13-Week Streak Ends, Saylor Halts BTC Buying Spree, Turns to Promote Preferred Stock STRC

Original Author: Deep Tide TechFlow

Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), did not post his customary "Orange Dot" Bitcoin purchase signal this Sunday. Instead, he focused entirely on promoting the company's perpetual preferred stock, STRC, seemingly interrupting the 13-week streak of Bitcoin accumulation that began in late December last year. During this accumulation phase, Strategy purchased approximately 90,831 BTC. The company currently holds 762,099 bitcoins with an average cost of about $75,694, while Bitcoin's current price is around $66,389, resulting in a significant paper loss. Monday's 8-K filing will confirm whether purchases have indeed been paused.

Strategy may have interrupted its weekly Bitcoin accumulation streak for the first time since late December last year.

According to a BeInCrypto report on March 29, Saylor did not post his signature "Orange Dot" purchase tracking chart on platform X this Sunday. Instead, he directed all attention to the company's perpetual preferred stock, Stretch (ticker STRC). Over the past 13 weeks, this signal had become a reliable indicator for traders to gauge whether Strategy was about to increase its Bitcoin holdings: chart posted on Sunday, 8-K filing confirming purchase details submitted early Monday.

This silence breaks what has been an aggressive accumulation cycle.

90,000 BTC Bought Over 13 Weeks, with Volume Sharply Declining in the Final Week

During this continuous accumulation cycle that began in late December last year, Strategy purchased approximately 90,831 bitcoins in total. According to the company's official data dashboard, as of March 22, Strategy holds 762,099 BTC at a total cost of approximately $57.69 billion, with an average purchase price of about $75,694.

However, the accumulation intensity had noticeably weakened in the final weeks. According to a CoinDesk report, during the week of March 16-22, Strategy purchased only 1,031 BTC, spending $76.6 million at an average price of about $74,326, all financed through common stock ATM (At-The-Market) offerings. In contrast, the purchase volumes for the two preceding weeks were 17,994 BTC (approximately $1.28 billion) and 22,337 BTC (approximately $1.57 billion) respectively, with the latter being the largest single-week purchase of 2026.

The trajectory of diminishing volume is clear: from aggressive buying sprees worth billions of dollars, to a $76 million "drizzle," to a possible pause this week.

Saylor Shifts Spotlight to STRC as $42 Billion ATM Plan Just Launched

This Sunday on platform X, Saylor stated that STRC has exhibited lower volatility over the past 30 days than all S&P 500 constituents and all major asset classes, while offering an 11.5% annualized dividend yield. In another post, he argued that the annualized Bitcoin return required to sustain the STRC dividend is only about 2.13%, far below Bitcoin's historical performance.

The timing of this "promotion" is not coincidental. On March 23, Strategy just announced a new ATM offering program with a total size of $42 billion, comprising $21 billion for MSTR common stock, $21 billion for STRC preferred stock, and an additional $2.1 billion ATM shelf for STRK preferred stock.

STRC is a perpetual preferred stock launched by Strategy in July 2025, with a par value of $100, paying dividends monthly. The interest rate can be adjusted monthly by ±0.25 percentage points. The current annualized dividend rate has risen to 11.5%, marking the seventh consecutive monthly increase. CEO Phong Le previously stated in February that the company is shifting from relying on common stock offerings to using preferred stock as the primary financing tool for Bitcoin purchases.

According to data cited by Yahoo Finance, approximately 80% of STRC holders are crypto retail investors, not institutional investors. In March 2026, Strategy raised about $1.2 billion through ATM sales of STRC to purchase Bitcoin, marking the first time preferred stock surpassed common stock as the main funding source. However, this also means STRC's fundraising capacity is directly tied to retail investor confidence in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Falls to $66,000 Range, Strategy Faces Deep Paper Losses

The silent signal emerges as Bitcoin is in a downturn. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $67,000, down approximately 47% from its all-time high of about $126,000 in October 2025. MSTR's stock price has fallen about 76-77% from its peak in November 2024.

Based on holdings of 762,099 coins and an average cost of $75,694, Strategy's total Bitcoin investment cost is approximately $57.69 billion. Calculated at the current price, the market value is about $50.5 billion, resulting in a paper loss exceeding $7 billion.

On a broader scale, corporate Bitcoin purchases have become highly concentrated in Strategy alone. According to a CryptoQuant report this week, Strategy purchased about 45,000 BTC in the past 30 days, while all other corporate treasury companies combined purchased only about 1,000 BTC. Strategy currently holds about 76% of all corporate treasury Bitcoin. The share of purchases by other companies has plummeted from a peak of 95% to 2%. This trend, marketed as "broadening the institutional holding base," has effectively evolved into a concentration risk around a single company.

Monday's 8-K Filing Will Reveal the Answer

The absence of a Sunday post does not necessarily mean purchases are paused. Strategy has had signal variations in the past, and the company might quietly confirm new purchases in Monday's 8-K filing. Furthermore, Strategy previously paused purchases briefly in early July 2025 and early October 2025, both instances being temporary adjustments.

However, if Monday's filing confirms no new additions, this would mark the first official interruption since last December. It could also signal a turning point in Strategy's financing strategy—shifting from aggressive accumulation at all costs to a critical juncture of stabilizing STRC, its new financing engine.