Strategy is taking a temporary break from its bitcoin buying spree. CEO Michael Saylor announced on Sunday that the company would not be adding to its bitcoin holdings this week, putting its regular purchase program on hold until after the release of its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. This pause marks only the second time this year that Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has halted its weekly bitcoin purchases, with the previous pause occurring between March 23 and March 29. The company currently holds 818,334 BTC, equivalent to nearly 3.9% of the total bitcoin supply.
Its most recent purchase added 3,273 BTC at an average price of $77,906 per bitcoin, with the current price trading near $80,100 in Asian morning hours on Monday, representing a 20% increase over the past month. The pause may seem insignificant, but it comes ahead of Strategy's first-quarter results, with some Wall Street analysts predicting a loss of $18.98 per share.
The company is expected to report revenue of approximately $125 million, up 12.6% from $111.1 million in the same quarter last year, suggesting that the underlying software business is still performing well despite the company's identity being closely tied to bitcoin. However, earnings are expected to be lower, with an average estimate of a loss of $27.33 per share for the March quarter.
Strategy is now valued as a bitcoin financing vehicle that provides business intelligence software, rather than a software company with a bitcoin position. As a result, Tuesday's report may be judged more on the sustainability of Saylor's capital-raising strategy and less on the company's operating performance.
One product that has drawn attention is STRC, a perpetual preferred share designed to trade near $100 while paying a variable monthly dividend of around 11.5% annualized. The product is backed by Strategy's balance sheet and bitcoin-heavy capital strategy, but there are concerns that it may start to look less like a stable income source and more like a credit risk if market sentiment shifts. Higher bitcoin prices support Strategy's valuation, enabling it to raise capital and fund more bitcoin purchases.
However, when sentiment weakens, the same structure becomes more fragile. Saylor has stated that the company will resume buying bitcoin next week, but Tuesday's earnings will reveal how much confidence investors still have in the machinery that makes this possible.