Strategy has moved back into the black on its massive Bitcoin treasury after a sharp five-day rally pushed BTC above the company’s average acquisition price.
Bitcoin climbed to around $77,300 on Aug. 21, up roughly 23% from about $62,800 at the beginning of the week. The move erased months of unrealized losses for Strategy, turning its 840,447-BTC holdings into a paper gain of approximately $1.4 billion, or about 2.4%.
The turnaround is significant because Strategy spent much of 2026 underwater on its Bitcoin position. The company acquired its holdings at an average price of $75,385 per BTC, giving it a total cost basis of roughly $63.36 billion. At $77,300, the Bitcoin treasury was worth close to $65 billion.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Chart on Aug 22, 2026 (Source: CoinMarketCap)
From a $13 Billion Loss to Profit
The latest gain marks a dramatic reversal from earlier this year.
Bitcoin spent months trading well below its previous record, after reaching more than $126,000 in October 2025. By the end of June, BTC had fallen as low as $58,000. At that level, Strategy’s Bitcoin position was estimated to be around $13 billion underwater, equivalent to more than 20% of its cost basis.
The pressure was not purely theoretical. Strategy had begun selling Bitcoin during the downturn to strengthen its liquidity position and help meet obligations tied to its preferred securities. The company sold thousands of BTC during the period when the cryptocurrency was trading in the $60,000 range.
One of the more notable developments came in June, when Strategy sold Bitcoin for the first time in almost four years. The initial sale involved just 32 BTC, but it marked a major departure from the company’s long-standing strategy of accumulating Bitcoin rather than selling it.
By early August, Strategy had sold another 1,690 BTC for approximately $108.6 million, bringing its holdings to the current 840,447 BTC.
Yet the company’s overall Bitcoin strategy remained intact. The amount sold was small relative to its enormous treasury, while management continued to work on strengthening the balance sheet.
Bitcoin Strategy Tracker (Source: SaylorTracker)
A Stronger Cash Buffer
Strategy has also been building a much larger dollar reserve as it navigates the volatility.
By Aug. 17, the company’s U.S. dollar reserve had reached approximately $4.8 billion. Strategy said the reserve provided roughly 2.8 years of coverage for preferred dividends and other obligations.
The company reached that figure partly through sales of MSTR shares rather than relying entirely on Bitcoin sales. During the week ending Aug. 16, Strategy raised $333.7 million through the sale of 3.46 million Class A shares.
The proceeds were divided between several priorities: $52.4 million went toward preferred dividends, $132.2 million was used to repurchase STRC preferred shares, and another $149.1 million was added to the dollar reserve. Strategy did not buy or sell Bitcoin during that week.
That distinction matters. Strategy is still heavily dependent on Bitcoin’s price, but its recent financing activity gives the company more room to absorb volatility without immediately selling its core Bitcoin position.
STRC Becomes Another Focus
Alongside Bitcoin, Strategy has increasingly focused on its preferred stock, particularly STRC.
The company has been buying back STRC as it attempts to bring the security back toward its $100 par value. Strategy has repurchased roughly $347 million of STRC over the past four weeks, more than one-third of a $1 billion buyback authorization. STRC was trading around $95.62, substantially above its June low near $71.
The recovery in Bitcoin could indirectly help that effort by improving sentiment around Strategy’s balance sheet and reducing concerns about the company’s ability to support its preferred securities.
Still, the improvement should not be confused with a realized profit. Strategy has not locked in the roughly $1.4 billion gain. It is an unrealized mark-to-market increase that can disappear just as quickly if Bitcoin falls back below the company’s average purchase price.
Strategy MSTR Bitcoin Portfolio (Source: DropsTab)
Strategy MSTR Bitcoin Portfolio (Source: DropsTab)
What Comes Next for Strategy?
The bigger question is whether Strategy will return to aggressive Bitcoin accumulation now that BTC has moved back above its cost basis.
The company has historically treated periods of weakness as opportunities to increase its holdings. More recently, however, liquidity pressures forced management to balance Bitcoin accumulation against dividends, preferred-stock obligations and the need to maintain a sizable cash reserve.
Strategy’s CEO Phong Le has indicated that the company expects to resume Bitcoin accumulation, while data in the supplied material shows that its purchases for the year still substantially exceed its sales.
For now, the Bitcoin rally has given Strategy breathing room. Its enormous treasury has moved from a $13 billion paper loss during the summer downturn to roughly $1.4 billion in unrealized profit within weeks.
But the reversal also highlights the central risk of Strategy’s model: its financial position remains closely tied to Bitcoin. At around $77,000, the company is comfortably above its average acquisition price. A renewed decline below $75,385, however, would quickly put the treasury back underwater.
For Strategy shareholders, the latest rally is therefore more than a headline profit. It is a reminder of both the power and the risk of the company’s Bitcoin-centered balance sheet.
