On August 10, Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced that it had sold Bitcoin, letting 1,690 BTC go at an average of $64,262, about $11,100 below what it had paid for its coins on average, and p
On August 10, Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced that it had sold Bitcoin, letting 1,690 BTC go at an average of $64,262, about $11,100 below what it had paid for its coins on average, and put all $108.6 million into buying back its own preferred stock. Saylor’s post about the update would go on to draw almost 12 million views. Peter Schiff, a well-known entrepreneur, obviously irked, tweeted in a direct response to Saylor’s post,
“You have now reduced the Bitcoin YTD yield by 87% since May 25th (QTD it’s minus 6.4%). At this rate, by next week the yields will be negative. How much Bitcoin per share are you willing to destroy to keep your STRC Ponzi scheme going? Why should any Bitcoiner own MSTR common?”
Strategy increased its USD Reserve by $650M and repurchased $109M of $STRC. This increased USD Duration by 143 days to 2.7 yrs and tightened STRC’s BTC Credit by 10 bps. As of 8/9/26, we hold ₿840,447 in our BTC Reserve and $4.65B in our USD Reserve. $MSTR https://t.co/rVSI6I6bcx
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 10, 2026
Strategy’s bitcoin dump came during a bad summer for treasury companies that bought bitcoin with new shares or borrowed money. Notwithstanding, Bitcoin as of late October is trading near $80,000, up from about $65,000 in August, which puts it above Strategy’s$75,446 average cost. STRC, the preferred stock Strategy was buying back, has returned to near its $100 stated value, and repurchases in the week of October 19-25 averaged $99.06 a share. As of October 25, holdings stood at a record 848,517 BTC. From October 5 through October 25, Strategy spent $590.4 million retiring preferred stock and $43.6 million on bitcoin, according to its weekly8-K filings.
Not every treasury company, though, has recovered as Strategy did. Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC and bought 11,000 in the third quarter and ended September with 44,000 BTC, andBitcoinTreasuries.net put its enterprise mNAV at 0.78x on October 2. In the week ended October 25, Bitmine, the world’s largest ether treasury, spent about $45.9 million repurchasing its own shares and about $24.6 million buying ether. Satsuma Technology, a London-listed treasury company, did not make it through the summer. Its shareholders voted on July 20 to liquidate it and sell its remaining bitcoin.
What matters for each company is what it paid for its bitcoin and who gets paid first if the price falls. This article explains the one number that drives the model, then grades the main players against a simple funding test.
STRC is a variable-rate perpetual preferred stock with a $100 stated value. Strategy raised its dividend rate to 12% to hold the price near that level, and itsQ2 results set the goal of a price between $99 and $100. When STRC trades below $100, every share the company buys back retires a $100 claim for less cash. In those results, Strategy reported repurchasing $28.9 million of STRC for $25.0 million, a 13% discount. In the week of August 3 to 9, it paid about $94 a share.
Selling bitcoin below cost to retire a 12% obligation at a discount pays off only while STRC trades below $100. That makes the price column in Table 1 more important than the bitcoin sales themselves.
Two separate pools of money were involved in the week of August 3 to 9. The $108.6 million from bitcoin sales went to STRC repurchases. The roughly$650 million added to the dollar reserve came from selling common stock, per reporting on the filing. The Bitcoin sale paid for the STRC buyback, and a separate common stock sale paid for the reserve.
Period Shares repurchased Cost Average price (calculated) Discount to $100 Paid for with Reported in Q2 results (July 30) About 289,000 $25.0M About $86.50 13% (company figure) Not specified Aug 3 to 9 1,152,020 $108.6M $94.27 5.7% Bitcoin sale proceeds Aug 17 to 23 1,431,212 $136.4M $95.30 4.7% Common stock sale proceeds Sept 28 to 30 1,033,168 $102.6M $99.31 0.7% USD Cash and interest income Oct 19 to 25 2,068,459 $204.9M $99.06 0.9% USD CashSources: Strategy’s Q2 results and 8-Ks dated Aug 24, Oct 5, and Oct 26, plus reporting on the August 3 to 9 filing. Averages and discounts are calculated from the filings.
Chart showing Strategy’s STRC repurchase price rising from about $86 in July to about $99 by October. Source: Strategy 8-K filings, DeFi Planet Calculations
By late September, the discount had closed. Repurchases were averaging about $99 a share and were being paid for with dollars instead of bitcoin. The October 5 filing also said the fair value of Strategy’s bitcoin exceeded its cost basis on September 30, which wiped out a $4.12 billion deferred tax asset booked against the losses and left a $1.88 billion net deferred tax liability.
