Strategy has decided to take a temporary break from purchasing bitcoin. On Sunday, Michael Saylor announced 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. Saylor stated, 'No buys this week. Back to work next week.' This pause marks only the second time this year that Strategy, now the largest publicly traded bitcoin treasury company, has halted its weekly purchases.
The company had previously skipped a purchase during the week of March 23 to March 29. Currently, Strategy holds 818,334 BTC, which is nearly 3.9% of bitcoin's total supply of 21 million. Its most recent purchase added 3,273 BTC at an average price of $77,906 per bitcoin.
As of Monday morning, BTC was trading near $80,100, representing a 20% increase over the past month. Although the pause may seem insignificant, it comes ahead of Strategy's first-quarter results, with some analysts expecting 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. 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 primarily valued as a bitcoin financing vehicle that also 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 stability 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. While the product is pitched as yield backed by Strategy's balance sheet and bitcoin-heavy capital strategy, there are concerns that it may start to look less like stable income and more like credit risk if market sentiment turns.
Higher bitcoin prices support Strategy's valuation, improving its ability to raise capital and fund more bitcoin purchases. However, when sentiment weakens, the same structure becomes more fragile. Saylor has stated that buying will resume next week, but Tuesday's earnings will reveal how much confidence investors still have in the company's funding model.