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<p>Strategy announced this Tuesday that it bought back 176 million dollars of STRC and doubled its buyback program to 2 billion dollars. The aim is to reassure the crypto market about its ability to support its bitcoin-backed securities. Michael Saylor also tightened the internal risk metric of his company. But Peter Schiff, true to himself, immediately questioned the strength of the real demand. However, the most revealing detail of the day comes neither from Saylor nor Schiff, but from Strategy’s online shop that sells a “BTC-themed” sneaker for 250 dollars… without a bitcoin payment option!</p>
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  <h2 class="in-brief--title" id="in-brief">In Brief</h2>
  <ul>
   <li>Strategy strengthens its financial setup to support its bitcoin-backed securities.</li>
   <li>A long-time critic questions the real solidity of the underlying demand.</li>
   <li>At the same time, the company’s own online shop betrays a strange distrust of its reference currency.</li>
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<h2 id="h-bitcoin-strategy-strengthens-its-2-billion-dollar-buyback-program">Bitcoin: Strategy Strengthens Its 2 Billion Dollar Buyback Program&nbsp;</h2>
<p>The move filed this Tuesday with <a href="https://www.cointribune.com/en/crypto-regulation-the-sec-sets-out-its-three-priorities-for-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">the SEC</a> concerns Strategy’s (STRC) securities listed in the United States and its broader effort to finance its massive position. As of September 7, 2026, Strategy held 845,050 bitcoins and 6.5 billion dollars in cash, according to a Michael Saylor message on X. A buyback of 176 million dollars means the company is recovering securities already held by investors.</p>
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 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/saylor/status/2097295103639355844?s=46?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a>
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<p>Doubling the program therefore simply gives it more leeway to continue these purchases if necessary. The operation is part of a constant balancing act for Strategy. Supporting the price of its Bitcoin (BTC) backed credit securities, while continuing to defend its cash management strategy centered on the digital asset.</p>
<h2 id="h-michael-saylor-and-the-standoff-with-peter-schiff-over-real-demand">Michael Saylor and the Standoff with Peter Schiff over Real Demand</h2>
<p>Michael Saylor highlighted what Strategy calls the <em>“BTC Credit”</em>, which is an internal metric designed to measure the risk associated with its bitcoin-backed capital structure. According to him, this risk tightened to 53 basis points (-1 point), assuming an annual bitcoin yield of 10% and volatility of 40%. Peter Schiff, a long-time BTC critic, was quick to respond. On X, he questioned the real objective of the maneuver:&nbsp;</p>
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 <p><em>Even if you bring STRC down to 100 $, you won’t be able to issue more. There is clearly not enough demand at the current 12% dividend. If you sell, the price will drop again and you will have to resume buybacks.</em></p>
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<p>The question posed by Schiff therefore touches the core problem. Can <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-news/saylor-fires-176m-at-strc-as-strategy-doubles-buyback-war-chest/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">STRC attract enough crypto investors without permanent support from Strategy</a> itself? Saylor did not publicly respond to this critique, but other users took up the cause on the network.</p>
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<h2 id="h-does-strategy-s-shop-not-trust-bitcoin">Does Strategy’s Shop Not Trust Bitcoin?</h2>
<p>And here’s where the story gets frankly amusing. While Michael Saylor defends the strength of his Bitcoin structure, Strategy’s online shop offers a custom Air Jordan 1 with a <em>“BTC theme”</em> sold for 250 dollars. Nice, isn’t it? Except the payment page only accepts regular credit cards as well as Apple Pay. There’s no option to pay in bitcoin. Strange for a company holding up to 845,000 BTC and publishing risk metrics down to the basis point. Yet it apparently does not want its own reference currency to sell a pair of sneakers.</p>
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 <figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img src="https://www.cointribune.com/app/uploads/2026/09/IMG_3257.jpeg" alt="Strategy’s online shop offers a custom Air Jordan 1 with a &quot;BTC theme&quot; sold for 250 dollars. Nice, isn’t it? Except the payment page only accepts regular credit cards as well as Apple Pay. There’s no option to pay in bitcoin." width="543" height="414">
  <figcaption><em>“BTC theme” sold for 250 dollars by Strategy.</em>
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<p>One could see this as a simple operational choice, probably related to volatility or cash register simplicity. But the symbol is hard to ignore. If the world’s most committed company on bitcoin as a store of value does not deem it useful to accept it for a 250-dollar item on its own site, that’s a discreet but real signal about the gap between institutional rhetoric and the everyday use of the crypto asset. It’s not Strategy that lacks conviction about bitcoin. Maybe it’s just that even Michael Saylor prefers the simplicity of a credit card to collect 250 dollars.</p>
<h2 id="h-what-to-remember-about-strategy-s-buyback-of-strc">What to Remember About Strategy’s Buyback of STRC?</h2>
<ul>
 <li>Strategy bought back 176 million dollars of STRC and increased its buyback program from 1 to 2 billion dollars. The company holds 845,050 BTC and 6.5 billion dollars in cash as of September 7, 2026.</li>
 <li>Strategy’s internal <em>“BTC Credit”</em> metric tightened to 53 basis points, but Peter Schiff questions the viability of demand for STRC without continuous buybacks.</li>
 <li>Strategy’s online shop sells a “BTC-themed” Air Jordan for 250 dollars, payable only by card or Apple Pay, without bitcoin option.</li>
</ul>
<p>Strategy can tighten as many metrics as it wants, the contradiction remains: a company sitting on 845,000 bitcoins that does not accept <a href="https://www.cointribune.com/en/search/Btc/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a> on its own sales site. Sometimes, the most honest signal is not in the press release but on the payment page.</p>

Bitcoin: After Investing $176 Million in its STRC Shares, the Strategy Doubles its Buyback Capacity

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