READ ALSO:Michael Saylor vs Peter Thiel: Two Theories of Crypto’s Future, Two Very Different Risks
A bitcoin treasury company runs a loop, and here’s how it works. It sells stock or debt, buys bitcoin, reports more bitcoin per share, and hopes the market pays a higher price for the shares so the loop can run again. Whether the loop helps or hurts shareholders comes down to mNAV, the ratio of what the market says the company is worth to what its bitcoin is worth.
At 2.0x, investors pay $2 for every $1 of bitcoin the company holds. Selling a share at that price raises more cash than the bitcoin behind the share is worth, so each sale adds bitcoin per share for existing holders. At 1.0x, the stock is priced like the coins behind it. Below 1.0x, the math reverses, and selling stock to buy bitcoin shrinks each holder’s claim on the pile.
Diagram of the bitcoin treasury loop and how it reverses when mNAV falls below 1.0x.
The ratio is only as good as its definition. Basic mNAV compares the market value of common shares with the bitcoin held. Strategy’s dashboard uses a redefined measure that accounts for debt and preferred claims. On September 21, the two readings differed by 0.15, with one above 1.0 and the other below it.
Measure June 26, 2026 September 21, 2026 What it counts Basic mNAV (SaylorTracker)[cite: 35] 0.58 (low)[cite: 35] About 0.97[cite: 35] Market value of common shares against bitcoin held[cite: 35] Strategy’s redefined mNAV (company dashboard)[cite: 35] Not reported in the cited coverage[cite: 35] 1.12x[cite: 35] Strategy’s own measure, which accounts for debt and preferred claims[cite: 35]Source: reporting on SaylorTracker and Strategy’s dashboard readings.
Strategy’s public dashboard at strategy.com showing mNAV and reserve figures, captured on Oct 26
Strategy’s strongest evidence is its own track record. On August 3, CEO Phong Le posted that MSTR has beaten bitcoin over every four-year holding period since the company adopted bitcoin on August 10, 2020.
$MSTR is built to outperform Bitcoin over time. It has outperformed Bitcoin in every four-year holding period since we adopted Bitcoin on August 10, 2020. Outperformance comes from growing Bitcoin per share. https://t.co/EjbnNK8DEX
— Phong Le (@phongle) August 3, 2026
The chart attached to the post compared annualized returns for entry points between August 2020 and August 2022. When Le posted on August 3, August 2022 was the latest entry point that had completed four years, so the chart says nothing about buyers who entered later, including anyone who bought during the 2024 and 2025 run-ups. Early holders were rewarded for the leverage. Whether later buyers will be rewarded remains untested.
Bitmine makes a different case, because its holding earns income. As of October 25, it held 6,051,933 ETH, 4.95% of supply, with 5,227,037 ETH staked, according to itsOctober 26 filing. At the 2.58% seven-day staking yield it reported, that stake produces roughly 135,000 ETH a year, or about $318 million at the $2,356 reference price, which matches thecompany’s own estimate. Coins in cold storage, bitcoin included, produce nothing comparable. Staking rewards are paid in ETH, so the dollar figure moves with the ether price.
Metaplanet tried to build the premium rule into its financing. On March 16, CEO Simon Gerovich announced 100 million moving-strike warrants that can only be exercised when the stock trades above 1.01x mNAV, alongside a$255 million share placement. His stated goal was to ensure every share issued increases shareholder value.
Metaplanet has issued 100 million Moving Strike Warrants with a first-of-its-kind mNAV clause. Exercise is only permitted when the stock trades above 1.01x mNAV, ensuring every share issued increases shareholder value. This enables the company to raise an estimated $234M in additional capital to buy BTC, unlocked only when it’s accretive to BTC per share. $MPJPY
— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) March 16, 2026
K33 put a number on that risk. In an October 14 report, Head of Research Vetle Lunde calculated that Strategy’s annual preferred dividend bill climbed from about $830 million to $1.56 billion during 2026, with STRC accounting for $725 million of the increase. At $83,000 a coin, that extra yearly cost equals roughly 8,740 BTC. STRC helped Strategy buy nearly 100,000 BTC in the first half of 2026, yet Lunde’s model of a plan that largely skipped STRC leaves it with 843,303 BTC on October 12 against the 848,250 it actually held. The gap of 4,947 coins would be erased by the added dividends in about seven months. Lunde called the approach a mistake and said common stock would have been more efficient.
