The mechanics behind the pause are rooted in capital-structure arithmetic. Strategy's mNAV ratio slipped below 1.0 in late June, the first sub-parity reading in its history. When the stock trades below the net bitcoin value per share, issuing new equity to buy bitcoin becomes dilutive. The company has instead used its at-the-market equity program to raise cash, reporting $263.5 million in MSTR sales one week and $466.7 million another, with proceeds building the dollar reserve rather than funding coin purchases.
The growing cash pile serves a specific purpose. Strategy faces annual interest and dividend obligations of roughly $1.8 billion, driven in part by its STRC preferred stock, whose dividend rate increased to 12% beginning July 1, 2026. The USD reserve, now at $3.75 billion, provides a liquidity buffer designed to cover those payments without forced bitcoin sales at depressed prices. The company has described the reserve as a tool to reinforce the perceived creditworthiness of its preferred securities.
Strategy has also overhauled its financial reporting. A new "Net Reserve" metric subtracts $22.3 billion in senior claims — $6.8 billion in out-of-the-money convertible debt and $15.5 billion in notional preferred stock — from its $55.6 billion bitcoin holding and $3.2 billion in cash. The resulting $36.6 billion figure represents the bitcoin value attributable to common shareholders. The revised mNAV formula permanently sets the accretion threshold at 1.0x, meaning share issuance is accretive only when the stock price exceeds net bitcoin per share.