France’s Council of State has rejected an emergency request from Bull Bitcoin and Paymium to suspend the French decree implementing the European Union’s DAC8 crypto tax reporting rules while a separate challenge seeking to annul the measure remains before the court.

Bull Bitcoin said in a Sept. 17 statement on X that the summary suspension proceeding was filed in August 2026 and focused on what the companies described as immediate security risks created by collecting and centralizing information about cryptocurrency users.

The proceeding was separate from a legal challenge launched earlier this year against the decree itself. Bull Bitcoin said the first case contests the legality of the French implementation of DAC8, while the second sought to stop its application until the Council of State reaches a decision on the underlying dispute.

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Council of State finds no urgent grounds to suspend DAC8

In rejecting the emergency request, the Council of State found that Bull Bitcoin and Paymium had not established a level of urgency sufficient to justify suspending the decree.

“The mere possibility of a risk, the probability of which is very low, cannot constitute a situation of urgency,” the court said, according to an excerpt of the decision published by Bull Bitcoin.

The companies had argued that concentrating information about crypto users in databases accessible for tax reporting creates a security risk if the records are compromised. Data collected under the regime can include information identifying users and details of their crypto transactions.

Bull Bitcoin said leaked information could allow criminals to identify cryptocurrency holders and their families for kidnapping, extortion or other physical attacks.

The company disputed the court’s assessment of the risk, pointing to comments made by France’s General Directorate of Public Finances during parliamentary discussions in February. According to Bull Bitcoin, the tax authority warned that a general declaration system for crypto portfolios could centralize sensitive information, including holders’ identities and the value of their assets, making such records attractive targets for hackers.

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Bull Bitcoin said the emergency ruling dealt only with whether there was sufficient urgency to suspend the decree and did not resolve the arguments raised in its main case.

“This refusal in no way means that the Council of State rejects our substantive arguments, and concerns only the grounds of urgency,” the company said.

Bull Bitcoin further said it interpreted the absence of comments on its substantive arguments as a positive sign for the main proceeding. That interpretation represents the company’s view of the ruling, while the Council of State has yet to decide the merits of the annulment challenge.

France faces growing debate over crypto holder data

The security argument comes amid a series of physical attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders and their relatives in France.

As crypto.news previously reported, France had recorded 77 crypto linked cases involving kidnapping, unlawful detention, extortion or attempted offenses during 2026 by early July, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. The comparable figure for 2025 was 45.

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Around 200 people had been arrested following attacks or preventive operations, while authorities introduced measures including stronger intelligence sharing and rapid identification systems for industry participants considered at risk.

Blockchain security firm CertiK separately recorded 52 verified physical crypto attacks worldwide during the first half of 2026, with France accounting for 33 of them. Its dataset put total financial exposure from the incidents at $124.1 million, including stolen assets, ransom demands, frozen funds and other values associated with the cases.

Chainalysis counted 46 documented physical crypto attacks globally through late June, of which 12 resulted in payments to attackers. More than $30 million was taken in successful incidents during the period, while home invasions represented 37% of documented attacks.

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The analytics firm identified compromised personal information as a possible factor behind the concentration of attacks in France, citing allegations involving stolen tax records containing investor information. It stopped short of establishing a direct link between specific data breaches and individual attacks.

Physical attacks have continued in recent months. In August, a French couple was kidnapped from their home in Rion-des-Landes in an alleged crypto extortion case. Attackers reportedly sought access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency holdings, while two suspects were later arrested.

Another couple in Alès was tied up and threatened by armed intruders in late August. The attackers demanded cryptocurrency transactions and remained inside the home for more than two hours before fleeing as police arrived.

DAC8 expands crypto tax reporting across the EU

DAC8 entered into application across the European Union on Jan. 1, 2026, expanding automatic tax information exchange rules to crypto assets.

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Reporting crypto asset service providers must collect information on reportable transactions carried out by EU resident users. Required customer information can include names, addresses, tax identification numbers, dates of birth and tax residence details.

The rules cover crypto to fiat transactions, exchanges between crypto assets and certain transfers. Self custody wallet withdrawals can fall within the reporting framework when they involve a reporting service provider.

Providers are collecting reportable information covering the 2026 calendar year, with the first reporting and automatic exchange of the data scheduled for 2027.

