In the week ending July 19, 2024, Strategy sold $263.5 million of common stock but did not use the proceeds to buy Bitcoin. Instead, the company added to its cash reserves, which grew by $225 million to $3.225 billion. This marks the fourth consecutive week without a Bitcoin purchase, leaving its holdings frozen at 843,775 BTC.
Stock sale and cash buildup
The sale of common stock raised $263.5 million. Strategy funneled that into cash, pushing its reserve to $3.225 billion. That's enough to cover about 22 months of preferred-stock dividend and interest payments, well above the 12-month minimum policy. The company is clearly shoring up liquidity, not buying more Bitcoin.
Bitcoin holdings unchanged
Strategy's last Bitcoin buy was on June 22, 2024, when it picked up 520 BTC at an average price of $67,068. Between June 29 and July 5, it sold 3,588 BTC for roughly $216 million, reducing its holdings from 847,363 to 843,775. The average acquisition cost of the current stash is about $75,476 per BTC. At recent prices, the market value of those coins is about $54 billion, leaving an unrealized loss of over $9.4 billion.
Preferred stock troubles
The reserve buildup is aimed at restoring the preferred-stock funding channel, which has been disrupted by weak security prices. Strategy's preferred stock, STRC (Stretch), has a stated value of $100 per share, pays a 12% variable annual dividend, and recently traded near $87. That's a steep discount, and it's made raising capital through that route difficult.
Quarter and year-to-date metrics
For Q2 2024, the key Bitcoin metrics turned negative: BTC Yield was -2.3%, BTC Gain was -19,247 BTC, and the dollar gain was -$1.2 billion. But year-to-date numbers still look positive: BTC Yield at 5.8%, BTC Gain of 39,325 BTC, and a dollar gain of roughly $2.5 billion. The company's cash position is strong, but the preferred-stock channel remains broken. How Strategy fixes that — and whether it resumes buying — is the open question.
