Michael Saylor has acknowledged that Strategy will likely sell some of its bitcoin holdings to fund dividends for STRC, its high-yield perpetual preferred stock — a notable shift from his long-repeated vow to never sell.
The STRC strategy
In Strategy’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, executives highlighted the rapid growth of STRC, which has raised $8.5 billion since launch.
Saylor noted that Strategy’s current position requires bitcoin to appreciate at just 2.3% annually for existing holdings to cover STRC dividend obligations indefinitely, without selling any common stock.
He added:
“We’ll probably sell some bitcoin to fund the dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it.”
No longer untouchable
Saylor had for years made “never sell” a cornerstone of Strategy’s identity as the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder.
CEO Phong Le made clear that position has changed:
“We will sell bitcoin when it’s advantageous to the company. We’re not going to sit back and just say we’ll never sell the bitcoin. We want to be net aggregators of bitcoin, increasing our total bitcoin, but more importantly, increasing our bitcoin per share.”
Strategy currently holds 818,334 bitcoin — roughly 3.9% of the total bitcoin supply — valued at approximately $66.5 billion.
In Q1, the company acquired 89,599 BTC and purchased another 56,235 BTC early in Q2.
Losses and outlook
Strategy reported a Q1 operating loss of $14.5 billion, driven largely by mark-to-market adjustments tied to bitcoin’s price movement, with a net loss of $12.5 billion.
Bitcoin-per-share increased approximately 18% year-over-year to 213,371 sats per share.
Executives said the company aims to double bitcoin-per-share within seven years through its “digital credit” strategy, led by STRC.
Nasdaq-listed MSTR rose 1.7% on Tuesday to close at $186.9, up 46% over the past month but still down 26.7% over the past six months.