The regime is expected to give tax authorities substantially more information about crypto activity. Chainalysis estimated that France generated $9.4 billion in potentially taxable crypto activity during 2025 across the six blockchains included in its study.

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The estimate consisted of $1.7 billion in crypto income, $2.5 billion in realized gains and $5.2 billion in payments. Chainalysis described the figures as potentially taxable activity and did not characterize the full amount as unpaid taxes or government revenue.

French taxpayers reported €368 million in crypto gains for 2024 through roughly 24,000 tax filings, though the figure covers a different period and category of activity and is not directly comparable with the Chainalysis estimate.

Bull Bitcoin continues annulment challenge

Bull Bitcoin said its original proceeding seeking the complete annulment of the French DAC8 decree remains active before the Council of State.

The company said the case challenges the government’s authority to implement the decree and raises arguments concerning fundamental rights and European privacy protections.

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Following the rejection of the emergency proceeding, Bull Bitcoin said it plans to publish its filings, supporting documents and arguments from the suspension case in the coming days.

“We are waging this war against mass surveillance on multiple fronts and in multiple countries,” the company said. “We have won battles and suffered setbacks.”

Under the DAC8 implementation timetable, crypto asset service providers must report information covering the 2026 calendar year by Sept. 30, 2027, before the data is automatically exchanged among EU tax authorities.

Zcash gained about 20% over the past 24 hours as Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed that the crypto investment firm made an unspecified purchase of ZEC, the privacy-focused token that has been outperforming a broader rise across crypto markets.

Zcash (ZEC), a cryptocurrency that enables users to make shielded transactions that conceal addresses and transaction amounts using zero-knowledge proofs, traded around $1,338 at last look on Thursday. Its surge came in the wake of Huang’s Wednesday post revealing that Paradigm is an investor in the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) as well as a ZEC token holder. 

Today’s more than 10% rise extends ZEC’s one-month increase to roughly 160%, compared to Bitcoin’s (BTC) 18.2% rise in the same period, according to Coingecko data.

Huang described Zcash as a “private complement to Bitcoin” and backed its inflation-funded developer fund, arguing that long-term funding remains important as AI-driven cyber capabilities and quantum computing advance. He also said he supported combining Zcash coin voting with other forms of governance to reduce unpredictability as a monetary asset.

Paradigm’s investment in the wider Zcash ecosystem was already public. In March, ZODL announced a seed round of more than $25 million that included Paradigm, a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures and Winklevoss Capital. 

ZEC’s rise came as the broader crypto market advanced after the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%, its first increase since 2023. 

Privacy coins have also substantially outperformed the wider market. Glassnode data showed the sector was 213% above its level at Bitcoin’s October 2025 peak, while a basket excluding ZEC was up about 85% over the past year.

Related: Zcash says Ironwood proof rules out undetectable counterfeiting bugs

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan has revised his view of the CLARITY Act setback after Bitcoin rallied from $57,950 in July to above $80,000 before the Senate failed to advance the crypto market structure bill on Sept. 15.

Bitwise said in Hougan’sSept. 16 CIO memo that he no longer considers another six weeks of difficult crypto trading the most likely result after the legislation stalled, though his expectation that the current crypto rally can continue remains an investment outlook rather than a confirmed market outcome.

Hougan had previously compared the legislation to crypto’s “Punxsutawney Phil,” predicting a longer market winter if Congress failed to complete the bill. After reviewing Bitcoin’s price action and continued financial-sector product launches, he now describes the Senate setback as a “speed bump, not a roadblock.”

Bitcoin’s rally changed Hougan’s CLARITY outlook

Hougan’s revised position centers on Bitcoin’s performance while expectations for the legislation deteriorated. Bitwise data placed Bitcoin’s July 1 low near $57,950 before the asset climbed above $80,000 on Sept. 4. Over the same period, Bitwise said Polymarket pricing for the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 dropped from 39% to 18%.

Hougan argued that the opposing moves weakened his earlier assumption that passage was necessary for the market recovery to continue. The price relationship does not establish that declining legislative odds caused Bitcoin’s advance, and Bitwise did not present it as proof of future performance.

