Strategy Sold Its Bitcoin at $62,200: Here’s Why It Would Make the Same Choice Again

Strategy sold 6,916 bitcoins at an average price of about 62,200 dollars between late June and mid-August. A few weeks later, the company bought back 4,603 at 80,318 dollars each. An operation that looks like a classic “sell low, buy high.” Its CEO Phong Le does not regret anything: the Bitcoin price was not the priority. The balance sheet needed to be strengthened first.

Bitcoin at 62,200 dollars, a sale owned

Strategy no longer hides its sales. In August, there was already a mention of a sale of 1,690 bitcoins intended to strengthen its financial structure. In total, the company sold 6,916 BTC in four operations between late June and mid-August.

Average price: about 62,200 dollars. Then bitcoin rose again. Last week, Strategy spent 369.7 million dollars to buy 4,603 BTC at an average price of 80,318 dollars.

The gap exceeds 18,000 dollars per bitcoin. Phong Le takes responsibility. The CEO explains that Strategy does not decide to sell or buy by trying to predict BTC’s next move. At the time of the sales, the company needed to finance the dividends of its preferred shares STRC.

Selling bitcoin then cost less than raising new capital in poor conditions. For Le, it was therefore “the right trade” at that time.

Strategy mostly repaired its balance sheet

For nearly two months, bitcoin purchases slowed significantly. Strategy focused on its cash and financial obligations. Its balance sheet now represents about 72 billion dollars in assets: nearly 65 billion in bitcoin and about 7 billion in dollar-denominated reserves.

Net debt, which hovered around 7 billion dollars, fell to about zero according to Phong Le. This cash accumulation was already visible at the end of August, when Strategy had raised its dollar reserves to 6.69 billion while temporarily freezing its bitcoin purchases.

STRC explains much of the change. This perpetual preferred share pays a variable dividend, and Strategy seeks to maintain its price around a reference value of 100 dollars. In June, STRC fell below this level. Issuing more securities became less interesting. The company therefore used other levers, including selling bitcoin.

The situation has since changed. With a stronger balance sheet and better conditions on MSTR, Strategy can again sell its common shares to finance its BTC purchases. That is exactly what it just did.

Strategy no longer promises to keep every bitcoin

The change goes beyond just this summer’s sales. For years, Michael Saylor repeated that Strategy had no intention of giving up its bitcoins. This doctrine has evolved. Since May, the company mostly promises to remain a net buyer of bitcoin over the long run. It no longer guarantees that each acquired BTC will remain forever in its treasury.

Phong Le now talks about “a two-way management”. Strategy can sell bitcoins, issue MSTR shares, use its preferred shares, then buy back BTC when the cost of capital becomes attractive again. The 6,916 bitcoins sold represent less than 1% of its current reserves. Strategy now holds 845,050 BTC. Its bitcoin holdings have increased by about 25% to 30% this year according to Le.

The company is thus still far from disengaging from bitcoin. It simply accepts selling occasionally if its balance sheet requires it. A flexibility that becomes all the more important as the premium once granted to MSTR has shrunk and Arthur Hayes now sees three difficult choices for Strategy when its accumulation mechanism stalls.