Strategy posts $8.2B Q2 loss as Bitcoin slump drives unrealized losses

The Bitcoin treasury company said it has built a $3.75 billion cash reserve to support preferred stock payouts following the launch of its BTC monetization program.

Strategy reported an $8.22 billion second-quarter net loss, driven primarily by an $8.32 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings as the cryptocurrency’s price declined during the quarter.

As of July 26, Strategy held 843,775 Bitcoin (BTC), a 25% increase since the beginning of the year despite selling approximately $218.4 million worth of Bitcoin under its newly established BTC monetization program. The company said the proceeds were used to help fund a portion of its preferred stock dividend obligations.

Strategy also said it has built a $3.75 billion US dollar reserve, enough to cover more than two years of preferred dividend payments and interest obligations. The company recently repurchased $25 million of its STRC preferred shares at a discount to par and said it intends to continue buying the securities while they trade below $100.

Bitcoin fell about 14% during the second quarter, from around $68,000 at the start of April to about $58,600 by the end of June, according to CoinGeck data. On Thursday afternoon, it was trading around $64,700.

Strategy (MSTR) shares finished the regular trading session on Thursday up 4.7% before slipping modestly in after-hours trading following the earnings report, per Yahoo Finance data.