Other critics focused on the bitcoin sales. After Strategy sold 3,588 BTC in early July to fund dividends, Peter Schiff wrote that the company now sells bitcoin to “pay interest and dividends.”
$MSTR now has a completely different business model. Instead of selling common and preferred stock and issuing debt to buy Bitcoin, the new strategy is to sell Bitcoin to pay interest and dividends, pay off debt, buy back shares it sold, and hope that Bitcoin’s price goes way up.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 6, 2026
Investment strategist Lyn Alden said in a July 7 podcast interview that traders had stacked leverage on top of STRC and that its big reserve is “not inherently guaranteed” if bitcoin whipsaws (transcript).
Strategy’s answer is the dollar reserve.Saylor’s October 26 update put its dollar assets at $5.1 billion, and afollow-up post gave a USD duration of 3.4 years, which the company presents as years of cover for dividends and interest. The figure was4.0 years on August 30, so cover has thinned as buybacks used up cash. K33 puts the cushion at about 42 months.
Strategy has repurchased $205M of $STRC. As of 10/25/26, we hold 848,517 $BTC and $5.1B of USD Assets. $MSTR https://t.co/XTTFEh0rSc
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) October 26, 2026
Metaplanet shows what happens when the premium disappears. The warrant clause only protects shareholders while there is a premium to protect. By the second quarter of 2026, buying had slowed and the company funded most of it with loans, credit lines, and bonds. Its filing valued 43,000 BTC at about $2.5 billion against about $4.07 billion paid, an unrealized loss near $1.5 billion. It issued new shares only when its market value stayed above the value of its bitcoin.
In the third quarter, Metaplanet changed its financing. In the third quarter, Metaplanet sold 10,000 BTC at an average of ¥12.47 million each, bought 11,000, and ended September with 44,000 BTC. According to its October 5 disclosures, the round trip demonstrated to creditors that the coins can be converted to cash. The company capped bitcoin-backed borrowing at roughly 10% of the net asset value of its holdings and said most future purchases would be funded with permanent equity capital. That plan addresses the premium problem directly, because equity sold below net asset value reduces bitcoin per share. The year-end target of 100,000 BTC would take about 56,000 more coins by December 31, nine weeks from October 28.
Bitmine’s income does not erase its paper loss either. Using DropsTab’s reported average cost of about $3,324 per ETH and Bitmine’s $2,356 reference price, the 6.05 million ETH carry an unrealized loss of roughly $5.9 billion (calculated). Chairman Tom Lee says buying stops at 5% of supply, which was about 58,000 ETH away as of October 25. In the week ended October 25, Bitmine spent about $45.9 million repurchasing 2.04 million shares, nearly twice the roughly $24.6 million it spent on ether. Lee said the company buys back stock when management considers shares “relatively undervalued.” Its 2026 buyback totals $399.6 million as of October 25, at an average of $17.48 a share, per thecompany’s filing.
Bitcoin’s rise explains much of Strategy’s recovery. Bitcoin rose roughly 23% between August 10 and October 27, which pushed the stack back above its average cost and pulled STRC back to par.
Chart showing Bitcoin’s rise lifted Strategy’s stack back above its cost
The dollar reserve bought time. It did not prove the company could have waited out another year at $65,000. K33’s comparison also limits the gain, since the record stack sits only 4,947 coins ahead of the no-STRC alternative.
The sorting rule is the funding source. A company that buys with operating profit or spare cash cannot be forced to sell. One that issues equity only at a premium and holds dollars against its fixed payments can wait out a drawdown. One that funds the holding with convertible notes or preferred stock and has no business behind it needs the premium to last forever.
