Technique (previously MicroStrategy), the world’s largest Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firm, plans to by no means promote any of its bitcoin (BTC). Nonetheless, to perform that feat, there are substantial annual prices to service its holdings: at present $689 million and quickly rising.
Broadly talking, the corporate, which holds $66 billion price of BTC, has money obligations to service its treasury within the type of coupons to debtholders, dividends to most popular shareholders, and different bills associated to working its enterprise comparable to working bills.
It additionally has money obligations comparable to product help and subscriptions, in addition to potential future obligations comparable to taxes.
Technique largely intends to keep away from incurring tax obligations to be able to protect return of capital (ROC) dividend tax standing for its most popular shareholders.
Particularly, per annualized figures as of October 24, 2025, the corporate has $689 million price of annual dividend and debt curiosity bills. These obligations, nonetheless, are continually rising and, based on the corporate’s personal forecast, will develop into billions of {dollars} in future years.
Going ahead, founder Michael Saylor has set aggressive BTC Yield targets for 2025 and future years. Most of those acquisitions will add dividend obligations.
Technique’s quickly rising prices of not promoting BTC
To perform a optimistic BTC Yield, Technique should accrete extra BTC per MSTR share, i.e. on a dilution-adjusted foundation.
Yr-to-date, as of October 24, the corporate had accreted a optimistic BTC Yield of 26.1% and hopes to attain 30% by December 31.
Forecasting years of accumulation into the longer term, the corporate’s annual BTC Yield goal stays within the double-digits.
To purchase most of its BTC, Technique plans to promote most popular shares like STRK, STRF, STRD, STRC, or STRE that don’t instantly dilute MSTR.
Assuming the corporate raises the identical mixture of capital in 2026 because it did in 2025 from at-the-market (ATM) choices of MSTR and its 8-10.5% dividend-yielding most popular shares, it is going to purchase billions of {dollars} price of extra BTC and add tens if not tons of of hundreds of thousands of extra {dollars} atop its dividend obligations.
These dividends, in flip, require extra capital. Sadly, Technique doesn’t make a lot cash as a standard enterprise.
Not sufficient of a standard enterprise
Particularly, from January 1, 2025 by way of October 24, Technique reported working Revenue of $12 billion, however most of that was the unrealized appreciation of its BTC holdings.
In distinction, it reported lower than $355 million in whole revenues for the primary 9 months of 2025.
Due to this fact, Technique’s capability to service its treasury with out promoting BTC largely relies on its capability to promote extra equities (frequent and most popular inventory).
It might additionally promote debt like company bonds as an alternative of fairness, though it offered steering on its Q3 earnings name that it doesn’t intend to promote extra debt.
In truth, it intends to equitize its current debt someday quickly.
Clearly, and as Saylor himself acknowledged on his Q3 earnings presentation, promoting non-dividend yielding commons — or preferreds that solely pay dividends when the corporate’s board of administrators manually approves payouts — are preferable to bonds that require on-time coupon funds plus principal reimbursement at maturity.
Promoting fairness, in flip, depends on an investor’s optimism in administration’s capability to accrete BTC per share on a dilution-adjusted foundation.
The highest metric for monitoring this optimism is the multiple-to-Internet Asset Worth (mNAV) of MSTR, the corporate’s most widely-followed valuation metric and an acronym that its personal shareholder group coined.
The metric that issues: mNAV
In essence, mNAV is the premium that shareholders pay to personal MSTR versus BTC itself.
As a result of many traders are optimistic that Technique can use its giant treasury to promote non-dilutive credit score merchandise and accrete extra BTC per MSTR share, they pay further for MSTR versus the corporate’s BTC.
Particularly, they pay 7% extra (or 1.07x mNAV) per fundamental MSTR share excellent above Technique’s BTC holdings, equal to 30% (or 1.3x mNAV) greater than its BTC holdings after accounting for its whole enterprise worth of Technique’s bonds, equities, and convertibles.
Extremely, they pay this mNAV premium for MSTR regardless of having no authorized declare over Technique’s BTC holdings.
Furthermore, they calculate it with no regard to the corporate’s debt, dividends, encumbrances, or future obligations. They merely belief that Saylor and the administration crew will honor their commitments.
Legal professionals for the corporate have disclosed that possession of MSTR inventory doesn’t confer any “ownership interest in the BTC the company holds.”
In abstract, the prices of not promoting BTC are rising at Technique. The corporate has bought BTC in each quarter since Q3 2020, and it plans to proceed shopping for it perpetually.
These acquisitions, nonetheless, add dividend obligations which might be already almost $700 million per 12 months and can quickly rise into the billions.
