Strategy Spent 3 Times More on Stock Buybacks Than Bitcoin in 5 Weeks. So Who Is Buying BTC?

Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) made headlines recently for spending an impressive $890 million on stock buybacks, repurchasing its preferred stock between September 14 and October 18, 2026. According to Santiment data, this amount is three times the company’s Bitcoin purchases during the same period, which totaled 3,466 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) at a cost of $290 million.

A preferred stock buyback occurs when a company uses cash to buy back shares it previously issued. This practice reduces the shareholder base and lowers the dividends the company must pay.

On October 19, Strategy’s board of directors raised the buyback cap to $3 billion. Most of the $890 million came from a significant reduction in the company’s dollar cash, which fell from $1.3 billion on September 13 to $447 million by October 18.

As of October 20, Bitcoin was trading at about $81,511, down 0.7% in the previous 24 hours. Meanwhile, Strategy shares were trading around $134 in premarket activity, down 1.5% from the October 19 close of $136.

Although Strategy continues to buy Bitcoin, it is now allocating more of its cash reserves to support its stock buyback initiatives. With the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin shifting its resources, the question arises: Who is buying BTC now?

Strategy Inc.’s Expanded Buyback Program Protects Its Preferred Stock

Strategy markets itself as the world’s first and largest Bitcoin Treasury Company, but it also develops enterprise analytics software, which generated $122.4 million in revenue in Q2 FY2026. Despite this income, the company’s Bitcoin holdings primarily drive its financial performance. It reported a staggering $8.22 billion net loss in Q2 FY2026 due to the fair-value accounting of its digital assets.

The Bitcoin treasury relies heavily on capital markets. In Q2 FY2026 alone, Strategy raised $8.41 billion by issuing new common shares and also sold perpetual preferred stock—this type of stock pays a fixed dividend to investors ahead of common stockholders and has no maturity date.

The company’s main preferred stock, Stretch (STRC), offers a 12% annual dividend based on a $100 value, meaning that buying it back for less than this value cancels a significant dividend obligation.

CEO Phong Le elaborated on this strategy during the Q2 results call. “Our objective is for STRC to trade over time at $99 to $100. If STRC trades below $100, we intend to repurchase STRC shares in a regular and disciplined manner,” he stated. In Q2 alone, the company repurchased $25 million worth of STRC at an average discount of 13.5% below par.

Meanwhile, Strategy recently funded a $22.1 million Bitcoin purchase at an average price of $82,900 per coin, primarily through sales of new common shares. This brings the company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 848,517 BTC, purchased for $64.02 billion, or about $75,446 per coin, for a paper gain of about 8% for now.

Strategy Inc.’s Cash Is Moving Away From Bitcoin

Strategy currently has $447 million in flexible cash, separate from a $3.75 billion reserve set aside for preferred dividends and debt interest, enough to cover over two years of these payments. Thus, the buybacks have depleted the company’s spare cash but haven’t impacted its dividend reserve.

Furthermore, the October 19 filing does not obligate Strategy to continue buying Bitcoin at the same level. While the board increased the ceiling for stock repurchases, it made no similar commitment for Bitcoin acquisitions.

They have authorized the potential sale of up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin to support the reserve for preferred dividends and interest payments. To date, the BTC Monetization Program has sold $218.4 million worth of Bitcoin in 2026, as per the Q2 report.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor mentioned during ParaFi Investor Day in October that “we’re moving back into a bull market.” However, during an early February call, he said the company’s primary focus was establishing Stretch as “the premier credit instrument in the digital world.”

He also said repurchasing convertible notes wouldn’t be wise if one believes Bitcoin prices will rise, a sentiment that seems contradictory given the company’s heavy investment in preferred stock buybacks.

Whales and ETFs Did the Bitcoin Buying, Not Strategy Inc.

According to on-chain data from Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC accumulated 88,987 BTC from September 19 to October 19. In comparison, Strategy acquired only 2,516 BTC during that period, less than 3% of that group’s activity. Therefore, other whales and mid-sized holders drove most Bitcoin purchases during this time.

This buying group may include custodians managing coins for investment funds and ETFs. On October 19, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows, reflecting demand from Wall Street products as well as private investors.

While Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin—owning 848,517 BTC, which is equivalent to 4.04% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply of 21 million—no other company comes close. Metaplanet is the next-largest corporate holder with only 44,000 BTC, suggesting no single company can replace Strategy as a buyer.

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