Strategy (MSTR), the business intelligence firm turned Bitcoin treasury company led by Michael Saylor, has sold another slice of its massive cryptocurrency stack. The company disclosed on Monday that it sold 1,690 Bitcoin (BTC) between August 3 and August 9, raising approximately $108.6 million at an average sale price of $64,262 per coin.
The move is the latest in a series of transactions that suggest a notable shift in Strategy's long-running accumulation strategy. For years, the company was known for buying Bitcoin relentlessly and holding it with a near-religious conviction. But this year, Strategy has started to offload portions of its holdings, sparking debate among bulls, bears, and retail investors.
Peter Schiff sees a broken thesis
Financial commentator and longtime Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff was quick to weigh in on the latest sale. In a post on X, Schiff argued that Saylor's actions indicate he has “given up on the idea of digital credit.”
“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 wrote. “They prefer ‘good' old-fashioned fiat money as superior protection. Sell MSTR and sell Bitcoin now!”
Schiff's criticism goes beyond this week's sale. He also pointed to additional corporate actions taken by Strategy to raise cash. According to Schiff, the company sold $653 million worth of discounted MSTR shares to fund future dividend payments and buy back its preferred shares, ticker $STRC. He noted that this reduced the year-to-date Bitcoin yield to just 1.7%, an 87% reduction since May 25.
“Ouch!” Schiff added.
First sale since 2022: a departure from the playbook
In June, Strategy executed its first Bitcoin sale since 2022. At the time, the company described the move as a tax-related opportunity, citing the fact that its Bitcoin had appreciated significantly in value and that the company could use the losses and gains strategically for tax purposes. But the latest sale is not framed as a one-off tax maneuver; it appears to be part of a broader pattern of selling BTC to meet corporate obligations.
Strategy has long positioned itself as a “Bitcoin treasury company,” with a stated mission to accumulate Bitcoin and hold it indefinitely. Investors who bought MSTR stock often did so as a proxy for leveraged Bitcoin exposure. The company's ability to issue convertible notes and use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin made it a favorite among crypto bulls who believed in the infinite appreciation of the asset.
Saylor himself has repeatedly said that Bitcoin is the ultimate store of value and that the company would never sell its holdings. He often described the strategy as “digital credit,” meaning Bitcoin could serve as a superior form of collateral that would allow the company to borrow fiat currency without selling its underlying Bitcoin. The latest sale, however, challenges that narrative.
Company still holds a massive Bitcoin treasury
Despite the recent sales, Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The company said in its regulatory filing that it currently holds 840,447 BTC, purchased for an aggregate price of approximately $63.36 billion. That means the average purchase price is roughly $75,400 per Bitcoin—well above the recent sale price of $64,262.
This has led some analysts to note that Strategy is selling Bitcoin below its average cost basis. The fact that the company is willing to realize losses on some Bitcoin sales to raise cash for other financial obligations is a significant development. Institutional TMT research analyst Nicholas Mugalli highlighted this in a post on X.
“Selling BTC below its average cost basis to buy back $STRC preferred shares breaks the sacred ‘never sell' thesis,” Mugalli wrote. “$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.”
Mugalli's comment underscores the changing nature of MSTR as an investment. The company previously operated with a simple, almost binary approach: buy Bitcoin, watch it grow, and let the stock price follow. Now, Strategy is juggling multiple obligations, including preferred share buybacks, dividend commitments, and the need to manage its balance sheet in a way that satisfies both equity and preferred shareholders.
What is “digital credit” and why does it matter?
The term “digital credit” has been used by Saylor and other Bitcoin proponents to describe a future where Bitcoin serves as the foundational collateral for the global financial system. In that world, corporations could borrow against their Bitcoin holdings at attractive rates, using the asset's inherent scarcity and long-term appreciation potential as a guarantee of repayment. Lenders, in theory, would prefer Bitcoin over physical assets because it can be instantly verified, transferred, and liquidated.
Saylor has been one of the most prominent advocates of this vision. He has argued that Bitcoin is not just a currency or a commodity but a superior form of collateral. He has also said that companies should be willing to issue debt to buy Bitcoin because, over time, the asset's price will rise much faster than the interest payments on that debt.
