Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) bought just 334 Bitcoin for $28.7 million between Oct. 1 and Oct. 4, its smallest positive purchase of 2026, while total spending under its STRC preferred-stock repurchase program reached roughly $1.45 billion, according to an Oct. 5 Form 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company acquired the Bitcoin at an average price of $85,838.80 per coin, taking its holdings to 848,000 BTC. The purchase fell below the previous yearly low of 520 BTC, recorded in June. Strategy financed the buy by selling 92,894 MSTR shares for $15.7 million and contributing $13 million in cash.

The slowdown in accumulation contrasts sharply with the performance of the existing treasury. Bitcoin gained about 43% during the third quarter, lifting the carrying value of Strategy's holdings to $70.82 billion as of Sept. 30 — above the company's roughly $63.97 billion aggregate acquisition cost of $75,440.70 per coin.

What does the filing say about Q3 gains?

Strategy estimated a $20.91 billion digital-asset gain for the quarter under fair-value accounting. The figure does not represent realized trading profit; it marks the unrealized uplift from Bitcoin's rally on the company's balance sheet.

Chaitanya Jain, Strategy's head of investor relations, said:

"Every $1,000 increase in BTC price [during the third quarter represented] a $848 million fair market value gain to Strategy."

Why is STRC consuming more capital than Bitcoin?

Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, Strategy spent $176.3 million repurchasing roughly 1.77 million STRC shares — more than six times what it spent buying Bitcoin during the latest reporting period. STRC is the company's variable-rate perpetual preferred stock.

The buybacks pushed total spending under the repurchase authorization to about $1.45 billion, leaving $547.2 million available under a program Strategy doubled to $2 billion in September.

Despite that intervention, STRC has not sustainably returned to its $100 stated amount. Strategy's investor materials state the objective is for the security to trade between $99 and $100 over time. STRC last closed at $100 in mid-May and has remained below that level for nearly 100 consecutive trading sessions, though it has recovered sharply from its summer lows.

The company has already deployed several tools to close the gap:

• Raised STRC's annual dividend rate to 12%
• Began systematic repurchases
• Shifted dividend payments from monthly to semi-monthly in June, a change Strategy said was intended to improve the product's trading characteristics

What does the Oct. 28 shareholder vote decide?

In a definitive proxy filed Monday, Strategy asked MSTR shareholders to approve daily dividends across its four US-listed preferred securities. Under the proposal, STRC dividends would accrue on every calendar day, including weekends and holidays, and become payable on the next business day.

The annual dividend rate would not increase solely because of the amendment. Strategy argues that shortening the gap between earning and receiving dividends could reduce price volatility, improve liquidity, and attract additional demand. For STRC specifically, the company says the change is intended to support trading at or near its $100 stated amount.

MSTR shareholders of record as of Sept. 25 will decide the proposal; STRC holders themselves do not vote. If approved, STRC would begin accruing dividends daily on Nov. 1, with the first payment under the revised schedule due Nov. 2.

What are the operational stakes?

Strategy has increasingly relied on preferred securities as a route to raise capital beyond common stock issuance and debt. The company told shareholders that improving liquidity and demand across those securities could make future preferred-equity issuance more efficient, potentially expanding the pool of capital available for Bitcoin purchases.

The vote follows an earlier recovery benchmark that passed without STRC returning to par. Strategy had highlighted the roughly 70 trading days the security needed to reach $100 after its original launch, a comparison that pointed to early September during the latest rebound. STRC has since moved closer to that level but remains below $100.

If the amendment fails to reduce the company capital required to support the security, Strategy faces a harder set of options: continue funding repurchases with cash, tolerate a persistent discount that could make future preferred issuance less attractive, or adjust the product's economics again. Any of those outcomes would affect how efficiently the company finances the next phase of its Bitcoin accumulation. The Oct. 28 vote provides the first concrete test.