The Senate then rejected cloture on the motion to proceed with H.R. 3633 on Sept. 15. The official Senate roll call recorded 49 votes in favor and 50 against, with one senator not voting. Sixty votes were required to invoke cloture and move toward debate.

The action was not a final vote on passage. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis voted against cloture. Tillis changed his vote after the outcome became clear, a procedural move that preserved the possibility of seeking reconsideration. No date for another Senate vote has been announced.

As crypto.news reported after the vote, the failure stopped the Senate from opening debate at that stage while leaving the legislation unresolved rather than formally defeated through a final passage vote.

Wall Street crypto projects continued before the Senate vote

Hougan cited several institutional developments to support his view that large financial companies have not waited for market structure legislation before building crypto products.

Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain on July 1. The company describes the network as a permissionless, Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 built for financial services and tokenized assets. Its second-quarter regulatory filing confirms that Robinhood Chain moved from its February public testnet into mainnet during July.

Robinhood paired the launch with Stock Tokens for eligible users in more than 120 countries through Robinhood Wallet. Robinhood says approximately 200 stock tokens were available by September.

Morgan Stanley’s Solana product had moved even further than an application by the time of Hougan’s memo. The SEC declared the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust registration effective on July 23, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management formally launched the MSOL product on NYSE Arca on July 28 alongside its Ether product, MSSE.

Morgan Stanley said both exchange-traded products charge a 0.14% sponsor fee and seek exposure to SOL and Ether, with staking incorporated into their structures. Crypto.news reported on the July launch, correcting earlier descriptions of Morgan Stanley as merely seeking approval for a Solana fund.

DTCC supplied another example. On July 15, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation processed live production transactions using securities converted into DTC-tokenized assets. The transactions included equity trades, U.S. Treasury and repo activity, securities lending, collateral pledges and token transfers.

DTCC said roughly 40 firms participated in the production event, which came ahead of the planned October 2026 launch of its Tokenization Service. In related coverage, crypto.news reported that participants included firms such as BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions.

SEC and CFTC rulemaking can continue without the bill

Hougan’s second argument concerns regulatory authority already held by the SEC and CFTC. He characterized the current leadership of both agencies as supportive of crypto-market development and said companies have taken comfort from that policy direction. His description of the agencies as “pro-crypto” is Bitwise’s characterization, not a statutory classification.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has separately said congressional legislation remains preferable because agency rules can later be changed. In an Aug. 18 statement, Atkins called legislation “indispensable” for creating rules durable enough to survive a future change in regulatory leadership.

The SEC has nevertheless started its own rulemaking. Its proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, published Aug. 18, would create tailored exemptions for certain investment-contract offerings involving crypto assets and a conditional safe harbor addressing when a crypto asset would no longer be treated as subject to an investment contract. The proposal remains open for public comment through Oct. 20 and is not a final rule.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig took a similar position after the Senate vote. In a Sept. 16 statement reported by The Block, Selig said the agency was “locked in and ready to ship its rules for the new frontier of finance” using its existing statutory authority.

The CFTC had already created an Innovation Task Force in March to work on crypto assets, blockchain, artificial intelligence and prediction markets. Selig said at the time that the group would coordinate with the SEC while developing rules within the commission’s existing mandate.

Agency authority still has limits. Hougan acknowledged that only Congress can provide the CFTC with the full spot-market jurisdiction contemplated by the CLARITY Act. Administrative rules can face court challenges and may be amended or reversed by future commissions, while legislation would create a different level of statutory permanence.

Former CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo similarly said the two agencies could continue writing rules within existing authority while Congress remains divided.

Bitcoin fell after the vote as macro pressure increased

Markets reacted negatively immediately after the Senate action. Reuters reported Bitcoin falling roughly 4% to around $75,908, while Coinbase and Circle shares dropped close to 9% as investors reacted to the failure to advance the bill.

Crypto derivatives markets recorded another layer of selling. Crypto.news reported that exchanges liquidated roughly $571 million in long positions over 24 hours, including close to $190 million each in Bitcoin and Ether longs.

Hougan said the legislative result was not the only factor affecting prices. His memo cited interest-rate and oil concerns as possible contributors to the decline, while describing additional volatility as a risk to his bullish investment thesis.

