Strategy (MSTR) shares fell on Monday after the company sold 3,588 Bitcoin to fund preferred stock dividends and support cash reserves. MSTR traded at $99.35, down 1.41%, after an early drop below $96. The sale marked a new test for Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin-heavy capital strategy.
Strategy sold the Bitcoin for about $216 million, according to its latest 8-K filing. The sale reduced the company’s total holdings to 843,775 Bitcoin. The disclosure came days after Strategy approved a framework allowing Bitcoin sales for dividend funding.
The company sold 1,363 Bitcoin between Monday and Tuesday at an average price of $59,256. It then sold another 2,225 Bitcoin between Wednesday and Sunday at an average price of $60,773. Together, the sales represented about 0.42% of its total Bitcoin stack.
Strategy had disclosed a smaller sale of 32 Bitcoin in early June. That earlier sale marked its first reported Bitcoin disposal since a 2022 tax-loss transaction. However, the latest sale carried far greater size and showed broader use of Bitcoin for cash management.
Strategy used the proceeds to fund preferred stock dividends and replenish its dollar reserve. The company’s U.S. dollar reserve stood at $2.55 billion as of July 5. That level remained unchanged from the reserve disclosed in its June 29 filing.
The company also raised the annual dividend rate on STRC preferred stock to 12%. STRC traded at $88.70 in Monday pre-market trading, below its intended $100 par value. Trading below par can limit Strategy’s ability to raise funds through future STRC sales.
The pressure weighed on MSTR shares after five straight daily gains. The stock also remained down sharply over the past month. Bitcoin traded near $62,900 before the U.S. market open, after touching $63,700 over the weekend.
Strategy remains the largest corporate Bitcoin holder despite the latest sale. Its Bitcoin position carries a reported cost basis of $63.7 billion, or about $75,476 per coin. With Bitcoin near $60,000 recently, the company recorded an $8.32 billion second-quarter digital asset loss.
Most of that loss remained unrealized, but it still reflected pressure from Bitcoin’s market decline. Strategy’s BTC Monetization Program allows up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales. The company said that program remained fully available as of July 5.
Bernstein recently said Strategy looked unlikely to face forced Bitcoin sales. The firm cited Strategy’s liquidity position, cash reserve coverage, and limited near-term debt pressure. Its next major principal payment, around $1 billion, comes due in the third quarter of 2028.
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