Bitcoin Strategy Rakes in $21B Q2 Gains—Then Gets Slapped with $4B Tax Bill
Wall Street's latest Bitcoin play just pulled off a $21 billion flex—only to get sucker-punched by the taxman.
The Q2 windfall proves crypto's still printing money (when regulators aren't printing subpoenas). But that $4 billion tax gut-punch? Classic finance—win big, then lose bigger to spreadsheet-wielding bureaucrats.
One hedge fund manager muttered: 'We'd have made more hodling.'
Strategy bitcoin Data fro Q2 (Source; Strategy)
As a result, its total Bitcoin holdings had risen to 597,325 BTC by June 30, up from 528,185 BTC at the end of Q1. This helped push its BTC holdings’ market value from $43.5 billion to $64.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin gains also triggered significant tax consequences. Strategy reported a $4.04 billion deferred tax expense in Q2, raising its total deferred tax liability to $6.31 billion.
$4.2 Billion STRD offering
To support further Bitcoin acquisitions, Strategy launched a preferred stock offering targeting up to $4.2 billion in capital through the sale of STRD shares.
The company stated that proceeds WOULD primarily go toward BTC purchases and potentially support dividend payments on its Series A Perpetual Strife and Series A Perpetual Strike shares.
According to the STRD prospectus, shareholders will only gain board representation if regular dividends are paid. Despite this condition, institutional interest in the offering has been strong.
Crypto analyst Jesse noted that the demand for Strategy’s preferred shares reflects increasing institutional appetite for Bitcoin exposure with lower volatility. He described the offerings—STRF, STRK, and STRD—as long-duration, income-generating products with minimal direct correlation to BTC’s price.
Jesse added that trading activity in these instruments has surged, reaching 40 times the typical volume seen in comparable traditional markets. According to him, this structure enables Strategy to issue new shares at a premium while increasing its BTC-per-share ratio as market yields compress.
Notably, each preferred class has performed strongly since launch, with Strategy positioning them as key vehicles in the evolution of credit markets toward blockchain-based finance.