The macro backdrop changed again on Sept. 16 when the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate to 3.75%–4.00%, its first increase since 2023. Reuters reported that the unanimous decision came as policymakers responded to persistent inflation and rising energy costs, with most officials projecting at least one more increase during 2026.

By Sept. 17, CoinGecko showed Bitcoin near $76,274, up roughly 0.5% over 24 hours but down around 2.1% over seven days. The price remained well above Bitwise’s $57,950 July starting point while trading below the early-September level above $80,000.

Hougan’s expectation that the crypto bull market can continue without the CLARITY Act remains Bitwise’s market forecast. The SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets proposal is still accepting comments through Oct. 20, while the Senate has not scheduled another cloture vote on H.R. 3633.

Cornyn’s allies continued the persuasion campaign after the primary, which advanced the senator and Paxton to a runoff. According to a White House aide, Thune spent hours on the phone with Trump after the primary, trying in vain to persuade him to endorse Cornyn in the runoff. For more than two months, Trump resisted choosing between them. By May, however, Paxton had pulled decisively ahead. Trump’s own pollsters concluded that even his endorsement was unlikely to save Cornyn. Trump finally endorsed Paxton a week before the runoff, and took credit for the victory. 

Since then, Paxton has struggled to raise funds necessary for a competitive Senate race in one of the nation’s largest states. Neither the Senate Leadership Fund, aligned with Thune, nor MAGA Inc., run by LaCivita, was eager to fill the gap. Despite its enormous cash reserves, by late August, MAGA Inc. had spent just $800,000 overall; its most conspicuous intervention was to help Darline Graham win the Republican nomination to succeed her late brother, Lindsey Graham, in South Carolina. 

Cryptocurrencies rallied after the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate increase since July 2023, a counterintuitive reaction given the FOMC decision makes interest-bearing investments more attractive.

Bitcoin added almost 1% over the past 24 hours while zcash (ZEC) jumped by more than 23% to a record high.

Traders who remember previous Fed rate cycles, especially 2022, are likely to be cautious, however.

Bitcoin is currently about 40% below its October record high of $126,000. When the Fed began tightening in March 2022, it was also roughly 40% below its record high, the November 2021 peak.

Over the next 12 days, the largest cryptocurrency rallied 18% before sliding 50% for several months, a period that also saw the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

The relief leg of that pattern has already begun, with bitcoin defying a shift to the downside after the U.S. Clarity Act was shelved, but ETF flows continue to demonstrate weakness, with $746 million exiting spot bitcoin funds on Tuesday and Wednesday alone.

Zcash rose more than 17% to nearly $1,358 as of Asian morning hours Thursday, far ahead of every other major, according to CoinDesk data.

Solana and hyperliquid each added about 3%, with BNB, dogecoin and ether up roughly 2%. Bitcoin climbed 1% to just above $76,400, XRP the same, and tron was flat.

The Fed raised its target range by a quarter point to 375 to 400 basis points on Wednesday, its first hike of the cycle after markets had priced the move at roughly 69% going in. Bitcoin barely moved on the decision. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email that bitcoin had already “overreacted negatively” to the CLARITY Act failing in the Senate this week, leaving it less exposed to a stronger dollar.

Some 86,816 traders were liquidated over 24 hours for a combined $345 million, per CoinGlass. Liquidation is when an exchange force-closes a leveraged position because the trader’s collateral no longer covers the loss. Shorts made up $208 million of that against $137 million of longs, so most of the pain landed on traders betting prices would fall.

Ether led at nearly $89 million, bitcoin at $85 million and zcash at $56 million. The largest single order was an $18 million bitcoin position closed on Hyperliquid.

Zcash produced $56 million of liquidations on a market capitalization of $23 billion. Watch whether that leverage rebuilds through Thursday, because it has fuelled every leg of this run.

Key takeaways

• XRP’s long-to-short ratio stands at a bullish 1.06 as funding rates turn negative. 
• XRP holds above its 50-day and 100-day EMAs at $1.284 and $1.255.
• A daily close above the 200-day EMA at $1.353 could place $1.90 in focus.

XRP extended its recoveries on Thursday after finding support at important technical levels. However, conflicting funding rates, long-to-short positioning, and on-chain signals indicate that traders remain uncertain about whether the rebounds can continue.

