Strategy, a leading digital asset treasury (DAT) firm, has sold bitcoin. With Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who had publicly vowed that "bitcoin will never be sold," personally disclosing the sale, controversy is growing over the company's bitcoin treasury strategy.
On Wednesday, Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, said through his social media account on X (formerly Twitter), "The company sold 3,588 bitcoins," adding that it had "invested $216 million (about 330.8 billion won) to pay dividends on Digital Credit securities."
According to materials Strategy filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company sold 1,363 bitcoins for $80.8 million on the 29th and 30th of last month. The average selling price per coin was $59,256 (about 90.62 million won).
It then sold an additional 2,225 bitcoins between the 1st and 5th of this month, securing $135.2 million. The average selling price was tallied at $60,773 per coin. The bitcoins disposed of across the two rounds totaled 3,588, with the sale proceeds amounting to $216 million (about 330.328 billion won).
A notable point is that Strategy disposed of bitcoin at a price below its average purchase price. As of the 5th, Strategy's average bitcoin purchase price was $75,476 per coin. This average selling price was about 20% lower than the purchase price.
Peter Schiff, a financial commentator and prominent bitcoin skeptic, took a jab at this, saying, "The average selling price of bitcoin over two weeks was $60,196.76," and "They buy at the top and sell at the bottom."
With this sale, Strategy's bitcoin holdings decreased from 847,363 coins as of the 22nd of last month to 843,775 coins. Its cumulative purchase amount to date reaches $63.69 billion.
The company plans to use the bitcoin sale proceeds for preferred stock dividend payments and to build up its dollar reserves. As of the 5th, Strategy's dollar reserves stood at $2.55 billion. The company operates a separate cash reserve to pay preferred stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt.
The market is focused on the fact that Chairman Saylor broke his long-term holding strategy and actually sold. He had repeatedly emphasized his commitment to long-term holding through X, saying that "bitcoin will never be sold."
Valuation losses stemming from the decline in bitcoin's price have also grown. Strategy said it recorded a loss of $8.32 billion in its digital asset segment in the second quarter of this year. Of this, $8.31 billion was an unrealized valuation loss, while realized losses were around $900,000.
Meanwhile, according to Upbit, Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, bitcoin was trading at $62,737 (about 95.944 million won) as of 10:26 a.m. that day, down 0.1% from 24 hours earlier.
