Strategy Sells 32 BTC, Marking First Bitcoin Trim Since December 2022
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has made its first net Bitcoin sale since December 2022. The company sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 for about $2.5 million, at an average price of roughly $77,135 per coin.
The last time the firm was a net seller was in December 2022, when it disposed of 704 BTC for approximately $11.8 million.
This latest sale was driven by cash needs tied to dividend payments on STRC, Strategy's perpetual preferred stock branded as Stretch. Rather than issue new common equity to fund the fixed payout, the company opted to sell a small portion of its Bitcoin holdings. Investors reacted quickly: MSTR shares fell more than 5% in premarket trading after the disclosure.
A shift from the "never sell" posture
For years, Executive Chairman Michael Saylor promoted an uncompromising message: buy Bitcoin, hold it, never sell. That stance has softened. On the company's Q1 2026 earnings call, CEO Phong Le indicated Strategy would sell Bitcoin "when advantageous" to improve the metric it emphasizes most—Bitcoin value per share.
With Bitcoin trading around $77,000 to $80,000 at the time, the 32 BTC sale was immaterial relative to Strategy's overall position. The company remains, by a wide margin, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally.
Why STRC dividends matter
Perpetual preferred stock comes with dividends that don't expire. Those fixed payments create a recurring cash requirement regardless of Bitcoin's price. With STRC outstanding, Strategy faces scheduled obligations that its core enterprise analytics software business may not always cover comfortably.
To meet the dividend, the company could have issued more common shares and diluted existing holders, tapped debt markets and increased leverage, or sold a small slice of Bitcoin. It chose the third option.
What investors should watch next
The premarket drop underscores how closely MSTR trades with the "diamond hands" narrative. The key question now is whether this was a one-off sale to fund a single dividend or the start of a repeat pattern.
The December 2022 sale offers context: that 704 BTC disposal occurred during a severe crypto downturn, and the company said it was primarily for tax-loss harvesting while remaining a net buyer for the year. This time, the driver is ongoing financial obligations, not one-time tax positioning—a difference that could imply more frequent selling.
Analysts are likely to focus on the next STRC dividend date and whether Strategy prefunds it through additional Bitcoin sales, operating cash flow, or another financing route. The answer will help determine whether this was a tactical adjustment or a new operating rhythm for the market's most prominent corporate Bitcoin holder.
