[Update 1:57 P.M. UTC, June 1 — Updates third paragraph with share price decline in Monday morning trading.]
Strategy sold 32 BTC last week, its first reported Bitcoin sale since a 2022 tax-loss transaction, as the company moved to fund preferred stock distributions.
Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin (BTC) for $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per BTC, reducing its holdings from 843,738 BTC to 843,706 BTC, according to a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company’s MSTR Nasdaq-traded shares fell more than 6% following Monday’s market open, last trading at about $148.70 apiece.
Proceeds from the Bitcoin sale are expected to be used to fund distributions on preferred stock, the company said.
Source: SEC
The sale came after Strategy faced increased scrutiny over its preferred stock financing model, as investors questioned whether dividend obligations could eventually pressure the company to sell some of its Bitcoin.
The sale is Strategy’s first reported Bitcoin disposal since a 2022 tax loss transaction, when the company sold 704 BTC and repurchased 810 BTC two days later.
Bitcoin (BTC) price chart over the past 24 hours. Source: CoinGecko
Bitcoin slipped below $72,000 following the disclosure and traded at $71,939 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.
Strategy sells $128 million in Common A stock
In addition to selling Bitcoin in the last week of May, Strategy also offloaded 801,994 Class A (MSTR) shares, generating $128.3 million in proceeds.
No preferred stock raises took place over the week, aligning with reports by STRC Live, which estimated that Strategy would announce no buys for the past week.
Source: Polymarket
The sale may have surprised some investors after Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor hinted at possible fresh activity over the weekend.
“Working Better” Saylor posted on X late Sunday morning to accompany a bubble chart tracking Strategy’s Bitcoin purchases over the past nearly six years.
Saylor had not posted on X about the $2.5 million Bitcoin sale at the time of writing, prompting criticism that he has gone “radio silent” despite typically announcing new purchases immediately.
Some industry observers had been anticipating a potential sale, with crypto intelligence platform Arkham reporting that Strategy transferred BTC to Coinbase Prime last Friday.
Related: Strategy buys back $1.5B of debt at discount, cuts outstanding notes to $6.7B
Strategy CEO Phong Le confirmed last week that the company might sell Bitcoin at some point in the future.
“We’ll likely sell Bitcoin at some point in time, but we will be net increasing our Bitcoin and more importantly, increasing our Bitcoin per share,” the CEO said.
Corporate Bitcoin demand cools as selling activity emerges
Strategy’s sale comes as some Bitcoin treasury companies have slowed purchases or begun reducing holdings after months of accumulation.
Nasdaq-listed ProCap Financial announced Monday it sold about 52 Bitcoin to fund the repurchase of 2 million shares of its common stock at an approximately 50% discount to net asset value. The company said the transaction increased Bitcoin exposure on a per-share basis for remaining shareholders.
Source: Anthony Pompliano
Broader Bitcoin treasury activity also showed signs of cooling, with firms acquiring a combined 144 Bitcoin over the past week, including purchases by DDC Enterprise, the Smarter Web Company and Capital B, according to corporate disclosures. That compares with 603 Bitcoin purchased by corporate holders in the previous week, marking a sharp week-over-week decline.
Magazine: Big Questions: Do we really only need 2–5 cryptocurrencies?
