Strategy pauses bitcoin buys as Strive adds 6,182 BTC

The two most aggressive corporate bitcoin buyers moved in opposite directions last week: Strategy bought no bitcoin at all and spent $205 million buying back its own preferred stock, while Strive added 6,182 BTC for $511.4 million. Both disclosed the moves in SEC filings on Monday, as reported by Decrypt and Bitcoin Magazine.

Strategy: a pause and a bigger STRC buyback

• No bitcoin was bought between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25, and no shares were sold through its at-the-market (ATM) programme.
• Holdings stay at 848,517 BTC, bought for $64.02 billion in total at an average of $75,446 per coin.
• Strategy repurchased 2,068,459 STRC shares for $205 million, up from $193.1 million the week before, when it still bought 267 BTC.
• The buyback was paid from its general "USD Cash" pool, which fell to $242.4 million from $447.3 million. A separate $4.83 billion reserve for preferred dividends and debt interest was unchanged.
• About $956.8 million remains under its $3 billion preferred buyback programme, plus $1 billion for MSTR common stock.

Strive: 16.8% more bitcoin in a week

Strive (ASST) paid an average of $82,732 per coin between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23, lifting its stack from 36,818 to 43,000 BTC. The purchase follows its $630 million SATS preferred offering, and the filing sets up a new ATM to sell up to $1 billion more SATS over time. The Block notes Strive is closing in on the title of second-largest corporate bitcoin treasury. The company says it carries no debt.

Why the split matters

The difference comes down to how each company's preferred stock is trading. Selling new preferreds only makes sense near par; when they trade below it, buying them back looks better, a dynamic we described in our take on preferred dividends competing with bitcoin buys. Strategy also faces an index deadline: MSCI publishes on Nov. 11 the list of non-operating companies that leave its indexes at the close of Nov. 30. New to this business model? Our explainer on what a bitcoin treasury company is covers how they raise money and where the risks sit.