The "DAT pioneer" and "largest BTC diamond hand" Strategy has started selling coins. According to Strategy's latest disclosure, the company sold 32 Bitcoin last week at an average price of $77,135, netting $2.5 million. This move breaks its three-year streak of only buying, sending immediate ripples through the market.
Following the news, BTC slipped below $71,000 overnight, temporarily trading around $70,560. At the US stock market close, crypto-related stocks broadly declined: Bullish fell 7.99%, DeFi Development dropped 7.97%, Circle lost 7.11%, Strategy itself slid 5.85%, and Upexi slipped 5.04%. Against the backdrop of exchanges racing to list US equities, the crypto market's bleeding continues, and Strategy's halt in buying coupled with a small sale has piled extra pressure on an already liquidity-starved environment.
Financial Pressure Behind the Sale: STRC Dividends at the Core
This is not Strategy's first-ever BTC sale. In 2022, amid the FTX collapse that sent BTC tumbling below $20,000, Strategy sold 704 BTC at $16,776 on December 22 and quickly repurchased 810 BTC at $16,845 two days later. The current sale, however, is aimed at covering STRC financing dividends.
STRC, a fixed-income digital credit product, is a flagship offering for Strategy. Yet financial stress is mounting. After repurchasing $1.5 billion in convertible debt last month, the company's cash reserves shrank to roughly $871 million — just enough to cover about six months of its estimated $1.7 billion annual preferred dividend obligations. On May 29, STRC dropped to $97.11 before recovering to close at $98.57.
In its Q1 earnings report released in early May, Strategy already cautioned: "If convertible notes mature or are redeemed without conversion into common stock, the company may need to sell common stock or Bitcoin to generate sufficient cash to satisfy these obligations." That quarter, Strategy recorded a net loss of $12.54 billion, almost entirely from a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on Bitcoin holdings. By the end of Q1, the company held 818,334 BTC with a total cost basis of $61.81 billion, equating to an average purchase price of approximately $75,537 per coin.
From "Never Sell" to "Forced Sale": Saylor's Balancing Act
For the crypto industry, Strategy's sale represents more than a routine financial operation — it delivers a severe blow to confidence. Founder Michael Saylor once stated, "Even if we sell 1 BTC, we will buy back 10 to 20 times more." Yet this sale was not followed by a buyback, signaling a potential deadlock in the so-called "DAT treasury model." After selling 32 BTC, Strategy still holds 843,706 Bitcoin, worth $60.936 billion, with an average cost of $75,699 and an unrealized loss of $2.932 billion. Just last month, the position was showing an $8.2 billion unrealized gain thanks to a broader market rebound.
On May 28, Saylor published an article titled "HODL" (Hold On for Dear Life), urging the market to hold onto Bitcoin firmly amid the downturn. Just days later, Strategy sold BTC. Although the amount was tiny, it touched the market's rawest nerve.
Polymarket's Resolution Fiasco and Growing Bearish Sentiment
Around the Strategy sale, prediction market Polymarket staged a notable "resolution drama." Previously, the probability of "Strategy sells BTC before May 31" hovered around 40%. As May ended, on June 1 the odds surged from 12% to 80% within a day before falling back to 58%, with total trading volume exceeding $16.4 million. Because Strategy had not issued an official sale announcement, the event was ultimately settled as "no sale in May," once again proving that prediction markets trade on "events within defined rules" rather than objective truth.
After the sale was disclosed, economist and gold advocate Peter Schiff commented that Strategy has now shifted from being the "largest BTC buyer" to a seller, questioning where future demand will come from. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban revealed he has sold most of his Bitcoin holdings, citing waning confidence in BTC as a hedge against currency depreciation and geopolitical risks. JPMorgan also flagged that a "debasement trade" in both gold and BTC is heating up, with investors exiting safe-haven assets. With prices repeatedly testing new lows, the market may now be pinning its hopes on the Trump administration to "love crypto one more time."