Company Treasury Funding model Income beyond price gains mNAV reading Latest move Where it sits Strategy (MSTR)[cite: 30] 848,517 BTC (Oct 25), average cost $75,446[cite: 30] Common stock, STRC and three other preferreds, convertible notes[cite: 30] Enterprise software business[cite: 30] 1.12x redefined, 0.97x basic (Sept 21)[cite: 30] Spent $204.9M retiring STRC, bought no bitcoin (Oct 19 to 25)[cite: 30] Premium-funded, with a $5.1B cushion[cite: 30] Metaplanet (3350)[cite: 30] 44,000 BTC (Sept 30)[cite: 30] Equity, bonds, bitcoin-backed credit line capped near 10% of BTC value[cite: 30] Options income program[cite: 30] 0.78x enterprise (Oct 2, tracker)[cite: 30] Sold 10,000 BTC and bought 11,000 in Q3[cite: 30] Premium gone, balance sheet being reset[cite: 30] Bitmine (BMNR)[cite: 30] 6,051,933 ETH (Oct 25), average cost near $3,324[cite: 30] Common stock sales[cite: 30] Staking, about $318M a year on staked ETH[cite: 30] Not verified here[cite: 30] Bought 10,452 ETH and repurchased $45.9M of shares (week ended Oct 25)[cite: 30] Income-backed, with shares management calls undervalued[cite: 30] Satsuma Technology (SATS)[cite: 30] None, liquidated[cite: 30] £163.6M of convertible notes[cite: 30] None[cite: 30] Not applicable[cite: 30] Sold 669 BTC for £31.9M, delisting approved[cite: 30] Fixed-payout funding with no business behind it[cite: 30]Sources: Strategy’s October 26 8-K, reporting on Metaplanet’s October 5 disclosures, BitcoinTreasuries.net, Bitmine’s October 26 8-K, and reports on the Satsuma vote. Metaplanet’s options-income program is reported in coverage of its Q2 results.
Satsuma is the cleanest failure. It raised £163.6 million through convertible notes in August 2025, led by ParaFi with Pantera Capital and Digital Currency Group among the backers. Its shares fell more than 99% from a June 2025 peak near £14, and trading was suspended at the company’s request on July 1. Pantera, which held about 6.7%, had pushed for liquidation since April. AJuly 20 shareholder vote to liquidate passed with more than 90% support. The company sold its last 669 BTC between July 24 and 31 for £31.9 million, an average of £47,667 a coin.
Satsuma was not alone. In a July 23 X post, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, counted at least 20 public treasury companies that had liquidated, reduced, or loosened their accumulation. Nine had exited completely, seven were partial or forced sellers, and four had moved toward active management. The count included Sequans, which sold most of its bitcoin to repay convertible debt, and MARA, which sold more than 15,000 BTC for roughly $1.1 billion in March, mainly to repurchase convertible notes. Details of the post are inthis summary.
No pure treasury company fits the first group. The closest are operating businesses that hold bitcoin beside a much larger core business, and few of those are called treasury companies.
Table 4. Dated catalysts
Date Event Why it matters Oct 28 Strategy shareholder vote on daily dividends for STRC, STRF, STRK, and STRD If approved, daily STRC dividends start November 1, per the proxy materials Oct 29, 5 PM ET Strategy Q3 earnings call, listed on strategy.com Fresh holdings, reserve, and mNAV figures for the whole quarter Around early December Bitmine reaching 5% of ETH supply At 122.2 million ETH, 5% is about 6.11 million, which is roughly 58,000 ETH more than it held on October 25. At the pace of the week ended October 25, that takes about six weeks (calculated) Dec 31 Metaplanet’s stated target of 100,000 BTC Needs about 56,000 coins on top of the 44,000 held on September 30 Every Monday Strategy 8-K and Bitmine holdings update The fastest read on whether buybacks or bitcoin purchases are winningThe five checks in Table 5 can be run from public filings.
Table 5. Five checks for any treasury company
Check What it reveals Where to find it mNAV against 1.0, with its definition Whether issuing stock adds or subtracts bitcoin per share Company dashboards (strategy.com, Metaplanet analytics) and BitcoinTreasuries.net Bitcoin or Ether per share Total holdings can rise while each share’s claim falls Company dashboards and quarterly filings Years of dollar cover for fixed payments How long preferred dividends and interest can be paid without selling coins Strategy’s weekly 8-K and Saylor’s posts, plus analyst work like K33’s Average cost against today’s price How much room exists before lenders get nervous SEC 8-Ks and Japanese TDnet filings Income beyond the Treasury Whether anything pays the bills in a down year Bitmine’s weekly staking disclosures and Metaplanet’s quarterly reportsCorporate bitcoin accumulation is a real strategy for companies that can say, in plain numbers, where each dollar of bitcoin money came from and what it owes in return. It is a financing trick for companies whose plan needs investors to keep paying more than $1 for $1 of bitcoin. Strategy and Bitmine are trying to prove they belong in the first group. Metaplanet is rebuilding its balance sheet to get there. Satsuma already showed what the second group looks like when the premium goes away.
The summer of 2026 broke premium-funded growth, while treasuries backed by dollars or income held up. Strategy’s October 29 earnings call will show how much of that holds after another quarter.
Disclaimer: This article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein should be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrencies carries a considerable risk of financial loss. Always conduct due diligence.
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