Hailed as the “DAT poster child” and “Bitcoin’s largest diamond hand,” Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) sold 32 BTC last week at an average price of $77,135, netting $2.5 million. Marking the company’s first net sale of bitcoin in nearly three years, it shatters the carefully cultivated HODL myth.
Following the disclosure, bitcoin tumbled below $71,000 overnight, hovering around $70,560. Crypto-exposed US stocks fell sharply: Bullish dropped 7.99%, DeFi Development 7.97%, Circle 7.11%, Strategy itself 5.85%, and Upexi 5.04%. Against a backdrop of exchanges scrambling for equities trading, the already liquidity-starved crypto market took another hit.
Not the First Sell-Off: 2022’s ‘Sell High, Buy Low’ Precedent
This was not Strategy’s first bitcoin sale. In late 2022, the FTX collapse plunged the industry into winter, with BTC briefly falling below $20,000. On December 22, 2022, Strategy sold 704 BTC at $16,776, only to repurchase 810 BTC two days later at $16,845—a classic swing trade. This time, however, the proceeds are earmarked for dividend payments on preferred stock.
STRC Preferred Dividends Force the Hand; Q1 Already Flagged Bitcoin Sales
The 32 BTC disposal was primarily to service dividends on STRC, Strategy’s flagship fixed-income credit product. After repurchasing $1.5 billion in convertible debt last month, cash reserves dwindled to roughly $871 million—enough to cover only about six months of the estimated $1.7 billion annual preferred dividend obligation. On May 29, STRC fell to $97.11 before closing at $98.57. As early as the Q1 report, Strategy explicitly warned: “If convertible notes mature or are redeemed without conversion into common stock, the company may need to sell common shares or bitcoin to generate sufficient cash.” The quarter recorded a staggering net loss of $12.54 billion, almost entirely from $14.46 billion in unrealized bitcoin losses. By quarter-end, the company held 818,334 BTC at a total cost basis of $61.81 billion, averaging $75,537 per coin.
Industry Confidence Shaken as Unrealized Losses Widen
After the sale, Strategy still holds approximately 843,706 BTC, worth $60.936 billion at an average cost of $75,699, resulting in an unrealized loss of $2.932 billion. Just a month ago, a market bounce had briefly put the position in profit by $8.2 billion. Founder Michael Saylor posted a “HODL” article on May 28 urging holders to stay strong, and has previously said, “Even if I sell one bitcoin, I will buy 10 to 20 times more.” Yet the sale is widely interpreted as signaling a dead end for the DAT treasury model, severely denting market confidence in accumulation. Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff called it a pivot from the “largest bitcoin buyer” to a seller, questioning future demand sources. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban revealed he had sold most of his bitcoin, expressing disappointment in the “digital gold” narrative. Meanwhile, JPMorgan noted that the “devaluation trade” in gold and bitcoin is heating up, with investors exiting safe havens.
Polymarket Episode: Trading on Rules, Not Truth
The sale coincided with a comical resolution on prediction market Polymarket. The event “Strategy sells BTC before May 31” saw probability spike from around 40% to 80% on June 1 after a low of 12%, before settling at 58% with over $16.4 million in volume. Because Strategy produced no official confirmation of a May sale, the market settled as “No,” underscoring once again that prediction markets trade on rule-defined events rather than objective truth.
With prices battered again, perhaps the only hope for bitcoin and the crypto market is for the Trump administration to “love crypto once more.”
