Saylor's Bitcoin Buying Strategy Under Fire as CryptoQuant Calls for Halt

CryptoQuant, an onchain analytics firm, has published a report criticizing Michael Saylor's strategy of buying Bitcoin for his company, MicroStrategy (MSTR). According to the report, Strategy should halt its bitcoin buying and rebuild its cash reserve. The strain is showing up in the company's STRC preferred stock, which fell 17.5% below the $100 level it is designed to trade around.

STRC, a class of equity that pays a set dividend, currently yields 11.5%. However, Strategy's U.S. dollar reserve has fallen 38% since the start of 2026, while its annual dividend obligations have nearly quadrupled to $1.2 billion. Dividend coverage, a measure of how long the reserve could keep funding payouts, has collapsed from more than seven years to about 14 months.

CryptoQuant noted that Strategy needs to reach about $2.8 billion in reserves for STRC to recover. As such, it currently sits on a $1.1 billion reserve. The report also stated that the company's bitcoin purchases are underwater, with all Bitcoin purchased in 2024, 2025, and 2026 having an unrealized loss of $10.6 billion.