Treasury Holders Add 1,490 Bitcoin During Market Weakness

Corporate treasuries expanded their digital asset holdings by a combined 1,490 Bitcoin this week as the cryptocurrency market recovered from a recent dip below the $80,000 threshold.

Nasdaq-listed Strive completed a 1,223 Bitcoin purchase, increasing its total reserves to 36,818 BTC. According to an October 19 announcement from CEO Matt Cole, the latest batch was acquired at an average price of $81,734 per coin, representing an investment of roughly $99.96 million. At a market price of approximately $82,000, Strive’s overall Bitcoin holdings carry a market value of roughly $3.02 billion.

The acquisition marks the company's third Bitcoin purchase batch within eight days, representing a total accumulation of 7,356 BTC for approximately $615 million. Before the latest acquisition, Strive purchased 3,311 BTC for nearly $280 million during the week ending October 9, paying approximately $84,500 per coin. A subsequent transaction added 2,822 BTC for roughly $235 million. Strive financed its recent accumulation through various mechanisms, including traditional warrant exercises that yielded cumulative proceeds of approximately $369.2 million.

Strategy Accumulation

Meanwhile, treasury firm Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, acquired an additional 267 Bitcoin for $22.1 million between October 12 and 18. According to an SEC filing, the company paid an average of $82,900 per Bitcoin. Co-founder Michael Saylor acknowledged the acquisition in an October 18 post on X, stating, "We found room for more orange."

Strategy funded the purchase primarily by selling 140,872 MSTR shares for $22 million, supplemented by $100,000 from a USDC cash pool. The recent transaction brings Strategy’s total digital asset holdings to 848,517 BTC, which were acquired for a combined $64.02 billion at an overall average price of $75,446.

Alongside its cryptocurrency accumulation, Strategy advanced its stock buyback program by repurchasing nearly 1.94 million STRC preferred shares for $193.1 million. The firm’s board of directors also approved an expansion of the aggregate purchase price under its digital credit securities repurchase authorization from $2 billion to $3 billion, leaving roughly $1.16 billion available. The buyback activity precedes an October 28 vote that could permit Strategy to issue daily STRC dividends in November, pending stockholder approval.

Institutional Indicators

The corporate acquisitions coincide with Bitcoin's attempt to rebound from a sharp selloff. The asset had briefly fallen below $80,000 on October 15 after stronger-than-expected US inflation data fueled concerns regarding further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. By Monday, the cryptocurrency recovered above $82,000 as oil prices and US Treasury yields declined.

Despite the ongoing accumulation by major corporate treasury holders, broader institutional demand presents a mixed picture. Last week, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded approximately $228 million in net outflows, highlighting uncertainty surrounding the strength of the current market recovery ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming October 27-28 meeting.