Strategy Just Crossed One of Its Biggest Milestones Ever

Welcome to the Bitcoin Balance Sheet. Each Monday, we recap last week's key developments and share our publication's leading stories.

Strategy bought 1,036 bitcoin and cleared 850,000 BTC for the first time. Riot Platforms sold most of its bitcoin to fund an AI data center build, and Tether’s CEO put the company’s stack at 150,000 BTC, about 50,000 more than its reserve attestation shows. Block, American Bitcoin, and Strive added to their holdings, while Riot, Keel Infrastructure, Hut 8, and Core Scientific sold. Here's what mattered.

Sponsored by DeFi Development Corp.

Dividends Once A Quarter? CHAD Is For Every Day.

DeFi Development Corp.’s Nasdaq-listed preferred stock targets a dividend every business day, currently 14% annualized on its $10 stated amount.

See how it works →

Learn more about our partnership with DFDV.

Strategy Tops 850,000 Bitcoin After Buying 1,036 BTC

Strategy bought 1,036 bitcoin for $81.9 million last week, at an average of $79,012 including fees. Holdings rose to 850,364 BTC as of November 8, its first time above 850,000. It was the company's second straight purchase week after an 811 BTC buy.

STRC got the larger check. Strategy bought back $188.3 million of the preferred and sold none, even after STRC cleared $100 for the first time since May. MSTR sold at the market raised $283.8 million to fund the bitcoin, the buybacks, and $13.6 million of cash.

Get tickets to Bitcoin Treasuries Conference 2027 at the lowest possible price. Early bird passes are now on sale

Riot Cut Its Bitcoin Stack 79% to Build for AI

Riot Platforms cut its bitcoin holdings by about 79% in the third quarter, from 11,380 BTC on June 30 to 2,418 BTC on September 30. By our calculation, it sold 10,599 BTC while mining 1,637, primarily to fund data center development. Part of the proceeds repaid its $200 million Coinbase credit facility, releasing all pledged bitcoin.

The money has a destination. Riot signed a 15-year lease for its entire Corsicana, Texas campus with what it calls “a leading Frontier AI Lab”: 910 megawatts, worth about $28 billion over the initial term. It ended the quarter with $950.2 million in cash and bitcoin and has raised no equity in 2026. Riot still mines bitcoin. It just keeps far less of it.

Tether Says It Owns 150,000 Bitcoin

Tether owns roughly 150,000 bitcoin, worth about $11.6 billion, CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a keynote at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano. That is about 50,000 BTC more than the bitcoin in its USDT reserves. He did not say where the coins are kept, when they were bought or which Tether entity holds them.

BDO’s attestation as of September 30 values the reserve bitcoin at $8.37 billion, at $83,621.23 a coin. That works out to 100,060 BTC by our calculation. Tether has said its proprietary investments sit outside the USDT reserves, which could explain the gap, but it has not confirmed that. The other 50,000 are a claim, not a disclosure.

A look at the leaderboard

Last week was a selling week for miners. The buying was small. The latest additions came from:

• Strategy +1,036 BTC → 850,364 BTC

• Block +120 BTC → 9,237 BTC

• American Bitcoin +127 BTC → 8,427 BTC

• Strive +29 BTC → 43,153 BTC

Strategy held No. 1. Block moved to No. 12 and American Bitcoin to No. 13. Strive held No. 4.

On the sell side, Riot Platforms cut its stack by a net 8,962 BTC to 2,418 and dropped to No. 33. Keel Infrastructure, formerly Bitfarms, sold 2,469 BTC to fund its pivot to AI data centers and now holds none. Core Scientific sold 816 BTC and now holds 32. Hut 8 sold 4,066 BTC and holds 6,212.

Looking ahead, watch whether more miners follow Riot and Keel in selling bitcoin to fund AI builds, whether Strategy keeps buying after clearing 850,000, and whether Tether discloses where its other 50,000 BTC sit.

Special thanks to our partners:

• Apyx. is the first dividend‑backed stablecoin protocol that turns preferred equity from Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies into programmable, high‑yield digital dollars. Apyx delivers sustainable double‑digit yield with institutional transparency, daily NAV visibility, and verifiable on‑chain reserves. Learn more: Apyx

• Arch Lending. Get instant, secure loans backed by your Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana—no need to sell your assets. Arch Lending offers fast approvals and trusted custody for both individuals and institutions. Learn more: Arch Lending

• BitGo. BitGo is the leading institutional-grade digital asset custody, trading, and finance platform, trusted by exchanges, hedge funds, and corporations worldwide to secure and manage their crypto holdings. As the pioneer of multi-signature wallet technology, BitGo provides unmatched security, regulatory compliance, and deep liquidity solutions for serious digital asset operations. Learn more: BitGo

• Hemi. develops open-source solutions designed to help treasury teams securely manage, deploy, and optimize their BTC holdings, with benefits of self-custody and Bitcoin native deployment. Learn more: Hemi

• Psalion. Psalion is a Bitcoin and digital-asset yield manager that offers institutional‑style investment strategies to professional investors, family offices, corporates, and private clients via separately managed accounts and yield funds. Learn more: Psalion

• XCE. An executive recruitment group that combines a profitable recruitment business with a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The company turns over a decade of executive recruitment experience and four years of Bitcoin accumulation into a public Bitcoin‑powered growth engine, using a proven operating business to drive Bitcoin treasury accumulation. Learn more: XCE