Strategy makes record $205 million STRC buyback as Strive spends $511 million on Bitcoin

Bitcoin treasury firms Strategy and Strive made record purchases last week, but directed their capital toward different assets.

While Michael Saylor's Strategy intensified its preferred-stock buybacks, Strive accelerated its Bitcoin accumulation, highlighting diverging priorities in how the companies deploy capital.

Strategy's Bitcoin buying streak ended after five consecutive weeks as the company stepped up efforts to support its STRC high-yield preferred stock.

The Saylor-led firm acquired no Bitcoin between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25, its first weekly pause since mid-September. It also raised no fresh capital through its at-the-market equity program, leaving its holdings unchanged at 848,517 BTC, purchased for approximately $64.02 billion.

Instead, the company spent a record $204.9 million to retire 2.07 million shares of its STRC preferred stock, extending a buyback campaign that has now spent more than $2 billion since July.

Bitcoin analyst Ragnar estimated that Strategy accounted for 28% of STRC trading volume in the latest week, showing how much the company's own purchases have contributed to demand for the security.

The scale of the purchases is particularly notable because STRC has recovered much of the ground lost during Bitcoin's June selloff, when the security briefly traded near $71, well below its $100 stated value.

Strategy initially sought to exploit that discount, buying back shares at prices that reduced its outstanding preferred capital and future dividend obligations. The firm publicly maintained that it would become less aggressive as the security approached $100.

However, the opposite has happened in dollar terms. Strategy executed its initial $25 million repurchase at an average price of $86.52 per share, compared with approximately $99.06 in its latest transaction. Weekly spending has continued to rise despite the shrinking discount.

The increased commitment has also drawn heavily on cash that could otherwise finance additional Bitcoin purchases. Strategy's unrestricted USD Cash balance fell to $242.4 million from $1.6 billion over the latest reporting week, reflecting an 84.8% decline.

The company left its separate $4.83 billion reserve earmarked for preferred dividends and debt interest untouched. It also retains $956.8 million in repurchase capacity after expanding its preferred-stock buyback authorization to $3 billion.

Market observers argue that Strategy's next move could reduce the need for further market intervention in STRC.

The company is seeking shareholder approval on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to introduce daily dividend payments for its preferred securities, replacing STRC's existing twice-monthly schedule.

The proposed change would allow investors to receive and reinvest income more often while potentially reducing price fluctuations tied to dividend payment dates. Strategy hopes the arrangement will help keep STRC trading near $100 without increasing its current 12% annual dividend rate.