Strategy Inc. just invented a new way to answer the question every shareholder has been quietly asking: after all the convertible debt and preferred stock gets paid, how much Bitcoin is actually mine?
The company unveiled its “Net Bitcoin Per Share” metric on July 24, a calculation that takes Strategy’s gross Bitcoin holdings, subtracts all senior claims against them, and divides what’s left by the fully diluted share count. The result can be expressed in satoshis or US dollars, giving common shareholders a single number that represents their residual claim on the firm’s Bitcoin treasury.
The math behind the metric
Here’s the thing about Strategy’s balance sheet: it’s gotten complicated. The company holds 843,775 BTC valued at roughly $55.6 billion. But sitting ahead of common shareholders in the capital stack is $22.3 billion in senior claims.
That $22.3 billion breaks down into two buckets. There’s $6.8 billion in out-of-the-money convertible debt, the kind that hasn’t been converted to equity because the stock price hasn’t hit the right levels. Then there’s $15.5 billion in preferred stock, which gets paid before common shareholders see a dime.
Subtract those obligations from the gross Bitcoin value and you get a net reserve of $36.6 billion. In English: common shareholders have a claim on about two-thirds of Strategy’s Bitcoin, not the full stash. The Net BPS metric simply takes that $36.6 billion figure and divides it across all outstanding shares.
The company’s shift toward what it calls a “Digital Credit” capital framework, first outlined on June 29, essentially means Strategy is treating its Bitcoin holdings as collateral for an increasingly layered capital structure. The Net BPS metric is an acknowledgment that the old way of measuring shareholder value, just looking at total BTC held, doesn’t cut it anymore.
New guardrails on dilution
Alongside the new metric, Strategy overhauled its formula for calculating multiple-to-net-asset-value, known as mNAV. The revised version permanently sets the equity-issuance threshold at 1.0x.
Translation: the company will only issue new shares when doing so would be accretive, meaning the issuance price exceeds the per-share net asset value. Any stock sold above that 1.0x line actually increases Net BPS for existing holders rather than diluting it.
The company also disclosed a Bitcoin Breakeven Annualized Return Rate of 3.22%. That’s the annual rate at which Bitcoin needs to appreciate for Strategy to cover its ongoing interest payments on convertible debt and preferred dividends purely through BTC price gains. If Bitcoin returns more than 3.22% per year, the company can service its obligations without selling any coins or issuing more equity.
Why this matters for investors
The Net BPS metric forces that conversation into the open. It strips away the flattering top-line number and replaces it with something closer to economic reality: common shareholders have a claim on $36.6 billion of Bitcoin value, not the full $55.6 billion gross figure.
The mNAV guardrail is arguably the most consequential change for long-term holders. By committing to only issue shares above the 1.0x net asset value threshold, Strategy is telling existing shareholders that future fundraising will add to their per-share Bitcoin exposure, not subtract from it.
Investors watching this space should track the Net BPS number alongside Bitcoin’s price. If the metric grows faster than BTC appreciates, it means the company’s capital allocation is working in shareholders’ favor. If it stagnates or shrinks while Bitcoin rises, something in the capital structure is absorbing the gains before they reach common equity.