The once “biggest diamond hand” of Bitcoin has finally let go. Strategy disclosed that it sold 32 Bitcoin last week at an average price of $77,135, generating $2.5 million. This is the first Bitcoin sale by Strategy since 2023, marking the end of its “HODL” legend.
The news swiftly rippled through markets. Bitcoin tumbled below $71,000 to around $70,560, and crypto-related stocks fell sharply: Bullish lost 7.99%, DeFi Development 7.97%, Circle 7.11%, and Strategy itself dropped 5.85%. As major exchanges scramble to offer US stock trading, the sale added new strain to an already liquidity‑starved crypto market.
Strategy has sold Bitcoin before. In December 2022, following the FTX collapse, it offloaded 704 BTC at $16,776 and quickly bought back 810 BTC at $16,845. This time, the motivation was different: the proceeds were used to service dividend payments on its preferred product, STRC.
Cash Flow Pressure Behind the Sale
STRC is a flagship fixed‑income digital security, but after repurchasing $1.5 billion in convertible debt last month, Strategy’s cash reserves fell to roughly $871 million — barely enough to cover about six months of its estimated $1.7 billion annual preferred dividend obligation. The company’s Q1 earnings had already warned that if convertible notes mature without conversion, it might need to sell common stock or Bitcoin to meet obligations.
The Q1 net loss reached $12.54 billion, almost entirely driven by unrealized Bitcoin losses of $14.46 billion. At quarter‑end, Strategy held 818,334 BTC with a total cost of $61.81 billion, implying an average purchase price of about $75,537. After the recent sale, the company still holds 843,706 BTC worth roughly $60.94 billion, at an average cost of $75,699, representing an unrealized loss of $2.93 billion. Only a month ago, thanks to a market rebound, those holdings had briefly shown an $8.2 billion profit.
Founder Michael Saylor had published a “HODL” article on May 28, urging holders to stay firm amid market weakness. But acute financial obligations leave little room for conviction alone.
Polymarket’s Sell‑or‑Not Drama
The sale also fueled a prediction‑market farce. On Polymarket, the probability that Strategy would sell Bitcoin in May soared from 12% to 80% on June 1 before settling back to 58%, with over $16.4 million traded. Because Strategy never issued an official disclosure for that period, the market resolved as “did not sell in May.” The episode once again illustrates that prediction markets trade on rule‑bound events, not raw truth.
Once the sale was confirmed, economist and perennial Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff declared that Strategy had turned from ultimate buyer to seller and questioned where incremental demand will now come from. Billionaire Mark Cuban has also offloaded most of his Bitcoin holdings, citing diminishing faith in Bitcoin as a hedge against fiat devaluation and geopolitical risk.
Broken Model and Market Waiting
Operationally, Strategy’s move is entirely understandable, and Saylor has said that every BTC sold is a precursor to buying back 10 to 20 times more. Yet the sale signals that the DAT treasury model has entered a bottleneck, damaging the industry’s “never‑sell” ethos and weighing heavily on short‑term sentiment.
J.P. Morgan has noted that “debasement trades” in gold and Bitcoin are heating up as investors rotate out of safe havens. With prices battered, perhaps Bitcoin and the broader crypto market can only wait for the Trump administration to “love crypto once more.”