Photographed on Lipe Island, Thailand, in January 2025
On September 1, Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, disclosed that it purchased 4,603 BTC for approximately $368.7 million last week. This marks the company's first resumption of Bitcoin purchases since late June—a pause of roughly two months, during which Bitcoin surged nearly 25% in August. The company chose to stay on the sidelines, but has now returned to the buyer's seat.
The funding source is straightforward: proceeds from the sale of approximately $602.8 million in common stock, with the remainder used to repurchase the company's STRC preferred shares. The average purchase price works out to just over $80,000 per coin. Following the transaction, Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings have reached 845,050 BTC, still the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury on the public market—by a wide margin.
The backdrop to this renewed buying is a tug-of-war between macroeconomic and geopolitical forces.Bitcoin rose approximately 1.2% on the day to $79,015 (as of 14:13 Beijing time). August's nearly 25% gain was driven by expectations of progress in U.S. crypto regulation and demand for alternative assets amid bond market turmoil. However, upside is constrained by two factors: first, interest rates. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated the 2% inflation target in his Jackson Hole speech, signaling a hawkish stance, and market expectations for a September rate hike have notably intensified. Second, geopolitics. The U.S. and Iran launched military strikes against each other for the first time in about a month, pushing oil prices higher and amplifying concerns that "rate hikes will suppress risk assets." For Bitcoin, which pays no interest and relies purely on narrative, rising rates have always been a headwind.
Turning to altcoins: Ethereum rose 1.5% to $2,476 on the day, XRP gained 1.8%, Solana and Cardano climbed 1.2% and 3% respectively, and BNB edged up 0.6%. In other words, after August's strong performance, major crypto assets moved modestly higher overall, but the momentum was noticeably less smooth than in the previous month.
For ordinary investors, whether Strategy buys or not is itself a mirror. Its two-month pause shows that even the most steadfast bulls will step back after a sharp rally; its renewed buying offers the market reassurance that "institutional demand remains intact." But it's worth remembering that corporate treasury accumulation is a long-term signal, not an indicator of short-term direction—when both macro rates and oil prices are rising, whether Bitcoin can hold the $78,000–$80,000 range is the variable worth watching most closely going forward.