Strategy makes first back-to-back Bitcoin buys since June as accumulation picks up

Michael Saylor-led Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has made back-to-back weekly Bitcoin purchases for the first time since June, rebuilding its holdings after selling some of the cryptocurrency earlier this quarter.

On Sept. 28, the company said it acquired 1,665 Bitcoin for $142.7 million during the week ended Sept. 27, paying an average of $85,681 per token. That followed a purchase of 950 BTC for $75.7 million the previous week, ending a three-month stretch without consecutive weekly acquisitions.

The latest purchase was about 75% larger than the prior week's buy, pointing to a pickup in accumulation after months in which Strategy alternated between purchases, pauses and occasional sales.

Those sales had pushed Strategy's quarterly Bitcoin accumulation into negative territory. The two latest purchases have reversed that decline, leaving the company with a net 1,666 BTC added during the third quarter with three trading days remaining.

Bitcoin analyst Mark Harvey said Strategy has now repurchased all the Bitcoin it sold during the quarter and added more, extending its streak of consecutive quarters with net Bitcoin growth to 24.

The renewed buying has lifted Strategy's holdings to a record 847,666 BTC, acquired for about $63.9 billion at an average price of $75,437. The company has acquired 175,166 BTC so far this year.

At a current value of about $70.7 billion, the holdings carry an unrealized gain of roughly $6.75 billion, or 10.6%, over Strategy's aggregate purchase cost.

Meanwhile, Strategy's performance metrics show a -3.7% Bitcoin yield year-to-date and a negative BTC Gain of 25,085 BTC, equivalent to about -$2.1 billion at the prices used in its reporting. Its quarterly BTC Gain stands at -100,275, valued at about -$8.37 billion.

Strategy financed the latest acquisitions through its at-the-market common-stock program. The company sold about 1.47 million MSTR shares last week for $246.2 million in net proceeds, leaving another $18.84 billion of issuance capacity under the program.

MSTR analyst Zaid had expected Strategy to spend between $250 million and $300 million on Bitcoin during the week, roughly twice the amount ultimately deployed. He said the lower purchase reflected management's decision to direct capital elsewhere rather than relying more heavily on the company's cash position.

That other destination was STRC.