A week ago the story was that Strategy’s USD Reserve had reached $4 billion. That was the stated purpose of the bitcoin sales, and the target had been met. The reserve is now $4.65 billion. S
A week ago the story was that Strategy’s USD Reserve had reached $4 billion. That was the stated purpose of the bitcoin sales, and the target had been met.
The reserve is now $4.65 billion. Strategy sold another 1,690 BTC to help get there.
And the authorization governing those sales has been raised from $1.25 billion to $5 billion.
Between August 3 and August 9, Strategy sold 1,690 bitcoin for $108.6 million at an average of $64,262 per coin.
Its average purchase price across the whole stack is $75,385. So the batch went out roughly $11,123 per coin below cost basis.
Every dollar of those proceeds funded a single action. Strategy repurchased 1,152,020 shares of STRC preferred stock for $108.6 million, matching the sale proceeds exactly.
That is different from the prior week, when bitcoin proceeds were split between preferred dividends and a buyback. This time the split disappeared.
Holdings fell to 840,447 BTC from 842,138 a week earlier, acquired for $63.36 billion in total.
The bitcoin sale was not where most of the money came from, and coverage focusing on it misses the scale.
Strategy sold 6,585,682 MSTR shares for $653.1 million in net proceeds over the same period. Of that, $650 million went into the USD Reserve and $3.1 million into general cash.
So the reserve grew by $650 million from equity issuance while $108.6 million of bitcoin funded the preferred buyback. Roughly $22 billion of capacity remains under that at-the-market program.
The pattern is now clear. Equity issuance builds the reserve. Bitcoin sales service the preferred stock.
ItemFigureWhere it wentBTC sold (Aug 3 to Aug 9)1,690 coinsn/aBTC sale proceeds$108.6 millionSTRC repurchase in fullSTRC shares repurchased1,152,020n/aMSTR shares sold6,585,682$653.1 million netAdded to USD Reserve$650 millionFrom equity, not bitcoinReserve total as of Aug 9$4.65 billionUp from $4.0 billionHoldings after sale840,447 BTCCost basis $63.36 billion
When Optimisus covered the previous filing in the piece on Strategy finishing its cash reserve, the open question was whether the sales would stop once the reserve was full.
They did not. And the constraint that made the question meaningful has been removed.
The BTC Monetization Program originally authorized up to $1.25 billion in bitcoin sales for reserve funding, dividends and repurchases. Anything beyond that needed fresh board approval.
Reporting on the filing indicates that program has been expanded to allow up to $5 billion in bitcoin sales under the Digital Credit Capital Framework.
That is a fourfold increase in the ceiling. Strategy has sold 6,948 BTC across four disclosed disposals in 2026, so the used portion of that authorization remains small.
The framework also restricts the USD Reserve specifically to preferred dividends and interest payments, and separately approved a $1 billion common stock buyback.
STRC is Strategy’s variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, paying monthly dividends at an annual rate of 12.00% for record dates on or after July 1, 2026.
It fell below $75 in late June against a $100 stated value. That gap is the problem the buybacks are trying to close.
It has worked so far. STRC has recovered above $95, and Strategy has said it does not intend to recommend cutting the dividend rate until the stock trades consistently near par.
This was the third buyback under the $1 billion Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program announced June 29, leaving roughly $785.2 million of authorization.
Saylor framed the week’s actions as extending USD duration by 143 days to 2.7 years and tightening STRC’s bitcoin credit by 10 basis points.
Strategy still holds around 4% of bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap. At current prices that position carries roughly $8.7 billion in paper losses.
Purchases have now been paused since June, the longest gap since 2024.
There is a defensible reading of the sales that most coverage skips. A large dollar reserve reduces the probability of a forced, disorderly sale during a deep drawdown. Small controlled disposals now may prevent much larger ones later.
There is also a less comfortable reading. A company that spent years arguing its bitcoin would never be sold has now sold in four separate weeks and quadrupled the amount it is permitted to sell.
Both can be true. What has changed is that the treasury is demonstrably not untouchable.
Strategy is not alone in reworking how its coins are used. MARA borrowed $600 million against 18,750 BTC rather than sell more, which Optimisus examined in the piece on its undisclosed liquidation price.
Miners have been converting power capacity to AI revenue instead, covered in the piece on listed miners switching off rigs.
The common thread is that corporate bitcoin holders spent 2026 as sellers and borrowers rather than accumulators. Bitcoin has held near $63,000 anyway.
Strategy files these updates weekly. The specific things worth checking are whether a fifth consecutive disposal appears, whether proceeds go to dividends or buybacks, and how much of the $5 billion authorization has been used.
The other marker is purchases. Six weeks without one is notable for a company whose entire thesis was accumulation.
Bitcoin buyers looking for a bullish signal will not find one in these filings. But they should also note that the sales have been small, disclosed weekly, and directed at a specific capital-structure problem rather than at exiting the position.
This is not financial advice.
Optimisus covers crypto and technology news for readers who want the detail behind the headline.
