Bitcoin treasury Strategy on Monday announced that it had again skipped buying Bitcoin, instead buying back its own preferred stock, Stretch (STRC), for $25 million.

In a filing and post on X, the company said it sold 5,429,160 shares of MSTR common stock through its at-the-market program between July 20 and July 26, generating $544.5 million in net proceeds. 

It was the first time the company did a buyback of its STRC product, one of the firm’s several products that gives investors exposure to Bitcoin via shares that pay a dividend.  

The company still holds 843,775 Bitcoins on its balance sheet — worth over $55 billion at today’s price of $65,576 per coin. 

The Bitcoin buying pause is the fifth in a row. Strategy has leaned on dollar accumulation over fresh Bitcoin buys across recent weeks, a shift from the aggressive purchases that defined much of its history. The firm now has $3.75 billion in cash that will not be used to fund repurchases, according to a filing. 

Strategy has said that its buyback plan — approved earlier this month — is about balance-sheet strength rather than retreat. President and CEO Phong Le has said that Strategy intends to remain a long-term Bitcoin buyer. 

Strategy — formerly MicroStrategy — started buying Bitcoin in August 2020 as a way to generate better returns for its shareholders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has since spent around $63.9 billion on Bitcoin and is the largest corporate holder of the asset. Investors can buy its shares to gain exposure to the leading cryptocurrency without having to buy and hold digital coins themselves. 

Strategy spawned a long-list of copycat firms which have bought not only Bitcoin, but other cryptocurrencies to boost their stock prices. 

Strategy’s Nasdaq-listed stock (MSTR) was trading nearly 7% higher on Monday at nearly $98 per share. MSTR year-to-date has dropped by nearly 40%.