Standard Chartered Reaffirms $100,000 Bitcoin Target by End of 2026

Strategy added 334 bitcoin for $28.7 million while spending $176.3 million to buy back its STRC preferred stock, a sum roughly six times larger than its latest bitcoin purchase. The bitcoin purchase was funded with $15.7 million from issuing and selling MSTR shares and $13 million from Strategy's flexible USD cash pool, while the STRC buyback was funded with $154.1 million of its USD cash pile and $22.2 million of interest earned on its dollar holdings. Strategy now holds $4.88 billion in protected USD reserve and $833.4 million of flexible USD cash, and has spent about $64 billion in total on bitcoin at an average cost base of $75,440.70. Separately, a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has filed to offer 24/7 tokenized US stock trading under the SEC's proposed five-year innovation exemption, with an initial list of 63 stocks including Strategy, Apple, Nvidia, Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle. Trading would run continuously through Uniswap liquidity pools on OKX's X Layer in USDC, USDG and USDT pairs, with assets held in self-custodial wallets and backed one-for-one by actual shares held through a registered broker-dealer. Bloomberg Terminal has also begun carrying Hyperliquid data, and the Independent Community Bankers of America is suing the OCC over national trust bank charters granted to crypto companies. Ethereum Layer 2 network Blast will shut down with an October 26 withdrawal deadline, after assets on the network fell from $2.2 billion to $32 million and its token lost 98% of its launch value, while the IMF approved funds for El Salvador after a waiver for its bitcoin breach.

Strategy's high-profile STRC preferred stock is nearing the critical $100 level, a threshold that may once again open the door to an important line of capital for the Bitcoin treasury juggernaut to grow its cryptocurrency position. The development centers on the preferred instrument tied to the company's Bitcoin accumulation strategy, with the $100 mark serving as the key reference point for whether that capital channel reopens.

Metaplanet ended the third quarter with 44,000 Bitcoin after a net increase of 1,000 BTC, having sold 10,000 BTC and repurchased 11,000 crypto tokens during the period. The Japan-based crypto treasury company said the sale demonstrated its ability to convert Bitcoin into cash to meet financial obligations while keeping its long-term accumulation strategy intact. Under a revised capital allocation policy, Metaplanet plans to hold 85% to 90% of total assets in Bitcoin, with 10% to 15% allocated to strategic investments, and will use preferred stock, corporate bonds, and Bitcoin-collateralized financing while keeping crypto-related borrowing below roughly 10% of Bitcoin NAV. Its new net interest income strategy will invest in income-generating assets, including preferred securities issued by Bitcoin treasury companies, to fund further Bitcoin purchases. Metaplanet's Bitcoin income generation business produced ¥848 million, or $5.4 million, in third-quarter revenue, bringing nine-month revenue to ¥5.565 billion, or $35.4 million, with a third-quarter Bitcoin yield of 11.3% and an unchanged fiscal 2026 earnings forecast. Metaplanet stock traded about 3% higher at roughly $1.87, while Bitcoin traded near $86,000.

Bitcoin rebounded to $86,970 on October 5 after Strategy disclosed it had acquired an additional 334 BTC worth about $24 million. Michael Saylor said on X that Strategy recorded $21 billion in valuation gains on digital assets in the third quarter of 2026, acquired 334 BTC the previous week, and bought back about $176 million worth of STRC shares. As of October 4, the company held 848,000 BTC and about $5.7 billion in dollar-denominated assets. With this purchase, bitcoin buying has continued for a third consecutive week, extending a trend that resumed in late August after a ten-week pause from June 7 to August 23. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs also recorded total inflows of $3.219 billion over 11 of the past 12 trading days. In prediction markets, Kalshi puts the probability of bitcoin exceeding $100,000 by January 2027 at 38%, while Polymarket sees only a 12% chance of it reaching $100,000 during October.

Strategy founder and chairman Michael Saylor published data on the company's Bitcoin strategy with the concise comment: "More orange than ever." The post, which appeared on the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, signals a potential massive new Bitcoin purchase by the firm. Saylor's terse remark accompanied the release of the company's Bitcoin strategy data, though no specific purchase amount or dollar figure was disclosed in the source material. The comment echoes Saylor's long-running practice of teasing Strategy's Bitcoin acquisitions ahead of official announcements.