XRP traded near $1.30 while holding above its 50-day and 100-day exponential moving averages. A close above the 200-day EMA at $1.353 is required to strengthen its recovery.

XRP traders show mixed positioning

XRP’s long-to-short ratio rose to 1.06 on Thursday, approaching its highest level in more than a month, according to CoinGlass.

A ratio above one means traders hold more long positions than shorts, signaling a moderately bullish positioning bias.

Funding rates complicate the derivatives outlook for both tokens. XRP’s funding rate turned negative on Wednesday and stood at -0.0040% on Thursday. 

Negative funding means short-position holders are paying longs, indicating that bearish positioning has become more aggressive.

This conflicts with XRP’s bullish long-to-short ratio and highlights the lack of consensus among futures traders.

CryptoQuant’s summary indicators point to cautious conditions across XRP’s spot and futures markets.

XRP is showing signs of overheating, while its futures market reflects sell-side dominance. Increased activity from retail traders could also introduce additional volatility if leveraged positions become crowded.

Taken together, the metrics suggest that XRP has not attracted enough consistent demand to confirm a sustained recovery.

XRP holds above the $1.25–$1.28 support zone

XRP traded near $1.30 on Thursday, maintaining a neutral and range-bound technical structure. The token remains slightly above its 50-day EMA at $1.284 and its 100-day EMA at $1.255. These moving averages create a broader demand zone between approximately $1.25 and $1.28.

The Relative Strength Index stands near 46, signaling neutral-to-weak momentum. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator remains below zero, showing that bullish pressure has yet to recover fully.

A break below the moving-average support cluster could expose the psychological $1 level.

The 200-day EMA at $1.353 represents XRP’s most important near-term resistance. A daily close above this level would improve the technical outlook and could open a path toward the next major horizontal resistance near $1.90.

Failure to clear $1.353 would keep XRP trapped within its current range and leave the $1.30 area vulnerable to another pullback.

Revolut says it has received no direct messages from the hackers publicly demanding a ransom over a customer data breach, even as multiple groups compete for credit and threaten further disclosures.

A faction using the name “IAmNotAVillain” demanded 6,000 Monero (XMR)—worth about $3 million—within 24 hours, according to a report by the Financial Times. On Thursday, a Revolut spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company has not received any direct contact or demand from the individuals behind those claims.

Key takeaways

• Revolut confirms it has not received direct communication from “IAmNotAVillain” despite public ransom threats.
• A rival claimant (“Revolut Smilik”) previously circulated a far larger Bitcoin demand, widening uncertainty over who controls the stolen data.
• Investigators in Italy are broadening the probe because the suspected intrusion involves an alleged compromise or cloning of a government email account.
• Regulators are pressing banks to review access security, suggesting the issue may extend beyond a single breach channel.

Competing ransom claims muddy attribution

Revolut’s lack of direct contact matters because public ultimatums do not automatically indicate which party actually holds the data, how much has been extracted, or whether the threat is actionable. In this case, “IAmNotAVillain” is only one name attached to online claims related to the breach.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Revolut disclosed the incident last week and tied its exposure to alleged access obtained using a fake government email account. When Cointelegraph attempted to check the “IAmNotAVillain” website, iamnotavillain.xyz, it was unavailable at the time of publication.

Adding further ambiguity, an earlier group calling itself “Revolut Smilik” reportedly made a demand of 10,000 Bitcoin (about $780 million at the time), a figure dramatically larger than the later XMR demand reported by the Financial Times.

In a notice on its site, “IAmNotAVillain” disputed the competing claim, alleging that a former associate had received only a small sample of the data before taking credit for the breach. The site also warned other parties not to “deal” with the rival claimant—an escalation that typically reflects internal disputes among actors rather than proof of control over the full dataset.

Meanwhile, a cybersecurity-focused account, Dark Web Informer, also flagged another website—revoloot.lol—as associated with a separate actor claiming responsibility. That site was also unavailable when checked by Cointelegraph. Together, these competing claims make it difficult for outside observers to confidently map which group is operating the extortion pipeline.

