Bitcoin has fallen 30% from its all-time high, and the stock price of a leading digital asset company has also been halved. At this critical juncture, this global largest crypto asset custodian suddenly changed its approach—latest financial documents show that as of the week ending December 21, they neither sold a single share according to the ATM plan nor increased their Bitcoin holdings.

Cash is the lifeline

The company currently holds 671,268 Bitcoins, with an average cost of $74,972 each, and a market value of about $60 billion. Sounds solid. But their style was completely different two weeks ago—back then, they spent $2 billion in a week to buy aggressively. Now? They have shifted their focus entirely to cash reserves.

Numbers speak the loudest: at the beginning of the month, reserves were $1.44 billion, and by the end of the reporting period, they jumped directly to $2.19 billion, a 52% increase in one month. The logic behind this is not hard to guess— the company pays $824 million annually in interest and dividends, and the free cash flow from their software business can't plug the holes. Bitcoin itself doesn’t generate cash; it can only appreciate in value. What if the price continues to fall? Then they might be forced to sell core assets to pay off debts. Increasing cash reserves, in plain terms, is like buying insurance for themselves.

ATM credit line still unused

Interestingly, the company also holds a bunch of unused financing lines: $1.62 billion in STRF stock, $4.04 billion in STRC stock, $20.34 billion in STRK stock, $4.01 billion in STRD stock, plus $11.81 billion in common Class A shares. These chips are all there, but they just don’t use them. Looks like they’re waiting—waiting for what? For Bitcoin prices to stabilize or for the financing environment to improve. At this pace, it’s clear they’re prioritizing survival before expansion.