Strategy sells 1,690 BTC as Schiff urges exit, funds flip long

Strategy's Bitcoin monetization has split the market — Peter Schiff says sell everything, while CME hedge funds flipped net long for the first time in years.

Strategy sold 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million last week, drawing a "sell Bitcoin now" call from longtime critic Peter Schiff.

"It seems @Saylor has given up on the idea of digital credit. $MSTR is consistently selling Bitcoin now to buy dollars, as lenders don't have confidence in Bitcoin as collateral," Schiff, a financial commentator and longtime Bitcoin critic, said on X. "They prefer 'good' old-fashioned fiat money as superior protection. Sell MSTR and sell Bitcoin now!"

The sale, executed between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9 at an average of $64,262 per coin, is part of Strategy's new BTC monetization plan. The firm also sold $653 million in discounted MSTR shares to raise cash for dividend obligations tied to its STRC preferred stock and buybacks. Strategy now holds 840,447 BTC purchased for approximately $63.36 billion, and its cash reserve stands at $4.65 billion — enough to cover 2.7 years of dividend obligations. The company has made only five BTC sales since 2022, collectively incurring $102 million in realized losses.

The divergence between Schiff's bearish call and institutional positioning could determine Bitcoin's near-term direction. Hedge funds on CME flipped net long on BTC futures for the first time in years, a shift CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju called "rare" and a signal that "the suits are betting on upside." Bitcoin traded near $65,254 as of 10:00 UTC on Aug. 11, having reclaimed the $64,000 level after briefly dipping below it on Monday.

Digital credit under pressure

Schiff's critique centers on what Saylor has long called "digital credit" — using BTC as collateral to raise funds through instruments like STRC. The monetization plan marks a sharp departure from Strategy's accumulation strategy, which held through the 2022 bear market. The firm's first BTC sale since 2022 came in June, and the pace has since accelerated.

Institutional TMT research analyst Nicholas Mugalli said the sales break the "sacred 'never sell' thesis." "MSTR is no longer just a levered Bitcoin proxy — it's an active credit engine where common equity dilution and selective BTC sales are the mandatory price paid to keep the capital structure afloat," he said on X.

MSTR stock is down more than 38% so far in 2026. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around MSTR dropped from "bullish" to "neutral" over 24 hours. The stock retraced 2.6% on Monday, while STRC fell 0.7%, with the sell-off linked to rising oil prices tied to geopolitical tensions in West Asia rather than Strategy's BTC sales.

Not all analysts share Schiff's bearish view. Grayscale has argued that Strategy's slow deleveraging is net positive for Bitcoin in the long run, and the firm's recent BTC sale reports have been marked by surprise rallies across BTC, MSTR, and STRC.

Hedge funds flip net long

The bearish narrative faces a counterweight in derivatives positioning. Leveraged funds on CME — mostly hedge funds — have historically remained net short BTC futures because of the basis trade, a market-neutral strategy where traders buy spot Bitcoin or ETFs while simultaneously selling futures to capture the premium. That trade has become less attractive as the annualized three-month futures basis fell to approximately 3%, below the roughly 3.8% yield on two-year U.S. Treasury notes.

The flip to net long marks a rare structural shift. "You cannot run a traditional carry trade with an aggregate net-long futures position," Ki Young Ju said.

However, spot demand tells a different story. The Coinbase Premium Index — which measures whether Bitcoin trades higher on Coinbase than on offshore platforms — has stayed below zero since early May, near minus 0.08. Open interest across all exchanges sits near $23 billion, down sharply from about $48 billion last October, suggesting limited new money entering the market.

Whether Bitcoin and Strategy prove Schiff wrong remains to be seen. The next test will come as Strategy continues its monetization schedule and as macro conditions — including rising oil prices tied to geopolitical tensions in West Asia — shape risk appetite across digital assets.

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