Strategy Raises $225M via MSTR Stock Sale, Bitcoin Holdings Unchanged

Author: Jose Antonio Lanz Read time: 4 minutes

Tickers: MSTR | BTC-USD

Strategy bolstered its cash reserves by $225 million last week—without selling any of its Bitcoin holdings.

According to the company's latest SEC filing, the Bitcoin treasury firm sold 2,732,318 shares of its MSTR common stock between July 13 and July 19. The sale generated $263.5 million through its at-the-market (ATM) offering program, a mechanism that allows companies to gradually issue new shares into the open market without arranging a traditional banking deal. This move mirrors the firm's actions the previous week, when it raised $466.7 million through common stock issuance.

The proceeds were directed into what Strategy calls its USD Reserve—a dedicated dollar fund maintained specifically to pay dividends and cover debt obligations. As of July 19, that reserve stood at $3.225 billion, per the filing.

Who Gets Paid First

The investors at the front of the payment line are preferred shareholders—those who purchased one of Strategy's specialized dividend-paying securities, such as:

• STRC (Stretch)
• STRK (Strike)
• STRF (Strife)
• STRD (Stride)

Preferred shareholders are essentially income investors: they collect regular dividend payments rather than betting on stock price appreciation, and they are paid before regular MSTR buyers. Common stockholders—those holding MSTR stock—receive whatever remains after preferred obligations are met.

Saylor Confirms No Bitcoin Sold

Michael Saylor confirmed the update in a tweet, stating that Strategy had "increased its USD Reserve by $225 million" and that the firm still holds its full 843,775 BTC—roughly 4% of Bitcoin's fixed 21-million-coin supply.

As the world's largest Bitcoin treasury company, Strategy rarely touches its BTC holdings. According to Bitbo's Bitcoin treasuries tracker, the firm has reduced its stack on only six occasions since 2020—three of which occurred in 2026 alone.

The most recent sale involved 3,588 BTC for roughly $216 million between late June and early July, executed under a formal capital framework approved by the board in late June. That framework permits selling up to $1.25 billion in BTC to replenish reserves.

Dilution and Criticism

This week, Strategy's Bitcoin stash remained untouched. Instead, the company issued new MSTR stock—a move that dilutes existing common stockholders (each new share means every existing share represents a slightly smaller ownership stake) in order to protect the investors at the front of the payment line.

Peter Schiff, a prominent gold advocate and longtime Bitcoin skeptic, criticized the approach, writing that Strategy was "needlessly sacrificing common shareholders to protect preferred shareholders without selling Bitcoin." He suggested the company may be reluctant to sell BTC because it fears the market cannot absorb a large liquidation without crashing the price—a plausible concern given the size of Strategy's Bitcoin treasury.

Schiff has been predicting Bitcoin's collapse for over a decade, but the structural point he raised—that common shareholders are absorbing the cost of keeping preferred holders paid—has been flagged by other analysts as well.

Market Significance

The reason these updates are closely watched is straightforward: Strategy is not just a company. Its weekly cash reserve announcements serve as a de facto signal for crypto markets. When Strategy buys, Bitcoin tends to move. When it sells—or simply stops buying—market analysts take note.

Strategy's 843,775 BTC were acquired at an average price of $75,476 per coin, leaving the firm with an unrealized loss of roughly $9.6 billion at current prices. This is a paper loss—no cash actually leaves the company until coins are sold.

The USD Reserve has grown by $675 million over the past two weeks, all from selling shares.

Earlier this year, Michael Saylor stated that his company "would probably buy" more Bitcoin in the future, though no such purchase was announced this week.