With common stock issuance largely off the table after a steep slide in its share price, Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) has turned to preferred shares to fund its latest major bitcoin purchase.
Fresh weekly BTC acquisitions are nothing new for Strategy, but large-scale buys had become rare in recent months. That changed last week when the company added 8,178 BTC to its reserves, spending $835.6 million at an average price of $102,171 per coin.
The purchase was funded primarily through the firm’s newest preferred-share product, STRE (“Steam”), which drew strong demand in Europe and raised approximately $715 million earlier this month. An additional $131.4 million came from the company’s STRC (“Stretch”) preferred series, according to a Monday filing.
Strategy now holds 649,870 BTC, accumulated at a total cost of $48.37 billion, or roughly $74,433 per bitcoin.
Recent buying activity had been subdued as Strategy’s stock price plunged — down roughly 56% over the past four months — limiting its ability to raise capital through common share sales. With MSTR trading near $199 early Monday, the company’s enterprise value is now only slightly above the value of its bitcoin holdings, making new common stock issuance dilutive for existing shareholders.
Meanwhile, bitcoin traded around $94,500 on Monday, a modest dip from Friday’s levels
