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Strategy sold 1,638 bitcoin last week for $105 million, reduced its holdings to 842,138 BTC, and began tracking the 200-week moving average on its website, marking the clearest shift yet from accumulation to active treasury management.<\/p>\n
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For four years, the Michael Saylor bitcoin thesis had one direction: buy. From August 2020, when Strategy (then MicroStrategy) made its first $250 million bitcoin purchase, through early 2026, the company acquired over 843,000 coins through a combination of cash purchases, convertible note issuances, common stock sales, and preferred stock offerings. Saylor told Bloomberg in February 2024 that he had \u201cno plans to sell any Bitcoin.\u201d The strategy was accumulation without an exit.<\/p>\n
That changed. Strategy has now sold bitcoin in multiple consecutive weeks. The sales are not large relative to the company\u2019s total holdings, 1,638 coins out of 842,138, but they are directionally significant. A company that built its identity on being the world\u2019s largest corporate bitcoin holder is now reducing that position while simultaneously building a $4 billion USD reserve.<\/p>\n
This piece examines what the sales mean, why the STRC buyback matters, how the 200-week moving average fits in, and whether the corporate bitcoin treasury thesis survives a sustained drawdown.<\/p>\n
Strategy holds 842,138 bitcoin acquired for a total of $63.51 billion, which produces an average cost basis of $75,419 per coin. With bitcoin trading near $63,000, the company\u2019s position is underwater by approximately $12,400 per coin, or roughly $10.4 billion in aggregate unrealized losses.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s sale of 1,638 coins at an average price near $63,000 realized a loss of roughly $20 million versus the average acquisition cost. The proceeds, $104.73 million, were used alongside $290.6 million raised from common stock sales to fund preferred dividends, add $250 million to the USD reserve, and repurchase STRC preferred shares.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s total USD reserve is now $4 billion. For context, Strategy\u2019s annual preferred dividend obligations on STRC alone, at a 12% annual rate, represent a significant cash outflow that must be funded regardless of bitcoin\u2019s price. The USD reserve provides a buffer to cover these obligations without forced bitcoin sales at unfavorable prices.<\/p>\n
The average cost basis number, $75,419, deserves scrutiny. It includes bitcoin purchased at cycle highs in 2024 and early 2025, when the company was buying aggressively above $90,000 per coin. It also includes coins acquired at cycle lows, when Strategy was buying below $30,000 in 2022. The blended average masks wide variation in acquisition prices. Some of the coins being sold now were almost certainly acquired at prices above $90,000, meaning the realized losses on individual tranches are larger than the $20 million aggregate figure suggests.<\/p>\n
The STRC buyback may be more revealing than the bitcoin sales. Strategy repurchased 912,143 shares of its high-yielding preferred stock for $81.2 million last week and announced it would maintain STRC\u2019s annual dividend rate at 12%, saying it does not intend to recommend a reduction until the shares trade consistently near their stated $100 value.<\/p>\n
STRC was created to fund bitcoin purchases. It carries a 12% annual dividend, which was attractive to yield-seeking investors when bitcoin was appreciating. At current prices, that 12% obligation is a fixed cost against a depreciating asset. By buying back STRC below par value, Strategy reduces its future dividend obligations while bitcoin trades below its cost basis.<\/p>\n
This is textbook liability management, not panic selling. The company is retiring expensive obligations (12% preferred dividends) while the stock trades at a discount, using a combination of bitcoin sales and common stock issuance to fund the buybacks. It is a rational corporate finance decision, but it is the opposite of the \u201cnever sell\u201d posture Saylor previously held.<\/p>\n
The STRC structure also introduces a timing dependency that did not exist when Strategy was purely a common equity and convertible note company. Preferred dividends must be paid on fixed dates regardless of market conditions. During the accumulation phase, this was irrelevant because Strategy could issue common stock at a premium to fund any obligation. But when the stock trades at or below mNAV, common equity issuance becomes dilutive to existing shareholders, creating pressure to find alternative funding sources. Selling bitcoin becomes the path of least resistance when all other options carry unacceptable costs.<\/p>\n