Strategy purchased 4,603 Bitcoin for $369.7 million on Aug. 31, ending a two-month buying drought and reinforcing its position as the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
The acquisition, disclosed in an 8-K filing, was executed at an average price of $80,318 per coin. Strategy simultaneously repurchased $152 million of STRC, one of its preferred securities, and increased its U.S. dollar cash position by $29 million. The company now holds 845,050 BTC alongside $5.10 billion in USD reserves and $1.61 billion in cash, bringing net leverage to 0.0%.
“Strategy has acquired 4,603 BTC for $370M, increased USD Cash by $29M, and repurchased $152M of STRC,” Saylor wrote on X. “As of 8/30/26, we hold 845,050 BTC and $6.71B of USD Assets, bringing Net Leverage to 0.0%.”
End of a Buying Freeze
The purchase closes a gap that stretched back to June, when Strategy bought 1,550 BTC for $101 million after its first Bitcoin sale in years. That earlier sale of 32 BTC drew scrutiny from JPMorgan analysts, who called it “symbolic and voluntary” but said it “spooked” markets. The June acquisition, priced at an average of $51,332 per coin, restored some investor confidence but did not signal an immediate return to large-scale buying.
Monday’s $370 million transaction matches the pace of Strategy’s larger purchases earlier this year. The company bought 34,164 BTC for $2.54 billion in April, its third-largest single acquisition. Strategy has been using at-the-market equity sales to finance its Bitcoin purchases. The company sold 1,409,600 MSTR shares in recent weeks, raising roughly $181 million.
Sunday’s “We’re back” post on X preceded the filing, following a familiar pattern where Saylor teases the market before disclosures land. Investors had been watching closely since Strategy paused buying entirely in the second quarter to “clean up its balance sheet,” as the company described it at the time. The pause also coincided with Bitcoin’s sharp pullback from its 2026 high near $97,939 to a June low around $58,000, a roughly 40% drawdown that put pressure on Strategy’s unrealized losses.
Strategy also improved its USD duration to 4.0 years, up 23 days, and reduced STRC’s BTC credit spread by 3 basis points to 56 basis points. The moves signal that the company is managing its capital structure alongside its Bitcoin accumulation, rather than simply piling into the asset at any price.
MSTR Rallies but Critics Remain
MSTR shares have climbed 40% over the past month, though the stock remains down 12% year to date. The rally came alongside Bitcoin’s own August surge of roughly 25%, its strongest monthly performance since November 2024 and best August since 2017.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, told Benzinga that Strategy’s approach of selling MSTR shares at a premium to buy “cheaper” Bitcoin worked in bull markets but started to “unwind” as prices fell. He called Saylor’s strategy “the worst thing” to happen to Bitcoin, arguing that the concentrated holdings create systemic risk if MSTR’s stock price faces sustained pressure.
Strategy’s holdings now represent roughly 4% of Bitcoin’s maximum 21 million-coin supply. That concentration makes every large purchase a closely watched event for corporate treasury managers, MSTR investors, and Bitcoin traders. The company’s total Bitcoin cost basis, spread across purchases dating back to its initial $250 million acquisition in August 2020, sits well below current market prices.
Bitcoin Holds Steady Near $78,000
Bitcoin traded at approximately $78,450 following the announcement, roughly flat on the day. The price held on to gains from its August rally despite renewed escalation between the U.S. and Iran, which pushed Brent crude above $90, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish comments at Jackson Hole that raised expectations for a September rate hike.
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, called the resilience notable given “the increasingly difficult cross-asset backdrop, with higher bond yields, a firmer dollar, and renewed geopolitical stress all creating headwinds for risk assets.” He argued that the combination of higher oil prices and Warsh’s hawkish message is limiting Bitcoin’s immediate upside, though buyers have continued to step in on dips.
Jasper De Maere, OTC trader at crypto market maker Wintermute, described the price action as constructive. Bitcoin briefly moved above $81,000 last week before slipping below $78,000 after Warsh’s speech, but finished the week nearly flat. De Maere said under-allocated investors are providing price support, with $75,000 and $82,000 as key levels into the mid-September FOMC meeting.
Wintermute expects Bitcoin to remain choppy until the rate decision clears, with resistance around $82,000 and support at $75,000 and $72,000. Kruger also expects consolidation, with $80,000 to $82,820 as the main range Bitcoin needs to clear. A sustained break above that level could open a path back toward $100,000.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in $924 million over nine straight positive sessions before recording a $202 million outflow on Friday. The net inflow trend suggests institutional demand has not evaporated, even as traders brace for the Sept. 16 FOMC meeting and Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which economists expect to show 55,000 new jobs in August.
“Another weaker-than-expected print may cast doubt on whether the Fed has the stomach to hike rates into a deteriorating labour market,” said Kyle Rodda, senior analyst at Capital.com. The jobs data and the FOMC decision in mid-September are shaping up as the clearest resolution point for both Bitcoin and the broader risk environment.
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