Strategy, the company that holds more bitcoin than any other listed firm, bought just 250 BTC for $21.5 million between 5 and 11 October 2026, according to a filing with the SEC dated 12 October. In the same week it spent $192.4 million buying back its own STRC preferred shares, almost nine times as much. The pattern, repeated over several weeks, shows how the best-known corporate buyer of bitcoin has changed its priorities in 2026, and what that means for one of the market’s main sources of demand.
What Strategy’s latest filings show
Strategy reports its activity every Monday. The last two filings tell a consistent story:
- 28 September to 4 October: 334 BTC bought for $28.7 million, all between 1 and 4 October, and 1,773,802 STRC shares repurchased for $176.3 million, according to the 8-K of 5 October.
- 5 to 11 October: 250 BTC bought for $21.5 million and 1,932,145 STRC shares repurchased for $192.4 million.
Over the two weeks, that is about $50 million for bitcoin against roughly $369 million for preferred-share buybacks. The bitcoin purchases were funded by sales of MSTR common stock and by cash.
On 11 October Strategy held 848,250 BTC, acquired for a total of $64.00 billion, or $75,444 per coin on average, fees included. That is a little more than 4% of the 21 million bitcoin that will ever exist. The company also reported a “USD Reserve” of $4.88 billion and $640.5 million of separate cash.
The June turn: a “Digital Credit Capital Framework”
The shift dates back to 29 June 2026, when Strategy announced a Digital Credit Capital Framework. Its main pieces were:
- a policy restricting the USD Reserve to paying preferred dividends and debt interest;
- a higher dividend on STRC, its variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, set at 12.00% a year from 1 July, with the stated aim that STRC trade over time around $99 to $100, close to its $100 stated amount;
- a repurchase programme of up to $1.0 billion for its preferred securities, with STRC as the first priority, plus a separate $1.0 billion buyback authorisation for MSTR shares;
- a “BTC monetization program” allowing bitcoin sales to fund these commitments.
Strategy warned in the same release that STRC could trade “significantly lower” than the target range and that it could not guarantee any price.
The framework was then enlarged. According to The Block, the preferred repurchase authorisation was raised to $2 billion in early September, and the bitcoin monetisation programme was expanded to allow up to $5 billion of sales.
From selling bitcoin to buying it again, slowly
The framework was not just theory. Strategy sold bitcoin for the first time since December 2022 at the end of May, according to Decrypt, then sold more in July and August to fund dividends and STRC buybacks. Its holdings fell from a peak of 847,363 BTC in June to 840,447 BTC on 9 August, Decrypt reported.
Purchases resumed afterwards. Holdings stood at 845,050 BTC in mid-September, when the company paused for two weeks, according to The Block, then at 847,666 BTC on 30 September and 848,250 BTC on 11 October. In other words, the company is back above its June level, but its weekly purchases are now measured in hundreds of coins rather than thousands.
Why preferred buybacks come first
Strategy’s own documents give the rationale: it wants STRC to trade near its $100 stated amount and says it will buy back preferred shares when management judges the purchases accretive and good for its capital structure. Retiring preferred shares also reduces future dividend payments, which the company has committed to fund from its cash reserve.
A second factor is valuation. Strategy has long financed bitcoin purchases by issuing shares. That works best when the market values the company well above the bitcoin it owns. In mid-September, The Block reported an enterprise “mNAV”, the company’s own multiple of enterprise value to bitcoin holdings, of 1.1, with MSTR shares about 71% below their 2025 peak. With a multiple close to 1, each new share sold buys little extra bitcoin per existing share, which helps explain the smaller purchases.
What it means for the bitcoin market
For several years, Strategy was one of the largest steady buyers of bitcoin. Its slowdown means that demand from corporate treasuries now matters less than it did, and that other channels, such as the US spot exchange-traded funds, carry more weight. Those funds held about 6% of bitcoin’s market capitalisation as of 13 October, according to Crypto Briefing data.
The episode also shows that a corporate holder can become a seller. Strategy’s commitments to preferred shareholders are paid in dollars, and the company has shown it will sell bitcoin when it judges that necessary. That is a structural difference from an ETF, whose holdings move only with investor flows.
What it means for investors
Owning MSTR shares or its preferred stock is not the same as owning bitcoin. These securities carry company-specific risks: leverage, dividend obligations, dilution from new share sales and changes in management policy. Their prices can diverge sharply from bitcoin’s, in both directions. Anyone considering them should read the company’s filings, not just headlines. This article is information, not investment advice.
What to watch next
- The weekly 8-K filings each Monday, and the balance between bitcoin purchases and STRC buybacks.
- STRC’s trading price relative to the $99 to $100 target range.
- The size of the USD Reserve, which funds dividends and interest.
- Any new use of the bitcoin monetisation programme.
- Strategy’s third-quarter results, which will give a fuller view of its financing.