Strategy Just Had Its Best Quarter Ever. Then Bought More

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

Second place changed hands in Tokyo, and Strategy booked a $21 billion third-quarter gain while buying 334 BTC. Metaplanet reclaimed the spot beneath Strategy with 44,000 BTC, its first addition in more than three months. Strive picked up 2,000 BTC, and the Smarter Web Company opened the book on MORE, a sterling perpetual meant to be the first Bitcoin-treasury preferred on the LSE Main Market.

Let's break it down.

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.

Strategy books a $21 billion Q3 gain, buys 334 BTC

Strategy bought 334 BTC between October 1 and October 4 for $28.7 million, an average of $85,839 including fees, taking holdings to 848,000 BTC as of October 4 — about 4% of the 21 million supply. The company bought nothing from September 28 through September 30, so the new coins account for the full move from 847,666 at quarter-end. The purchase was funded with $15.7 million of MSTR at-the-market proceeds and $13.0 million of cash. No preferred stock was sold.

The filing puts the third-quarter gain on digital assets at $20.91 billion, the figure behind the $21 billion in the release. Fair value moved above cost during the quarter, reversing a $4.12 billion deferred tax asset tied to the June 30 bitcoin loss and cutting the tax expense from roughly $6.00 billion to $1.88 billion. Over the same week Strategy repurchased about $176 million of STRC. STRC again took more cash than bitcoin.

Metaplanet Reclaims Second Place at 44,000 BTC

Metaplanet disclosed an additional 1,000 BTC this morning, its first addition in more than three months, taking holdings to 44,000 BTC and moving the company to second on the Bitcoin 100, ahead of Twenty One Capital at 43,514.

The print is a net figure: the company sold 10,000 BTC for about $789 million, then bought 11,000 for about $949 million, parking the proceeds in cash long enough to show the reserve could cover interest-bearing debt before putting them back into bitcoin.

The rank change landed on top of an unresolved dilution fight. Independent directors defended the Series 10 warrants in a September 29 letter, arguing the rights were founder equity from February 2023 — before the Bitcoin pivot — meant to hold the leadership stake near 20%. Equity raises expanded that pool to about 319.5 million shares. On September 11 the board cut the conversion ratio from 696 to 410, extinguishing more than $220 million of warrant value and lifting bitcoin per fully diluted share by about 8.8%. VanEck still rates Metaplanet the only "Bad" name among the ten largest digital-asset treasuries on executive-pay tests. Second place does not close that file.

Smarter Web Launches the UK's first Bitcoin preferred

The Smarter Web Company has opened the IPO for MORE, a sterling perpetual preferred meant to be the first Bitcoin-treasury preferred on the London Stock Exchange Main Market. Dealings start at 8:00 a.m. on 14 October if the raise clears a £10 million floor. Shareholders passed the resolutions on 28 September with more than 99.8% support, and the FCA approved the prospectus the next day.

MORE is priced at £90 against a £100 liquidation preference, with an initial 12% dividend on that reference amount — a 13.33% running yield — designed to be paid weekly in sterling. Target gross proceeds are £15 million to £25 million. As of the prospectus, the company held about 2,747 BTC. It is preferred equity of a UK plc whose reserve is bitcoin, not an ETF. The coupon is only as durable as the reserves and the price behind it.

A look at the leaderboard

Metaplanet bought a net 1,000 BTC and moved to second with 44,000 BTC, passing Twenty One Capital at 43,514 — a gap of 486 coins. Strategy bought 334 BTC and remains first at 848,000, while Strive added 2,000 BTC and now holds 29,462 at rank 5. Remixpoint added 7.45 BTC to reach 1,508.72 at rank 37, and Marusho Hotta entered with 11.91 BTC under the name Bitcoin Japan Corporation. Second place is close enough that a single XXI purchase would hand it back.

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