Strategy CEO Phong Le pushed back on criticism of the company’s sale of roughly 7,000 bitcoin at $60,000–$65,000, calling it “the right trade at the time” to cover preferred dividends.
The sales took place during a 10-week buying pause that ended last week with a $369.7 million purchase of 4,603 BTC at an average price of $80,318.
Bloomberg interview
In a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday, Le framed the decision around cost of capital rather than bitcoin’s price. He pointed out that during the pause, Strategy reduced its net debt from roughly $7 billion to zero and built about $7 billion in cash reserves.
Balance sheet overhaul
Le said the restructuring increased total assets to $72 billion — $65 billion in bitcoin and $7 billion in U.S. dollar reserves — a 34% jump in two months.
That stronger balance sheet made it more profitable to sell MSTR equity at a premium and use the proceeds to buy bitcoin, he explained.
Strategy’s holdings now stand at 845,050 BTC, worth roughly $65 billion at current prices. The 7,000 BTC sold represented less than 1% of total holdings, while the company grew its bitcoin position by about 30% this year.
Shift to two-way strategy
Le described Strategy as a “two-way capital management company” rather than a one-way accumulator, saying there will be times when selling bitcoin makes sense. He noted that debt holders and ratings agencies had questioned a model that refused to sell its primary asset:
“A one-way accumulator isn’t really a full operating company. Somebody who is able to buy and sell bitcoin, buy and sell equity, buy and sell preferreds — that’s really a true operating company.”
MSCI index dispute
Le and Michael Saylor recently sent a letter opposing MSCI’s proposal to exclude certain non-operating asset companies from its global indexes, calling it:
“discriminatory, arbitrary, and misguided.”
Le argued that MSCI’s classification contradicts the SEC’s treatment of bitcoin as an operating segment and FASB standards that count bitcoin gains as operating income.
MSCI is accepting feedback until September 30 and plans to announce its decision by October 16.