Why Revolut’s response is significant for customers and markets

Extortion incidents increasingly unfold as a chain of claims, samples, and retractions across multiple domains—often making it hard to determine whether a victim’s infrastructure can be directly negotiated with. Revolut’s statement that it has not received any direct contact suggests the company cannot yet validate that the public demand corresponds to a party willing or able to engage with the organization privately.

For affected customers, this distinction matters because it affects expectations around mitigation. Direct communications can sometimes include specifics about the data or the steps required to verify deletion. Without that channel, customer-impact assessments and remediation efforts rely more heavily on forensic findings than on attacker instructions.

For the broader crypto audience, the ransom component underscores how extortion ecosystems increasingly mix anonymity-preserving assets such as Monero with shifting claimant identities. In practice, the exact asset and headline valuation can change faster than the underlying breach details—particularly when multiple groups are signaling from the sidelines.

Italy expands the investigation beyond a single victim

While the extortion messaging continues online, the law-enforcement angle is also deepening. According to Italian news agency ANSA reported on Wednesday, Italy’s National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate has become involved because the suspected intrusion appears to concern a government entity.

Prosecutors in Reggio Calabria have opened an investigation into unauthorized access to a computer system of public interest. Investigators are working to determine whether the institutional email account was breached outright or cloned—an important technical distinction that can affect both accountability and how the wider ecosystem was targeted.

Italy’s privacy regulator has also asked banks to urgently review the security of their access systems. The regulator is separately examining whether other banks or financial institutions may have been affected, implying that the breach method may not have been isolated to Revolut’s environment.

Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted that the investigation centers on a government email account allegedly used to obtain customer data. With multiple claimant narratives still unfolding online, the official inquiry remains a key reference point for what investigators can substantiate about the intrusion path.

What to watch next

Investors, security teams, and customers should watch for two developments: whether Italian investigators can confirm the mechanism behind the government email compromise or cloning, and whether any attacker claim evolves into verifiable direct contact with Revolut or corroborating evidence about the amount and scope of the exposed data.

Strategy has repurchased nearly 9.96 million STRC preferred shares for $950.8 million since July 20 as the security recovered toward Strategy’s targeted $99-to-$100 trading range.

Strategy said in its Sept. 14 SEC filing that it bought another 1,420,467 shares of its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13 for $139.3 million, using its USD Cash balance. The company sold no shares through its at-the-market programs and bought or sold no Bitcoin during the same period.

Adding Strategy’s eight weekly disclosures from July 20 through Sept. 13 produces 9,961,554 STRC shares repurchased for approximately $950.8 million. Bloomberg separately calculated roughly $950 million of purchases and estimated that Strategy represented around 18% of total STRC trading volume during the period.

STRC recovered from near $70 toward its $100 stated amount

STRC’s rebound followed a steep decline that had taken the preferred security to nearly $70, according to Bloomberg. The shares later reached $99.03 intraday on Sept. 14 before pulling back. STRC closed the latest completed U.S. session on Sept. 16 at $97.07 after trading between $97.01 and $97.95.

Strategy has explicitly set a corporate objective for STRC to trade between $99 and $100. Its August investor materials say management uses dividend-rate decisions, repurchases, liquidity management and issuance policy to support trading near the $100 stated amount. Strategy cautions that the target is “not a price guarantee” and says the policy can change.

The company currently pays a 12% annualized dividend on STRC, equivalent to $0.50 for each full semi-monthly period on $100 of stated value when the dividend is declared. Strategy’s board has declared $0.50 payments for the periods ending Sept. 30 and Oct. 15.

Management has said it does not currently intend to recommend changing the 12% rate until STRC demonstrates sustained trading near $100. Strategy’s existing policy is similarly not to sell new STRC below its $100 stated amount. Both policies are statements of management intent and are not contractual obligations.

That issuance policy ties STRC’s price directly to Strategy’s ability to use the preferred stock for new capital. Strategy CEO Phong Le previously said the company intended to resume issuance when Stretch returned to par, saying, “when Stretch gets back to par, we’ll issue more.” As crypto.news reported in July, management linked new STRC issuance with its ability to raise funds that could be directed toward Bitcoin purchases.

Strategy spent $950.8 million across eight buyback periods

Strategy began the current sequence by buying 288,930 STRC shares for $25 million between July 20 and July 26. The next week brought another 912,143 shares for $81.2 million.

