Michael Saylor Skips Bitcoin Again

Michael Saylor and Strategy skipped another Bitcoin purchase last week—but they were hardly sitting on cash. Instead, the company spent $176.3 million repurchasing its own STRC preferred shares and doubled its authorized digital-credit buyback program to $2 billion.

The move may look strange for a company built around accumulating as much Bitcoin as possible. But Michael Saylor did not suddenly abandon his BTC▲$62,630.00 strategy. Rather, he is trying to repair and strengthen the financing machinery that helps Strategy raise money for future Bitcoin purchases.

Strategy Bought No Bitcoin Last Week

According to Strategy’s September 8 filing, the company neither bought nor sold Bitcoin between August 31 and September 7.

Its holdings therefore remained unchanged at 845,050 BTC, acquired for approximately $63.73 billion at an average price of $75,412 per Bitcoin.

The pause came only one week after Strategy ended a roughly two-month Bitcoin buying drought. Between August 24 and August 30, it purchased 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318.

That makes the latest pause notable—but not necessarily bearish.

Strategy also repurchased STRC during the week when it bought Bitcoin. The company spent about $151.8 million on STRC between August 24 and August 30 while simultaneously acquiring $370 million of BTC.

The real story is therefore not that Strategy has suddenly chosen stock instead of Bitcoin. It is that repairing STRC has become a major capital-allocation priority.

What Did Strategy Spend $176M On?

Strategy did not buy back its familiar MSTR common shares. It purchased 1,810,885 shares of STRC, its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, for $176.3 million.

That works out to an average purchase price of approximately $97.36 per share.

STRC has a stated amount of $100 and currently pays a variable annual dividend. Strategy has explicitly said that its objective is for STRC to trade consistently around $99–$100 with high liquidity and relatively low volatility.

So the latest purchase was not a conventional stock buyback designed primarily to increase earnings per common share. It was part of a deliberate attempt to bring one of Strategy’s most important financing instruments back toward par.

Why Is Strategy Buying Back STRC?

The preferred shares pay cash dividends and are part of what Strategy calls its “digital credit” securities.

But there is a problem when STRC trades substantially below its $100 stated amount.

A discounted price can signal weak demand, increase the effective yield required by investors, and make issuing additional STRC less attractive. If Strategy wants preferred securities to become a repeatablean remain stable near par

That is why Strategy under Michael Saylor announced in July that it intended to be a regular buyer of STRC while the shares remained below $100.

The $176 million purchase is the latest—and largest—step in that campaign.

Strategy Has Been Increasing Its STRC Buybacks

The latest repurchase was not an isolated event.

Strategy began buying STRC in July when the preferred shares were trading much further below par. Its first disclosed purchase totaled approximately $25 million at an average price of $86.52.

Since then, the weekly pace has generally increased.

Strategy spent around $136 million on STRC during August 17–23, roughly $152 million during August 24–30, and another $176 million during the latest reporting period.

The company has now used roughly $810 million of its repurchase authorization.

Rather than allowing the original $1 billion program to run out, Strategy’s board doubled it to $2 billion. Approximately $1.19 billion remains available.

That suggests supporting its preferred-credit market has become a structural part of Strategy’s treasury model rather than a temporary response to one weak trading period.

Why Does the $100 STRC Price Matter?

For Michael Saylor, the closer STRC trades to $100, the more useful it becomes as a financing instrument.

Strategy’s stated policy is not to issue new STRC below $100. Selling additional shares below par while promising dividends based on a $100 stated amount would produce unattractive financing economics.

A healthy STRC market near $100 creates the opposite setup.

Strategy can potentially sell additional preferred shares at attractive prices, use the proceeds for corporate purposes—including Bitcoin purchases—and service the resulting dividends through its cash-reserve structure.

That makes the STRC buyback unusual: spending cash on preferred stock today could make it easier for Strategy to raise capital to buy Bitcoin tomorrow.

Strategy Bought STRC Below Its Stated Amount

There is also a straightforward financial advantage.

Strategy paid approximately $97.36 per STRC share while each share has a $100 stated amount. The 1.81 million shares therefore represented around $181.1 million of stated preferred value but cost the company only $176.3 million.

The difference is approximately $4.8 million.

Repurchasing shares also reduces the amount of preferred stock on which Strategy would otherwise have to pay future cash dividends.

With STRC’s dividend currently around 12% annually, maintaining a large outstanding preferred base creates a substantial recurring cash obligation.

So the buyback simultaneously supports STRC’s market price and shrinks Strategy’s future preferred-dividend burden.

Why Not Spend the $176M on Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was trading around the high-$70,000 range during much of the period, close to Strategy’s average acquisition cost.

Buying another $176 million of BTC would therefore have added roughly 2,200 Bitcoin at current prices.

But Bitcoin is already the dominant asset on Strategy’s balance sheet. The company holds more than 845,000 BTC, equivalent to over 4% of Bitcoin’s ultimate 21 million supply.

