Strategy Adds $2B More Bitcoin — 843,738 BTC Surpasses BlackRock, Becomes World No. 1

Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR) acquired 24,869 Bitcoin for $2.01 billion between May 11 and 17, bringing total holdings to 843,738 BTC. That surpasses BlackRock's 817,000 BTC held across its iShares ETF — making Strategy the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

Strategy has executed 109 Bitcoin purchases since 2020. This one stands out for two reasons. First, it crossed above BlackRock for the first time in absolute BTC quantity. Second, 97% of this purchase was funded through STRC perpetual preferred stock — completing Strategy's shift away from common equity as the primary tool for Bitcoin accumulation.

The Purchase: Size and Funding Structure

The average acquisition price was $80,985 per BTC, made when Bitcoin was trading near multi-month highs. Bitcoin has since retreated to the $77,000 range, creating a temporary paper loss on this tranche.

The funding mechanism is the real story. STRC — Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock — is a purpose-built instrument Strategy designed to finance Bitcoin purchases. For this acquisition, Strategy sold 19.5 million STRC shares for $1.949 billion in net proceeds, covering about 97% of the total purchase. The remaining 3% came from selling 430,344 shares of MSTR common stock for $83.7 million.

• This purchase: 24,869 BTC / $2.01 billion / average price $80,985
• Total holdings: 843,738 BTC / total invested approximately $63.87 billion
• Blended average cost basis: $75,700 per BTC
• Current estimated value: approximately $65.3 billion (at Bitcoin ~$77,000)
• STRC share of funding: 97% of this purchase

What Surpassing BlackRock Actually Means

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) holds approximately 817,000 BTC in custody on behalf of ETF investors. Strategy's 843,738 BTC sits ahead by roughly 27,000 BTC. The comparison has an important caveat: BlackRock holds those coins as a custodian for its investors, while Strategy's Bitcoin is a balance sheet asset owned by the company itself. The structures differ, but the headline is real: Strategy now holds more Bitcoin than any other single entity on the planet.

Bitcoin is programmable money. We are converting Bitcoin from a static store of value into productive, yield-generating capital.

Michael Saylor / Strategy Co-Founder

Two Contradictory Signals — Stock Down 57%, Buying Continues

MSTR stock has fallen 57% over the past 12 months to $17.42 per share. More Bitcoin purchased, lower the stock goes. That sounds like a paradox. In Saylor's framework, it is not: Strategy measures shareholder value not by stock price but by the ratio of BTC holdings per diluted share.

More notable is a subtle shift in Saylor's language. For the first time, he recently signaled that Strategy could sell Bitcoin under certain conditions — framing it as a way to protect the long-term integrity of their accumulation strategy rather than undermining it. No sell program has been announced. But the shift from an absolute 'never sell' posture to a more flexible one is a strategic evolution worth watching.

$1.5 Billion Debt Repurchase — Reducing Leverage

Alongside the Bitcoin purchase, Strategy announced a $1.5 billion program to retire convertible notes and other debt using proceeds from targeted BTC sales and recent equity raises. Aggressive accumulation combined with balance sheet deleveraging. Saylor also said recently that 'the crypto winter that began last October is now over and the worst is behind Bitcoin' — a confident tone ahead of what he clearly expects to be a sustained bull cycle.