CryptoQuant Urges Strategy to Pause Bitcoin Buys as Dividend Coverage Falls to 14 Months

Crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant challenged the sustainability of Michael Saylor’s Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation, urging the company to pause purchases and rebuild cash reserves after dividend coverage fell to 14 months from roughly seven years. According to Cointelegraph, the company is not facing an immediate cash crunch, but shrinking reserves and rising dividend obligations are drawing increased scrutiny of the financing structure supporting its Bitcoin strategy. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said Strategy’s cash position has weakened as annual dividend obligations climbed to $1.2 billion following large issuances of STRC preferred shares carrying an 11.5% yield. While Strategy’s cash reserve recovered to about $1.4 billion after recent MSTR share sales, CryptoQuant noted it remains down 38% year-to-date after the company repurchased $1.5 billion of its 2029 senior notes. Additional pressure has emerged as STRC preferred shares reportedly fell as much as 17.5% below their $100 par value, which could limit Strategy’s ability to raise new capital through further preferred stock sales. Separately, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is considering converting its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual futures, following a Wall Street Journal report. The potential shift comes after regulatory changes, including the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s approval of crypto perpetual futures for Kalshi and the release of a framework for other registered exchanges to offer similar products. CBOE launched its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures last December, with contracts extending as far as 10 years. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts do not expire, allowing traders to maintain leveraged positions indefinitely. In corporate developments, Zcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings plans to go public through an all-stock merger with medical technology company HeartSciences. The deal would provide Fortitude a Nasdaq listing without a traditional initial public offering, while HeartSciences shareholders would retain a minority stake in the combined company. After the transaction, the business is expected to operate under the Fortitude name and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE, subject to regulatory approval. HeartSciences shares rose as much as 91% on Tuesday, and the company previously reported an $8.77 million net loss in fiscal 2025. Chainlink also joined a cross-border banking initiative with European and South Korean financial institutions to examine whether regulated euro and won stablecoins could support real-time foreign exchange settlement. The working group, called Project Pangea, includes FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA), Qivalis and Chainlink, and will evaluate atomic swaps using blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. The initiative is positioned as a study rather than a live payment network, focusing on potential improvements to wholesale markets where global foreign exchange trading is estimated at $9.6 trillion in daily volume.