‘Back to work’: Michael Saylor’s Strategy buys 535 bitcoin for $43 million after brief pause as total holdings hit 818,869 BTC

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy acquired an additional 535 BTC for approximately $43 million at an average price of $80,340 per bitcoin between May 4 and May 10, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Strategy now holds a total of 818,869 BTC — worth around $66.5 billion — bought at an average price of $75,540 per bitcoin for a total cost of around $61.9 billion, including fees and expenses, according to the company’s co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.

Notably, Strategy’s holdings are the equivalent of more than 3.9% of bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap and imply around $4.6 billion of paper gains at current prices.

The latest acquisitions were made using proceeds from at-the-market sales of its Class A common stock, MSTR, and perpetual Stretch preferred stock, STRC. Last week, Strategy sold 231,324 MSTR shares for approximately $42.9 million. As of May 10, $26.35 billion worth of MSTR shares remain available for issuance and sale under that program, the firm said. Strategy also sold 1,412 STRC shares for approximately $0.1 million, with $19.46 billion worth of shares remaining available for issuance and sale under that program.

Strategy’s STRK, STRC, STRF, and STRD perpetual preferred stock’s respective $21 billion, $4.2 billion, $2.1 billion, and $4.2 billion ATM programs are in addition to the firm’s “42/42” plan, which targets a total capital raise of $84 billion in equity offerings and convertible notes for bitcoin acquisitions through 2027. Strategy recently extended those ATM programs to include up to an additional $21 billion of MSTR, alongside a further $21 billion of its STRC preferred stock and $2.1 billion of STRK preferred stock.

‘Back to work’

Saylor gave his regular Sunday hint about the firm’s latest purchase announcement ahead of time, sharing an update on Strategy’s bitcoin acquisition tracker and stating, “Back to work,” following a pause in weekly buys the week prior, ahead of the company’s first quarter earnings release.

Strategy reported a $12.5 billion net loss in Q1, mostly driven by a $14.5 billion unrealized markdown on its bitcoin holdings. Despite this, executives pointed to momentum building behind its preferred STRC shares as a bright spot.

STRC, a variable‑rate, cumulative preferred stock offering monthly dividends, with adjustable rates designed to keep it near $100 par value, has increasingly become a primary driver of its bitcoin acquisitions in recent weeks. The stock currently offers an annualized rate of 11.5%

Strategy recently proposed updating the dividend payment schedule for STRC, shifting from once per month to twice per month. The company states that the change could “lead to reduced reinvestment lag, enhanced liquidity, market efficiency, and increased price stability.”

Last week, analysts at JPMorgan said Strategy’s bitcoin purchases could reach around $30 billion this year, stronger than in 2025 and 2024, at the current year-to-date pace.

However, during Strategy’s Q1 earnings call, Michael Saylor said the firm may sell bitcoin in the future to cover dividends from STRC, contrasting his earlier “never sell” stance. “We’ll probably sell some bitcoin to fund the dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” he said.

In interviews over the weekend, Saylor clarified that while the company may occasionally sell a portion of its bitcoin holdings, any such sales would be quickly outpaced by new purchases.

“In these periods, even if we were to sell one bitcoin, we’d be buying 10 to 20 more bitcoin,” Saylor said in a podcast interview. “You should be a net accumulator of bitcoin. When I said ‘never sell your bitcoin,’ I mean make sure if you were to spend it on something, you replenish in the time you spend it.”

DATs state of play

According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, 196 public companies have adopted some form of bitcoin acquisition model. Tether-backed Twenty One, Metaplanet, MARA, Adam Back, and Cantor Fitzgerald-backed Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, Bullish, Coinbase, Riot Platforms, Strive, and Hut 8, and make up the remainder of the top 10, with 43,514 BTC, 40,177 BTC, 38,689 BTC, 30,021 BTC, 24,300 BTC, 16,492 BTC, 15,680 BTC, 15,000 BTC, and 13,696 BTC, respectively.

However, the value of many of the cohort’s shares is down significantly from their summer 2025 peaks as their market cap-to-net asset value ratios sharply contracted, with MSTR itself still down around 59%, for example, with an mNAV of 1.04, per Bitcoin Treasuries.

Nevertheless, Strategy’s stock gained 9.8% overall last week, closing on Friday at $187.59, according to The Block’s MSTR price page, and is now up 21.4% year-to-date. Bitcoin rose approximately 2.2% during the traditional trading week.

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