Its immediate bottleneck may no longer be finding opportunities to buy another few thousand coins.

Instead, Michael Saylor increasingly needs durable funding mechanisms capable of supporting Strategy’s enormous Bitcoin position through both bull and bear markets.

That makes strengthening STRC potentially more valuable than maximizing BTC purchases every single week.

Strategy Now Has More Than $6.5B in Dollar Assets

The company has also changed the way it manages cash.

As of September 7, Strategy held a $5.10 billion USD Reserve plus another $1.44 billion of USD Cash.

The two pools serve different purposes.

The USD Reserve is primarily intended to cover preferred-stock dividends and interest payments. USD Cash is more flexible and can be used for Bitcoin purchases, reserve expansion, capital management, and other corporate purposes.

The latest $176.3 million STRC repurchase came entirely from USD Cash.

Importantly, Strategy did not sell new MSTR shares during the period to finance the buyback.

That differs from some previous weeks, when Strategy used proceeds from common-stock issuance to fund Bitcoin purchases, STRC repurchases, dividends, and additional liquidity.

Why Strategy Is Building a Bitcoin Credit Machine

Strategy’s business model is becoming more complicated than “issue MSTR, buy Bitcoin.”

The company now operates a stack of securities with different risk and return profiles: MSTR common stock plus STRF, STRC, STRK, STRD, and STRE preferred shares.

Saylor’s larger goal is to use Bitcoin as the foundation for a corporate credit ecosystem.

In that model, Bitcoin provides the underlying balance-sheet asset while preferred securities provide investors with varying levels of yield and exposure.

For the system to work, those credit instruments need reliable liquidity and market confidence.

That explains why Michael Saylor may sometimes prioritize STRC over adding another batch of Bitcoin.

The company is not merely accumulating BTC anymore. It is trying to build financial products on top of its Bitcoin treasury.

Is Michael Saylor Turning Bearish on Bitcoin?

There is little evidence of that.

Strategy still identifies Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, holds 845,050 BTC, and resumed purchases only one week before the latest pause.

The company has also explicitly designed its USD Cash pool so that it can be deployed toward future Bitcoin acquisitions.

More importantly, buying back STRC does not undermine the Bitcoin strategy. A healthier preferred-stock market could eventually give Strategy another channel through which to raise capital for BTC purchases.

The latest decision therefore looks more like capital-structure management than a change in Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin conviction.

Why the Buyback Could Matter for MSTR Investors

For MSTR shareholders, the shift reveals how Strategy’s priorities are evolving.

During earlier phases of its Bitcoin strategy, the most important question was simply how many coins the company could accumulate.

Now the health of its preferred securities matters too.

If products such as STRC trade reliably near par, Strategy may be able to raise capital with less dependence on issuing additional MSTR common shares. That could reduce the need for common-stock dilution while expanding the company’s funding options.

But the model also creates new complexity.

Preferred dividends require real cash, Bitcoin can fall sharply, and supporting several classes of securities may sometimes compete with direct BTC purchases for available liquidity.

Strategy is increasingly becoming a leveraged Bitcoin financial institution rather than simply a public company holding Bitcoin.

What Happens Next?

The next few weekly filings will show whether the latest Bitcoin pause is temporary.

Strategy still has approximately $1.44 billion of flexible USD Cash, $1.19 billion of preferred-security repurchase authorization, and a separate untouched $1 billion authorization for MSTR common-stock repurchases.

STRC is also approaching the company’s $99–$100 target range.

If the preferred shares finally stabilize near par, Strategy could reduce the pace of buybacks and redirect more cash toward Bitcoin or other purposes.

That is why the $176 million STRC purchase should not necessarily be interpreted as money diverted permanently away from BTC.

Strategy may simply be fixing the machine it intends to use to finance the next round of Bitcoin accumulation.

Why Did Strategy Skip Buying Bitcoin?

Strategy did not explain the decision as a change in its Bitcoin outlook. Instead, it used $176.3 million of USD Cash to repurchase STRC preferred shares as part of its broader capital-management strategy.

What Is STRC Stock?

STRC is Strategy’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock. It pays cash dividends at a variable annual rate and is designed to trade close to its $100 stated amount.

How Much STRC Did Strategy Buy Back?

Strategy repurchased 1,810,885 STRC shares for approximately $176.3 million between August 31 and September 7, 2026.

How Much Bitcoin Does Strategy Own?

Strategy held approximately 845,050 BTC as of September 7, acquired for $63.73 billion at an average cost of about $75,412 per Bitcoin.

Is Strategy Still Planning to Buy Bitcoin?

Yes. Bitcoin remains Strategy’s primary treasury reserve asset, and its flexible USD Cash pool can be used for additional Bitcoin purchases. The latest STRC buyback does not represent an abandonment of its Bitcoin strategy.

Source: bitcoinfoundation.org