Strategy raises $2.01B net from MSTR share sales, sets up new USD liquidity reserve

Strategy has created a new U.S. dollar cash pool, "USD Cash", after raising net proceeds of $2.01 billion from selling MSTR shares, CoinMarketCap reported. Company filings show the funds are intended to serve as a standalone dollar liquidity reserve that can be deployed for Bitcoin treasury-related arrangements, as well as dividends, interest payments, share buybacks, and debt repayment. As of Aug. 23, the USD Cash balance stood at $1.59 billion. The company said the account is managed separately from its existing "USD Reserve," which totals $5.1 billion and is primarily earmarked for preferred dividends and debt interest. Unlike the USD Reserve, USD Cash carries no such restrictions, giving management more flexibility to move quickly during periods of market stress, including unusual volatility in Bitcoin or in Strategy's own securities. The latest equity sale marks a sharp step-up in fundraising. Strategy said the $2.01 billion net raised this week is about six times the prior week's $334 million. The company also reported increasing its USD Reserve to $5.1 billion and repurchasing $136 million of $STRC. Strategy's Bitcoin holdings were unchanged. As of Aug. 23, the company held 840,447 bitcoins acquired for $63.36 billion, implying an average cost of about $75,385 per coin. It has not bought additional Bitcoin since June and has not sold any for two straight weeks. Since May, it has sold a cumulative 6,948 bitcoins for about $432.5 million. The company said its current holdings represent roughly 4% of total Bitcoin supply, with net leverage near zero. With Bitcoin rebounding to around $78,400, the market value of Strategy's Bitcoin position rose to about $65.9 billion, roughly $2.6 billion above its cost basis. A week earlier, with Bitcoin near $63,553, the position was still about $9.9 billion below cost. In July, when Bitcoin approached $58,000, the unrealized loss had widened to around $13 billion.