Strategy skips a week of bitcoin purchases for the first time this year

By Tomi Kilgore

The buying pause, just the fifth one in the past year, comes after bitcoin had pulled back sharply from its mid-March peak

Strategy's pause is not likely to last, given Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has said the company will be buying every quarter 'forever.'

Strategy disclosed Monday something it rarely does - it refrained from buying bitcoin.

The business-software company, known to be the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, provides an update on its activity in the previous week each Monday, as well as the purchased value of its bitcoin holdings.

For the first time in 2026, and just the fifth time in the past year, Strategy said it did not purchase any bitcoin between March 23 and March 29. The company said it didn't sell any of its shares.

Strategy's stock (MSTR) fell 3.6% on Monday, while bitcoin (BTCUSD) rose about 1%.

There's no indication from past bitcoin purchase pauses that the recent movement in bitcoin had anything to do with the company's decision not to buy last week. But the latest pause comes after a sharp pullback from the mid-March highs.

On March 17, bitcoin rose to an intraday high of just above 76,000, which was more than the average price Strategy paid to acquire its bitcoin holdings, before falling back to close at about $74,068. Since then, even with Monday's gain, it has declined 8.8%.

Strategy said Monday that it holds 762,099 bitcoins, and that it acquired for $57.69 billion at an average price of $75,694 per bitcoin. Bitcoin has closed below the average price Strategy paid for its bitcoin stake every day since Feb. 3.

Read: Strategy shows no fear - it keeps adding to a losing bitcoin position as prices drop.

At current prices, the value of Strategy's stake is about $6.2 billion less than what the company paid for it.

But even though the company remains underwater on its bitcoin investment, it's unlikely the buying pause will continue. As Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said in early February, when many were asking whether the company would consider selling off some of its stake, "we're not going to be selling, and he expects the company to be buying bitcoin every quarter "forever."

So far this quarter, since March 2, the company has spent $1.66 billion to buy 41,362 bitcoins.

Strategy's stock has dropped 15.9% in 2026, while bitcoin has tumbled 22.8% and the S&P 500 index SPX has fallen 6.6%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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03-30-26 1933ET