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For yet another week, Michael Saylor has maintained his stance of making no fresh Bitcoin purchases for his Bitcoin holding firm, Strategy. Instead, the company has sold $334 million worth of MSTR stock and used nearly half of its proceeds i.e. $150 million, towards building its USD reserves. Furthermore, the company is systematically using the rest of the proceeds to buy back STRC shares.
Strategy Raises $333.7M Through MSTR Stock Sale
Michael Saylor’s Strategy, previously popular as MicroStrategy, sold 3.46 million MSTR shares through its at-the-market (ATM) program last week, generating $333.7 million in net proceeds.
The company made no Bitcoin purchases or sales between August 10 and August 16, leaving its holdings unchanged at 840,447 BTC. The Bitcoin was acquired for $63.36 billion, at an average purchase price of $75,385 per BTC, as per the official press release.
Strategy used the proceeds to repurchase $132.2 million of STRC shares, fund $52.4 million in STRC dividends, and add $149.1 million to its U.S. dollar reserve. The company’s USD reserve stood at $4.8 billion as of August 16.
MSTR Stock Faces Dilution to Boost STRC Holdings
Over the past few weeks, Michael Saylor’s firm has been selling its MSTR stock holdings and purchasing the STRC preferred stock to regain its $100 peg. This is important in order to stay committed to the company’s policy of offering over 10% dividend yield.
With the latest $132 million in STRC share repurchases, the STRC BTC credit has tightened by 4 basis points to 114 basis points. Speaking on the matter, Michael Saylor wrote:
“Over the past year, BTC fell 47%. Our Digital Credit instruments ranged from -27% to +9%, with STRC up 9%. Financial engineering can transform volatile Digital Capital into instruments designed for income, stability, and reduced downside risk”.
After falling to a low of $74 in June, STRC shares have regained strength following the timely intervention by Michael Saylor and Strategy Management. Although it meant selling MSTR stock, the STRC share buyback has helped the price to reach closer to its $100 peg. This has eased concerns among investors about the dividend yield.
Are Institutions Buying MSTR Shares?
Over the past week, large institutions have reportedly been adding more shares to their MSTR holdings. As reported by Bitcoin Treasuries, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Strategy (MSTR) by 44,440 shares, worth approximately $4.2 million. The firm now holds 9.33 million MSTR shares, valued at around $883.5 million, increasing its Bitcoin exposure through the company.
Meanwhile, Renaissance Technologies purchased an additional 422,881 MSTR shares, worth approximately $40.1 million. Its total holdings now stand at 2.55 million shares, valued at around $242.3 million, with a 20% increase in its position.
Some reports also suggested that the National Bank of Canada doubled its stake in the Bitcoin Treasury firm, Strategy. Sources say that the bank reportedly purchased 1.2 million MSTR shares, worth $116 million.
