Strategic shift? Strategy raises $216 million in first large-scale Bitcoin sale
Strategy, a major Bitcoin holding that once vowed to "only buy and not sell," recently carried out the largest Bitcoin sale in its history, reducing its holdings of 3,588 Bitcoins for about $216 million. This batch of Bitcoins was sold in two installments in the past week, with an average price of about $60,000 per coin. After this sale, Strategy still holds approximately 844,000 Bitcoins, accounting for approximately 4% of the total Bitcoin supply, and its average holding cost is approximately US$75,000 per coin. This means that the sale was conducted at a price significantly below average cost, resulting in a realized loss of approximately $53 million. The sale is part of Strategy’s newly approved $1.25 billion “Bitcoin Monetization Plan.” The company said the proceeds from the sale will be used to pay dividends on its preferred shares and replenish corresponding U.S. dollar reserves. As of early July, Strategy had about $2.55 billion in U.S. dollar cash reserves, enough to cover about 17 months of preferred stock dividends and interest payments. The move marks a major shift in the company's strategy. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has long been known for its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy, and its executive chairman Michael Saylor has repeatedly emphasized that it will not sell Bitcoin. However, in the context of the continued downturn in Bitcoin prices and the pressure on the company's own stock price, the company decided to adopt more flexible financial means to ensure shareholder returns and financial flexibility. After the news was announced, Strategy's stock price fell by about 2% in pre-market trading, and the price of Bitcoin also fell slightly in response. However, the market generally interpreted this as a one-time liquidity management operation rather than the beginning of a systematic sell-off.