However, Schiff's point is that the current market reality is different. If lenders truly believed Bitcoin was superior collateral, Strategy would not need to sell coins to raise cash. Instead, it could simply borrow against its $60 billion Bitcoin treasury. The fact that Saylor is selling Bitcoin for dollars suggests, at least in Schiff's view, that the credit market is not ready to accept Bitcoin as a reliable collateral asset.
Schiff's interpretation is not entirely without merit. While some lenders, like Silvergate Bank before its closure, offered Bitcoin-backed loans, the overall market for such products has remained small. Most traditional financial institutions still view Bitcoin as too volatile and untested for large-scale collateralized lending. In that context, selling Bitcoin to meet immediate cash needs is the more practical route, even if it undermines the long-term narrative.
Stock performance and retail sentiment
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around MSTR stock has deteriorated. The platform showed that sentiment dropped from 'bullish' to 'neutral' over the past 24 hours, with message volumes still within a normal range. MSTR was also a trending ticker on the site at the time of writing.
One retail user wrote: “$MSTR $BTC Why does it appear that Saylor is dumping bitcoin slowly and carefully to avoid a larger market selloff before while he unloads? Other than the fact that this is what we're witnessing?”
That sentiment reflects a growing unease among some retail investors who once viewed MSTR as a simple, reliable way to gain exposure to Bitcoin. Instead, they now see a company that is actively selling Bitcoin, issuing new shares, and buying back preferred stock—all at a time when the underlying market is struggling.
MSTR's stock is down more than 38% so far in 2026, according to available data. The decline is far steeper than Bitcoin's own drawdown, which has also been significant. This underperformance suggests that the market is repricing MSTR not just as a Bitcoin proxy, but as a company with its own operational and financial risks.
A broader picture: convertible bonds, preferred shares, and dilution
Strategy has financed its Bitcoin purchases through a mixture of cash, convertible senior notes, and equity issuance. The company has been especially active in issuing convertible bonds, which offer bondholders the right to convert their debt into MSTR shares at a premium. When Bitcoin's price was rising, those convertibles looked like a winning bet for both the company and investors. But the current situation is more complicated.
The company is also dealing with preferred shares. In late 2025, Strategy issued preferred stock with a dividend, offering investors a more stable, income-generating alternative to common stock. Now, it has announced plans to buy back some of those preferred shares. Schiff's analysis suggests that funding those buybacks requires selling both Bitcoin and common stock at a discount.
Dilution is another concern. Strategy has been selling new common shares through an at-the-market offering, which adds supply to the market and puts downward pressure on the stock price. Retail investors who bought MSTR as a leveraged Bitcoin play are now absorbing the impact of constant dilution. The company's yield calculation, which measures the growth of its Bitcoin holdings per diluted share, has declined sharply, further damaging confidence.
Mugalli's point about an “active credit engine” is particularly relevant. Strategy is no longer simply buying and holding Bitcoin. It is using its balance sheet to generate value through financial engineering, but the complexity has increased dramatically. The company effectively has a common equity component, a preferred equity component, convertible debt, and a massive Bitcoin portfolio. Managing all these pieces requires constant capital moves, which often means selling Bitcoin or issuing shares.
What could happen next?
There is no consensus on what the future holds for Strategy or its Bitcoin holdings. Some analysts argue that the recent sales are tactical and do not signal a long-term change in strategy. They note that the company is still holding the vast majority of its Bitcoin and that even the 1,690 BTC sold this week represents a tiny fraction of the 840,000+ BTC in its treasury.
Others are less optimistic. They point to the declining Bitcoin yield, the persistent share dilution, and the company's willingness to sell below its average cost basis as signs that the model is under stress. If Bitcoin's price continues to fall, Strategy may be forced to sell more coins or issue more stock to meet its obligations, creating a feedback loop that could hurt both MSTR and Bitcoin.
For retail investors, the key question is whether they are willing to trust Saylor's long-term vision or whether the recent moves are the beginning of a broader unwinding. Saylor has not publicly responded to Schiff's latest critique, but his stance has been consistent: Bitcoin remains the best treasury reserve asset in the world. The company's actions, however, are speaking louder than words.
Strategy continues to describe itself as committed to Bitcoin, and the company's regulatory filing emphasizes that its long-term investment thesis remains intact. But as the sales become more frequent and the financial engineering more complex, the gap between the narrative and the reality is narrowing. The market will have to decide whether still holding 840,447 BTC, after selling a bit of it, is enough to justify the stock's valuation.
Source:MSN News