Strategy sells 3,588 bitcoin at a loss to pay its dividends, formalizing the one thing Saylor swore it wouldn't do

Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, sold 3,588 BTC for roughly $216 million last week and used the cash to pay dividends on its preferred stock, according to an 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, July 6. The Block, CoinDesk and Decrypt all report the same headline figures from that filing.

Per The Block's reading of the filing, the sales came in two tranches: 1,363 BTC for $80.8 million between June 29 and 30, at an average of $59,256 per coin, and 2,225 BTC for $135.2 million between July 1 and 5, at an average of $60,773. CoinDesk rounds the blended execution price to "roughly $60,000." Both figures sit well below Strategy's own stated average cost basis, so these coins were sold at a loss.

That split across the calendar matters: June 30 closes Strategy's second quarter, so most of the selling (the 2,225-coin tranche) landed in Q3. It helps explain why the Q2 financial update in the same filing shows only a $0.9 million realized loss on digital assets — against an $8.31 billion unrealized loss, for a total $8.32 billion Q2 loss on its bitcoin. Because the market value of its holdings fell below cost at quarter-end, Strategy also said it will fully offset the related deferred tax benefit with a valuation allowance.

After the sales, Strategy holds 843,775 BTC — more than 4% of bitcoin's 21-million cap, worth about $52.3 billion at current prices. The sources disagree on the cost basis: The Block cites an average purchase price of $74,476 (total cost ~$63.7 billion), while CoinDesk cites $75,476 (total ~$63.69 billion). Either way the position is underwater, by around $11.4 billion on The Block's math. Both attribute the holdings and cost figures to co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor — i.e., to the company itself.

The mechanics: the flywheel ran in reverse

The sale wasn't opportunistic; it was structural. Last week Strategy rolled out a "Digital Credit Capital Framework" that formalizes exactly this behavior. The key pieces, per The Block:

• A board policy requiring its USD reserve to be used only for preferred dividends and interest, covering at least 12 months of those obligations. The reserve stood at $2.55 billion as of both June 28 and July 5, up from $1.4 billion a week earlier.
• A BTC Monetization Program authorizing bitcoin sales to raise up to $1.25 billion for the reserve, dividends and interest, or securities buybacks. As of July 5, the full $1.25 billion capacity was still available — meaning last week's $216 million came from outside this new program.
• A $1 billion Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program (STRC, STRF, STRD, STRK), a separate $1 billion Class A common-stock buyback, and a new STRC dividend policy giving management monthly discretion over the rate.

The reason the machine needs feeding is STRC. That preferred series, paying an annualized 12%, had become the primary engine of Strategy's bitcoin buying earlier this year — the company issued it, took in dollars, bought BTC. But STRC has struggled to hold its $100 par since mid-May, collapsing to a low of $71.25 as bitcoin fell below $60,000 before recovering to close at $87.87 on Thursday. Below par, Strategy can't issue STRC to buy more bitcoin — and it hasn't for several weeks. So the flywheel that once converted preferred issuance into BTC now runs the other way: bitcoin is sold to pay the 12% owed to those same preferred holders.

Key facts

• Sale: 3,588 BTC for ~$216M last week; avg ~$60,000/BTC (The Block: $59,256 on June 29–30; $60,773 on July 1–5). Source: SEC 8-K via The Block, CoinDesk, Decrypt.
• Holdings now: 843,775 BTC, ~$52.3B at current prices; >4% of supply. 8-K via The Block.
• Cost basis: avg $74,476 (The Block) vs $75,476 (CoinDesk); total ~$63.7B; ~$11.4B paper loss. Attributed to Saylor/company.
• Q2 loss on bitcoin: $8.32B total ($8.31B unrealized, $0.9M realized); deferred tax benefit offset by valuation allowance. 8-K via The Block.
• USD reserve: $2.55B as of July 5, up from $1.4B a week earlier. 8-K via The Block.
• New tools: $1.25B BTC Monetization Program (fully unused as of July 5), $1B credit-securities buyback, $1B common-stock buyback. 8-K via The Block, CoinDesk.
• Market reaction: bitcoin ~-2% Monday, ~$61,900 from $62,900 (CoinDesk); MSTR down ~2% pre-market. The Block, CoinDesk.
• Context: Strategy bought ~175,000 BTC for ~$14B in 2026; a 32-BTC sale about a month ago reportedly moved prices. The Block, CoinDesk.

