Strive buys 2,000 bitcoin, its largest purchase in four months

Nasdaq-listed Strive bought 2,000 bitcoin between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2 at an average price of about $84,422 per coin, inclusive of fees and expenses, or roughly $168.8 million in total, the company said in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 5. The purchase lifted its holdings to 29,462 BTC from 27,462 BTC.

The biggest buy in four months

Strive discloses the previous week's purchases almost every Monday. The latest 2,000 BTC is the largest amount since the 2,500 BTC it bought between May 23 and June 1 at an average of $74,092. Buying slowed sharply in July to between 18 and 79 BTC a week, and the company bought just 17.76 BTC between June 29 and July 2.

Purchases picked up again from mid-August. Strive bought 1,110 BTC on Aug. 17–21, 1,800 BTC on Aug. 24–28 and 1,375 BTC from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. The pace eased to 469 BTC on Sept. 8–11, then rose to 1,355 BTC on Sept. 14–18 and 1,107 BTC on Sept. 21–25 before this week's 2,000 BTC. The company said it acquired 8,137 BTC at an average cost of $78,885 in the three months ended Sept. 30. With holdings at 28,000 BTC on Sept. 30, that implies 1,462 of this week's 2,000 BTC were bought on Oct. 1–2, when bitcoin traded between $83,186 and $87,220 on Binance daily candles (UTC).

Average cost sits about $6,600 above the market

According to preliminary, unaudited figures released with the filing, Strive held 28,000 BTC at an average cost of $90,170 per coin as of Sept. 30. The company used a bitcoin price of $83,577 for that date, $6,593 below its average cost. The fair value of its bitcoin was $2.340 billion, and its total treasury value, including cash and Strategy preferred stock (STRC), came to $2.675 billion.

Strive also holds 505,000 shares of Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC), with a fair value of $50.2 million as of Oct. 2. Cash and cash equivalents rose by $35.9 million, from $248.8 million on Sept. 25 to $284.7 million on Oct. 2.

3.26 million new common shares and 1.3 million preferred

The share count rose over the same period. Class A common stock outstanding increased by 3,255,119 shares to 91,708,804 from 88,453,685, while its own Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock (SATA) rose by 1,304,902 shares to 13,498,082 from 12,193,180. As of Sept. 30, the SATA stated amount was $1.294 billion and the annualized dividend obligation was $168.2 million. Strive reported no debt.

On Sept. 14, the board kept the regular SATA dividend rate at 13.00% per annum and declared daily cash dividends of $0.0516 per share for each business day in October. The company's Amplification Ratio, calculated by dividing the SATA stated amount by the value of its bitcoin, stood at 55.3% on Sept. 30. "While Bitcoin remains below $100,000, management's current objective is to increase and maintain the Company's Amplification Ratio above 60%," the filing said, adding: "The Company intends to remain debt-free."

Kimchi premium near 0.7%, funding slightly negative

As of 5:32 p.m. KST on Oct. 6, bitcoin traded at 116,137,000 won on Upbit's Korean won market and 116,060,000 won on Bithumb. Binance spot was $85,867 at the same time, about $1,445 above Strive's average price this week and roughly $4,300 below its average cost at the end of September. The kimchi premium, the gap between prices on Korean exchanges and global markets, was about 0.73% between Upbit and Binance based on Coinyong price data.

At the same time, the current funding rate (the estimate for the next settlement) on Binance's bitcoin perpetual futures was -0.003%, meaning short positions were paying a small amount to longs.