Strategy makes big bitcoin buy after period that ranked “among the worst weeks of the decade”

Strategy announced it bought 1,550 bitcoin for $101 million, quelling fears that it would sell again and drive the price and sentiment down for the asset. Last week was bitcoin’s worst week since “the 2024 yen-carry unwind, falling 12.6%, while more than $5.7 billion in long positions were liquidated over seven days,” Timothy Misir, head of research at Blockhead Research Network, said.

The company acquired its latest stash for an average bitcoin price of $65,332 and now holds a total of 845,256. It also said it had increased its cash reserve by $100 million to $1 billion. 

Additionally, Strategy closed voting on its proposed switch from monthly to semimonthly dividends for STRC, its perpetual preferred equity instrument.

July 15 would be the first payment date under this new cadence, if approved.

Shares were up over 4% in early trading. 

Bitcoin held steady over the weekend, rebounding to $63,500 on Monday morning, up 3% in the past 24 hours. On Friday, it fell below $60,000, its lowest level since October 2024.  

Daniela Hathorn, a senior market analyst at Capital.com, said this resilience following the latest exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel stems from bitcoin having already undergone a significant correction over recent weeks.

In other words, she said, a degree of macro and liquidity risk had already been priced in.

Meanwhile, crypto liquidations have reached nearly $600 million in the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data shows. Bitcoin saw $280 million in liquidations, with the bulk in short positions.

Rajiv Sawhney, head of international portfolio management at Wave Digital Assets, told Sherwood News that the one-day liquidation map further confirms the market has flipped from bearish to tentatively bullish over the last 24 hours.

“How long this can continue is anyone’s guess, especially as bitcoin has given back some gains heading into the European morning,” Sawhney said.

Still, Misir said that crypto enters the new week under its heaviest pressure in months, as bitcoin’s weekly drawdown ranks among the worst weeks of the decade. But this time is different, he said, as prior episodes of comparable damage were usually tied to a single catastrophic event.

“This week’s pressure came from multiple sources at once: ETF redemptions, stronger labor data, the Zcash security shock, Strategy-related selling concerns, and a broader rotation toward AI-led equities,” Misir said.

Caroline Mauron, cofounder of Orbit Markets, said that traders are watching Strategy cofounder Michael Saylor’s next steps very closely.

Large bitcoin purchases will provide some short-term market relief but could worsen an already precarious treasury situation in the medium term, Mauron told Sherwood.

“Strong support has now been established at 60K, and the level is likely to be tested again on any renewed macro or geopolitical concerns,” Mauron said.

All eyes remain on bitcoin ETFs, as they have been a main support for bitcoin’s price, especially since the war in Iran began. Renewed inflows this week could inject much-needed confidence back into the asset after it suffered $1.72 billion in outflows last week, the largest exodus since February 2025, according to SoSoValue.

This marked the fourth consecutive billion-dollar weekly outflow, prompting BRN’s Misir to say “the ETF story is now central.”

While a one-week outflow can be dismissed as positioning, he said, four consecutive weeks, with the 30-day average hitting record negative territory, indicate a structural shift in institutional demand.

Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, also noted that the ETFs saw around $4.4 billion in outflows over 13 consecutive sessions, the fastest withdrawals on record.

“And when demand from the largest marginal buyers fades that way, long-term levels come under pressure regardless of any single seller. The rebound is a relief move around a major long-term level, not yet a confirmed turn,” Haeems told Sherwood.

Beyond ETFs, sentiment remains cautious, as several other signals point to a stressed market in the short term.

“With CME BTC volatility currently trading around 50, a level reached only a handful of times over the past 12 months, I remain cautious that this rally is unlikely to prove sustainable,” Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, told Sherwood.