Purchases accelerated in August. Strategy paid $108.6 million for 1,152,020 shares during Aug. 3–9, followed by $132.2 million for 1,388,720 shares during Aug. 10–16. Another 1,431,212 shares cost $136.4 million during Aug. 17–23.

During Aug. 24–30, Strategy repurchased 1,557,177 STRC shares for $151.8 million. The company bought 1,810,885 more for $176.3 million during the period ending Sept. 7, followed by the latest $139.3 million transaction.

Strategy originally authorized up to $1 billion for repurchases of its digital-credit securities in June, with STRC identified as its first priority when management considered purchases accretive. On Sept. 8, the board increased the total authorization to $2 billion, including purchases already completed.

After the Sept. 8–13 transactions, Strategy reported $1.05 billion of remaining preferred-stock repurchase capacity. Its separate $1 billion authorization for repurchasing MSTR common stock remained unused.

Strategy says purchasing STRC below $100 can retire $100 of stated value for less than that amount and reduce future preferred-dividend requirements. The company has said it intends to scale repurchases more aggressively when discounts are deeper and taper purchases as STRC approaches $100.

MSTR and Bitcoin sales supplied much of the buyback cash

Bloomberg traced roughly $765 million, or approximately 80% of the repurchase spending since July 20, to MSTR common-stock sales, including money first placed into Strategy’s cash pool before being used for STRC. Another roughly $161 million came from Bitcoin sales.

The Bitcoin-funded portion can be directly reconciled with Strategy’s SEC disclosures. During July 27–Aug. 2, Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.73 million and allocated $52.3 million of those proceeds to STRC repurchases. The remaining $52.4 million funded preferred dividends.

A week later, Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million at an average net price of $64,262. The company said all proceeds from that sale funded STRC repurchases. Together, the two disclosed allocations equal $160.9 million, consistent with Bloomberg’s roughly $161 million calculation.

Common-stock issuance funded several later purchases directly. Strategy allocated $132.2 million of MSTR sale proceeds to STRC buybacks during Aug. 10–16, $136.4 million the following week and $151.8 million during Aug. 24–30.

For the first two reporting periods in September, Strategy funded $315.6 million of STRC purchases from its USD Cash account. The balance fell from $1.61 billion on Aug. 30 to $1.44 billion on Sept. 7 and $1.30 billion by Sept. 13. The separate USD Reserve stood at $5.10 billion.

Bloomberg cited analysts who questioned how STRC will trade once company purchases decline. Rajiv Sawhney of Wave Digital Assets told Bloomberg that “The price is the product,” arguing that STRC needs to stay near par to function efficiently as a funding instrument. Strategy itself warns in SEC filings that its repurchases and dividend policies may fail to keep the security near $100.

Strategy keeps Bitcoin at 845,050 BTC while buybacks continue

Strategy reported no Bitcoin purchases or sales for the two consecutive periods ending Sept. 7 and Sept. 13. Its holdings therefore remained at 845,050 BTC, acquired for an aggregate $63.73 billion at an average cost of approximately $75,412 per Bitcoin.

The company’s most recent Bitcoin purchase came during Aug. 24–30, when it acquired 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318. Strategy funded that purchase with MSTR ATM proceeds during the same week while allocating another $151.8 million from common-stock issuance to STRC repurchases.

Across the July 20–Sept. 13 window, Strategy spent roughly $950.8 million repurchasing STRC compared with $369.7 million on newly acquired Bitcoin. The preferred-stock purchases therefore consumed more than twice the amount directed to new BTC acquisitions during that period.

As crypto.news previously reported, Strategy’s management had linked renewed Bitcoin financing through STRC to the preferred shares recovering toward their $100 stated amount. STRC was trading around $87 when that strategy was discussed in July.

Crypto.news reported that STRC had become the largest holding in three major U.S. preferred-stock ETFs while still trading below par in July. The report cited approximately $756 million held across the three funds at that time.

Strategy’s Sept. 14 filing leaves the next repurchase decision open. The company retains roughly $1.05 billion of authorized preferred-security buyback capacity, while its policy permits purchases to be increased, reduced, suspended or discontinued depending on STRC’s price, liquidity, available capital and other market conditions.