Strategy CEO confirms 3,620 BTC sold as bear market reshapes treasury

Strategy Inc. CEO Phong Le says the firm's biggest lesson from 2026's Bitcoin bear market was the need to hold liquid U.S. dollars, not just Bitcoin, to sustain preferred dividend obligations.

Strategy Inc. sold 3,620 Bitcoin in 2026 as CEO Phong Le said the firm will continue trimming holdings to fund preferred dividends and build dollar reserves during the current bear market.

"We'll sell Bitcoin when it's advantageous to the company, which we've started to do," Le said on the company's second-quarter earnings call, adding, "You could expect that we may do that on a go-forward basis, too."

The company holds 843,775 BTC worth roughly $58 billion, making it the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. It maintains $3.75 billion in cash reserves, enough to cover more than two years of dividend and interest obligations. In the week ending Aug. 2, Strategy sold 1,638 BTC at an average price of $63,957, raising $104.7 million, with proceeds split between $52.4 million in STRC preferred dividends and $52.3 million in STRC buybacks.

The shift marks a departure from the "never sell" ethos that defined Michael Saylor's original treasury strategy. Le said the company has added roughly 170,000 BTC this year while selling only a fraction of that amount, and expects Strategy to outperform Bitcoin in the next bull cycle.

Dollar Reserves Take Priority

Le described the current crypto downturn as a bear market driven by macroeconomic uncertainty, including elevated interest rates, geopolitical tensions, AI-related capital flows and regulatory uncertainty. He said the firm's most significant takeaway from 2026 was the critical need to hold liquid U.S. dollars rather than relying on liquid Bitcoin for balance-sheet strength.

"We thought that liquid Bitcoin would be important, but what Mike mentioned earlier is that the people who are holding these preferreds don't look at Bitcoin the way they look at U.S. dollars," Le said.

Strategy's board kept the dividend rate on STRC steady at 12% annually, declaring $0.50-per-share payments for periods ending Aug. 31 and Sept. 15. Management has said it will not recommend a lower rate until STRC trades sustainably near its $100 stated value.

The company also sold 3,011,361 shares of MSTR common stock through its at-the-market program during the week, generating $290.6 million in net proceeds. Of that, $250 million was added to the company's USD Reserve, which now stands at $4 billion.

Regulatory Clarity in Focus

Le said the industry's priority is regulatory certainty rather than the legislative process itself. Federal agencies already have draft rules prepared, and regulation will likely move forward either through congressional approval of the CLARITY Act or executive branch rulemaking.

"I think the most important thing is a decision on CLARITY one way or the other," he said. "The rules will get made."

Strategy reported quarterly revenue of $122.39 million, narrowly missing the analyst consensus estimate of $122.91 million. The slight revenue miss shows the financial pressures that have pushed the company to reassess the role of cash versus digital assets in sustaining its obligations to preferred shareholders.

"We're the JPMorgan of the crypto economy," Le said. "So whether we sell 1,000 Bitcoin out of 840,000, to me, is irrelevant to the conversation."

The 2026 experience appears to have reshaped Strategy's thinking in ways that could influence how other corporate Bitcoin treasury holders structure their own balance sheets going forward. Bitcoin traded at $63,639 as of 10:23 a.m. ET on Aug. 4, up 0.27% over 24 hours, while MSTR shares traded at $94.10, down 0.80%.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.