Strive buys 2,000 BTC and opens $500M buyback facility for SATA preferred stock

Strive bought 2,000 bitcoin between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2 at an average of about $84,422 per coin including fees and expenses, lifting its holdings to 29,462 BTC. The Dallas company disclosed the purchase in a Form 8-K filed Oct. 5, Unchained reported in an Oct. 5 account.

CEO Matt Cole put the price at $169 million in an X post. He said 61.5 percent of the capital raised came from SATA, the variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, with warrant exercises adding $56.7 million, in that same write-up.

The weekly buy was the largest of the past five. Strive's four prior weekly purchases ranged from 469 BTC to 1,375 BTC, Unchained noted in the same piece.

The filing also gave management a new capital tool. Strive said it "has implemented a repurchase facility of up to $500 million for SATA," which it may use from time to time. None of the four prior weekly bitcoin filings mentioned such a facility, that report added.

The ceiling is bigger than the cash on hand. Strive reported $284.7 million in cash as of Oct. 2, so full immediate use of the $500 million facility would need resources beyond that dated balance, CryptoSlate observed in its Oct. 6 coverage.

The facility creates no duty to spend. The filing discloses no completed SATA repurchases, no dedicated funding source and no timetable for using the capacity, leaving actual use unresolved, that analysis says.

SATA carries recurring costs that a buyback could cut. The company presents SATA dividends at $13 per share annualized, equal to 13 percent of the $100 stated amount, though the rate can change and cash payments need board declaration. Dividends accumulate even when undeclared, CryptoSlate wrote in the same article.

Strive reported 13,498,082 SATA shares outstanding as of Oct. 2, up from 12,193,180 on Sept. 25, including shares sold through the filing's 4 p.m. cutoff for issuance the next business day. Retiring shares would shrink the preferred claims that rank ahead of common holders, in that account.

The terms separate two paths. SATA amended terms allow market repurchases apart from contractual optional redemption, which carries a base price of $110 per share plus applicable unpaid dividends. The new facility sets no $110 price for buybacks, that piece noted.

Money spent on SATA cannot buy bitcoin. The savings from retiring shares would turn on how many shares go, the applicable dividend rate and the price paid, while any buyback cash leaves less for further bitcoin purchases, in the same assessment.

The third quarter numbers give the backdrop. Strive added 8,137 BTC in the quarter at an average $78,885, and held 28,000 BTC at Sept. 30 bought at an average $90,170, above the $83,577 bitcoin price the filing used for that date. Total treasury came to about $2.68 billion including the $284.7 million cash and $50.2 million of Strategy STRC, with no debt, Unchained wrote in its summary.

Management named its price view. The filing calls bitcoin attractively priced at current levels, and the company aims to push its amplification ratio above 60 percent and hold it there while bitcoin stays under $100,000. The ratio stood at 55.3 percent at Sept. 30, matching SATA $1.29 billion stated amount against $2.34 billion of bitcoin value, in that summary.

Strive says it intends to remain debt-free and may weigh other capital-allocation and financing options. Preferred equity still carries dividend commitments, and the company cautions that its bitcoin-per-share metrics do not capture the added senior claims created when preferred issuance funds bitcoin buys, CryptoSlate added.

The figures to watch are actual repurchase spending, shares retired and updated cash and bitcoin balances. Those disclosures will show whether the facility trims the preferred dividend load and how much capital stays free for bitcoin accumulation, in that closing note.