Strategy disclosed $216 million in bitcoin sales and said its bitcoin holdings posted an $8.31 billion unrealized loss in the second quarter. The company’s recent pattern of buying and selling during bitcoin’s decline has now put its capital-allocation approach under closer market scrutiny.
According to the disclosure, bitcoin fell from about $68,000 on April 1 to roughly $60,000 at the end of June, driving the steep markdown in the company’s balance-sheet value. Strategy also recorded a $0.9 million realized loss over the period. The distinction matters: unrealized losses reflect a decline in asset value without a sale, while realized losses are booked when assets are sold below their carrying amount.
Trading Swings During Bitcoin’s Pullback
A large share of the paper loss came as bitcoin dropped from around $74,000 in late May to below $58,000 last week. During that stretch, Strategy sold 32 bitcoin in late May. Bitcoin then rebounded to about $64,000 over the July 4 weekend, but that move was interrupted Monday when the company sold 3,558 bitcoin. Between those sales, Michael Saylor and his team had bought 3,657 bitcoin at materially higher prices.
After all of those trades, the net increase in the company’s holdings was only 69 bitcoin. Crypto trader KALEO wrote on X that Strategy deployed roughly $20 million in additional capital for that marginal increase, implying an average cost above $289,000 per bitcoin for the newly added holdings because some coins were sold below the prices recently paid.
Still the Largest Public Corporate Holder
Strategy now holds 843,775 bitcoin, acquired at an average purchase price of $75,476. That keeps the company in first place among publicly traded corporate bitcoin holders by total stash.
The sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin is also likely to be read as a move to defend payouts on the company’s high-yield preferred stock, Stretch (STRC). Its dividend now stands at 12% after a recent 50 basis-point increase. In Monday trading, both bitcoin and Strategy’s common stock MSTR moved lower, while STRC continued to rebound from below $75 last week, gaining another 2.1% to just under $90.
Near-Term Bitcoin Buying Looks Less Likely
The recent sequence of purchases, sales, and repositioning has made Strategy’s short-term capital decisions harder for investors to map out. Based on the report’s view, if prices in BTC, MSTR, and STRC stay relatively stable, fresh bitcoin buying is probably off the table for the time being.