$65.5M acquisition: Strategy restarts Bitcoin purchases after brief pause

• 811 BTC were added to Strategy's holdings last week. The $65.5 million purchase lifted its total to 849,327 BTC.
• Of the $164 million raised through share sales, Strategy directed $65.5 million towards Bitcoin and added $98.5 million to its cash balance.
• Holding above $76,000 support, Bitcoin needs a close above $79,500 to reclaim the level lost over the weekend.

811 BTC marked Strategy's (MSTR) return to Bitcoin (BTC) buying. Following a one-week pause, the company spent approximately $65.5 million on the purchase, with the leading cryptocurrency still trading below $80,000.

811 BTC added: Strategy spends $65 million during market decline

An average purchase price of $80,846 per BTC took Strategy's Bitcoin holdings to 849,327 BTC, acquired for roughly $64.08 billion. The figures appeared in a Form 8-K filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.

Proceeds from Class A common stock sales under Strategy's at-the-market (ATM) offering programme financed the acquisition.

Net proceeds totalled $164 million from the sale of 1.1 million shares. Strategy used $65.5 million for Bitcoin, adding the remaining $98.5 million to its USD Cash balance.

During the same period, roughly $208.2 million from Strategy's USD Cash balance funded the repurchase of 2.09 million STRC preferred shares. A further $43.4 million from its separate USD Reserve covered preferred stock dividends.

Below $80K: QCP highlights weak institutional demand for Bitcoin

Weak institutional demand and cautious market positioning continue to weigh on BTC as Strategy returns to buying.

Having lost the $80,000 level last week, Bitcoin remained under pressure but escaped a sharper fall, QCP analysts said in their Monday market report.

Support emerged in the $76,000 to $76,600 range after Bitcoin dropped to $76,141 on Friday, its lowest since 17 September.

While the $6.3 billion Binance hack was largely responsible for the decline, persistent weakness in institutional investment flows was also highlighted by QCP.

Friday brought $643.2 million in outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), taking October's net outflows to roughly $515 million.

Falling returns on the ETF basis trade were another concern raised by QCP. The strategy pairs spot Bitcoin purchases with futures sales to capture the price difference. According to the report, it now yields approximately 4.8%, just 0.6 percentage points above US Treasury bill yields, making it less attractive to multi-strategy funds.

Caution was evident in options positioning too. Demand for downside protection stayed elevated, QCP noted, with implied volatility around the US midterm elections priced at 47%.

Potential drivers of Bitcoin's next move, the report said, include the US midterm elections, economic data releases from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England's interest rate decision and October's Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) figures due Friday.

Resistance lies between $79,500 and $80,500, according to QCP analysts, while immediate Bitcoin support is around $76,000 to $76,600.

QCP wrote: “A daily close back above $79,500 would recover the band lost on Thursday. A break of support would bring the 50-week average near $75,700 into view, with the 200-day near $73,100 below that,”

At the time of writing, a 1.3% decline over the past 24 hours leaves BTC trading at $76,930.