Strategy Bought 250 Bitcoin Last Week and Spent Nearly Nine Times That Buying Back Its Own Preferred Shares. Has the Biggest Buyer Stopped Moving the BTC Price?
Strategy spent nearly nine times more cash on preferred share buybacks than on bitcoin last week, raising a question that matters to every BTC investor: has the company that built its identity around relentless bitcoin accumulation quietly lost its grip…
In the week of October 5 to October 11, 2026, Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) allocated a hefty $192.4 million to buy back its STRC preferred shares—almost nine times more than the $21.5 million it used to purchase bitcoin.
According to a filing on October 12, the company, previously known as MicroStrategy and recognized as the largest holder of corporate bitcoin, acquired 250 bitcoin that week. This latest purchase was actually smaller than the 334 bitcoin it bought the week before.
Despite this activity, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) barely reacted. As of October 13, Bitcoin is trading around $83,280, down 3.5% over the week, after dipping to about $81,000 and triggering over $770 million in liquidations of leveraged positions.
With the largest corporate buyer of bitcoin now focusing most of its weekly cash on preferred stock, does its bitcoin purchasing power still influence bitcoin’s price?
Strategy Paid About $86,194 per Coin for Its Latest Bitcoin Purchase
For its latest acquisition of 250 bitcoin, Strategy paid an average of $86,194 per coin, including fees. To finance the purchase, the company raised $21 million by selling 125,183 new common shares through an at-the-market program, plus an additional $0.5 million in cash. This program lets a company issue new shares and sell them gradually at current market prices.
As a result, existing shareholders now own a slightly smaller portion of a slightly larger bitcoin stash. Their investment benefits only if the value of this bitcoin grows faster than the increase in share count.
As of October 11, Strategy held 848,250 bitcoin, purchased for $64 billion, or about $75,444 per coin. At Bitcoin’s current price of around $83,280, this stockpile is worth about $70.6 billion—roughly $6.6 billion more than Strategy paid. However, this latest batch of 250 coins stands out, as Strategy acquired them for about 3.5% more than Bitcoin’s current market value.
The pace of Strategy’s bitcoin purchases has noticeably slowed. The company bought 334 bitcoin the previous week and acquired 7,218 in total over the third quarter, averaging about 555 bitcoin per week.
Spot Bitcoin Funds Lost $681 Million in the Same Week
In the same week, spot bitcoin funds—exchange-traded funds that function like stocks but hold actual bitcoins—experienced net outflows totaling $681.1 million. This outflow was around 32 times greater than Strategy’s $21.5 million bitcoin purchase.
Bitcoin’s daily trading volume amplifies this disparity. Approximately $32.8 billion in bitcoin trades daily, meaning Strategy’s entire weekly purchase represented less than 0.1% of a single day’s volume. Consequently, larger transactions by funds and traders, not Strategy’s weekly purchases, drive price more than Strategy’s weekly purchases.
Strategy Kept $4.88 Billion in Reserve as Its Other Cash Fell
Strategy’s cash flow reflects a similar trend. The company maintained a USD reserve of $4.88 billion, which it claims covers preferred-share dividends and interest on its debt. Meanwhile, its other USD cash declined to $640.5 million from $833.4 million the previous week. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor noted that the company’s balance sheet includes 848,250 bitcoin and $5.5 billion in dollar assets, illustrating firm management of its financial responsibilities.
Do Strategy’s Bitcoin Purchases Still Affect BTC Prices?
At this point, the answer appears to be no. The weekly purchase of just 250 bitcoin is minuscule compared with the $681.1 million outflow from spot funds and daily trading volumes of about $32.8 billion. While STRC share buybacks help stabilize its market for income-focused investors, the $192.4 million spent on these shares did not go toward bitcoin purchases.
This could change if buybacks slow, redirecting funds back to bitcoin purchases. If Strategy reports weekly bitcoin spending that outstrips the $192.4 million allocated to STRC during a week when spot funds are experiencing inflows, it could regain influence on bitcoin prices. Until then, each bitcoin purchase by Strategy seems more like a corporate update with limited impact on BTC.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
