the actions over the past two months.
The last time the strategy bought coins was during the week of June 15 to 21, purchasing 520 coins at an average price of $67,068, pushing the holding to a peak of 847,363 coins. After that, buying stopped and selling began. By August 9, the holding had dropped to 840,447 coins, a decrease of 6,916 coins overall. This figure aligns with Phong Le’s statement in the interview of “approximately 7,000 coins.”
The selling price was around $64,000. For the batch sold between August 3 and 9, 1,690 coins were sold for $108.6 million, at an average price of $64,262. Footnote 8-K states that all proceeds were used to repurchase STRC preferred shares.
So, looking at it in detail, Strategy sold approximately 6,900 coins near $64,000 and repurchased 4,603 coins over two months later at $80,000. The price difference was about 25%, and the quantity repurchased was 2,313 coins fewer than what was sold.
This isn’t a matter of poor timing—it’s a sequencing issue. Preferred dividends and buybacks follow a fixed schedule; Bitcoin’s price does not. When the balance sheet takes precedence over Bitcoin’s price, selling at lows and buying at highs becomes inevitable. Phong Le says “don’t make decisions based on Bitcoin’s specific price,” but in practice, this may result in selling high and buying low.
The decision isn't about Bitcoin; it's about STRC.
Buy low, sell high. The real signal to pay attention to is STRC; Phong Le gave the answer during a Bloomberg interview in July: "When STRC returns to par value, we will reissue it, and we will buy Bitcoin."
STRC is a floating-rate perpetual preferred share of Strategy with a par value of $100. The repurchase average price matches its market price. During the week of August 3–9, Strategy repurchased 1,152,020 shares for $108.6 million at an average price of $94.27. During the week of August 10–16, the average price was $95.19. By the week of August 24–30, the average price was $97.48.
Up three weeks, just 2.5% away from reaching its $100 face value.
The market's response has been less enthusiastic; MSTR closed Monday at $124.88, down 6.06% for the day, below the $133 price at which the company sold shares last week. Bitcoin traded at approximately $77,564 on the same day, also below last week’s average purchase price of $80,318, leaving the current holding of 4,603 bitcoins with an unrealized loss of about $12.68 million.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the strategy stop buying Bitcoin for two months?
Phong Le said that over the past two months, the balance sheet has been strengthened, with net debt reduced from approximately $7 billion to zero, and dollar reserves increased by 34%. SEC filings show that proceeds from coin sales during the same period were entirely used to repurchase STRC preferred shares.
How many bitcoins do you currently hold?
As of August 30, it was 845,050 coins, with a total cost of $63.73 billion, averaging $75,412 per coin. This number is 2,313 coins fewer than the peak of 847,363 coins on June 21.