The real-world read

The story here isn't the $216 million — a rounding error against a $52 billion stack. It's that Strategy has now codified selling. This is the company whose entire investor pitch was that it never sells; Saylor has said as much for years. A month ago a token 32-BTC disposal was notable enough that CoinDesk says it moved the market. Last week's sale was more than 100 times larger, and it comes with a standing board policy and a named $1.25 billion sale program to do more. Whatever the framing, that is a reversal, and it deserves to be called one.

The framing itself is worth watching. The filing casts the sales as "replenishing the USD reserve." Functionally, Strategy sold bitcoin at ~$60,000 — below its own $74,000–$75,000 cost — to pay a 12% coupon to preferred holders it can no longer fund by issuing more of that same preferred. That's not a treasury raising dry powder; it's a leveraged holder liquidating the asset to service the leverage. The $0.9 million "realized loss" flatters that picture only because the quarter cut off before most of the selling.

Note also who supplies the numbers. The 843,775-BTC total and the cost basis trace to Saylor and the company — an interested party reporting on its own position — and the two secondary outlets can't even agree on the average buy price ($74,476 vs $75,476). The bullish read comes from the sell side: Benchmark reiterated Buy with a $570 target, and Bernstein argued forced selling is unlikely while holding a $150,000 year-end bitcoin call despite a 54% drawdown. TD Cowen, by contrast, cut its target to $260 from $400 on a lower bitcoin forecast. And MSTR's 21.1% pop last week — to $100.77 Thursday — sits under a 73.7% loss over the year.

The tell is the messaging. On Sunday Saylor posted his bitcoin acquisition-tracker chart captioned "Bitcoin is digital energy" — the kind of post that, The Block notes, has historically preceded buying announcements. The next day's filing disclosed selling. The narrative and the ledger are pointing in opposite directions.

Opinion, and whose

• JPMorgan analysts said formalizing a sale policy introduces "avoidable two-way risk," since Strategy can now be both buyer and seller of bitcoin. (Attributed; via The Block.)
• Bernstein said Strategy's balance sheet makes forced selling unlikely, and separately holds a $150,000 year-end bitcoin target despite a 54% drawdown — its own words, "ambitious." (Attributed; via The Block.)
• Benchmark reiterated Buy, $570 target, citing the new framework; TD Cowen cut to $260 from $400 on a lower bitcoin price forecast. (Both sell-side ratings; via The Block.)
• Michael Saylor argued bitcoin's next growth phase will come from institutional capital, credit markets and financial infrastructure rather than halvings or protocol changes. (His view, as the interested principal; via The Block.)

None of these are facts about the future. They are forecasts and ratings from parties with positions.

Sources

• The Block (James Hunt, 2026-07-06) — most detailed account of the 8-K: tranche-level sale prices/dates, the Digital Credit Capital Framework, STRC pricing, Q2 loss figures, analyst notes. Disclosure the outlet makes: Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block; the outlet states it operates independently.
• CoinDesk (2026-07-06) — corroborates sale size, holdings and reserve; the differing $75,476 cost basis; the "32 BTC a month ago" comparison and intraday price detail.
• Decrypt (2026-07-06) — headline confirmation that the sales fund dividends under the BTC Monetization Program; live price reference (~$62,000 BTC).
• Underlying primary source: Strategy's Form 8-K filed with the SEC, July 6, 2026 — all three outlets' figures derive from it. Not independently reviewed for this post.

This is reporting, not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset.