$STRC | Buybacks vs Trading Activity (Part 2) 10 weeks later, through 9-27, Strategy has spent ~$1.28B on $STRC buybacks, retiring obligations on 13.27M shares. Over the ongoing buyback window, that spending is equivalent to ~19.42% of dollar trading volume. Strategy has no doubt provided a substantial bid, but how much of the rebound can (or should) be attributed to it? Between 6-26 and 7-17 (before the first reported purchases), $STRC had already rebounded [14.38%], $BTC gained [7.47%], and $MSTR rose [15.24%]. The other Strategy preferreds also recovered: $STRK [+14.76%], $STRF [+13.91%], and $STRD [+12.21%]. Since 7-17, through the 9-30 close, $BTC has gained another [30.33%] and $MSTR [61.40%] with $STRC gaining [16.48%] from $85.29 to $99.35. Over that same window, $STRK gained [20.14%], $STRD [21.00%], and $STRF [7.68%]. The other Strategy prefs did this with no intervention and no buybacks. To be fair, the other prefs are different instruments, with different risks, so this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Nonetheless, this context makes a buyback driven $STRC recovery difficult to defend. My Read: The driving force is the broader recovery across $BTC, $MSTR, and Strategy’s capital structure; claims that credit the $STRC rebound to the buybacks are comforting narratives. After over $1B spent, I also think that the market is trading Strategy’s buyback intervention itself, rather than $STRC. Once market sentiment shifted early this summer and $BTC dropped below $60K, the capital structure fell with it. The “x-factor” with $STRC was leverage, which IMO accelerated and worsened the unwind from par. TL/DR: $STRC has the biggest footprint, is designed to have lower volatility than $BTC, and thus is slower to move. Leverage takes it down on an elevator; the Capital Structure takes it back up with the stairs. My original question still remains: will $STRC sustain healthy trading near par when Strategy’s intervention steps back? This will tell us a great deal about how the market is forward-pricing $BTC near term and will test market demand for Strategy Digital Credit.