Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said the firm could sell Bitcoin to steady the market or reinforce confidence, breaking with the company’s long-held position that its holdings are permanent. The comment came during the first-quarter earnings call after Strategy reported a $12.5 billion net loss, driven mostly by unrealised losses on its Bitcoin position as the cryptocurrency fell 23.8% in the first quarter.
“We’ll probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” Saylor said. Market participants will realise that “the company’s fine, the Bitcoin’s fine, the industry’s fine, the world didn’t come to an end,” he added.
Strategy could sell Bitcoin holdings despite prior stance
It marks the first time Strategy has floated the idea of selling Bitcoin holdings. In February, Saylor dismissed concerns the company could be forced to sell during a downturn, telling CNBC the firm expected to buy Bitcoin every quarter indefinitely. Saylor also said Strategy could withstand a Bitcoin price drop to $8,000 and still cover its debt obligations without needing to sell.
Strategy has been a consistent Bitcoin buyer since August 2020, when it began holding the cryptocurrency as a primary treasury asset. This year the company has acquired 145,834 Bitcoin, bringing total holdings to 818,334 Bitcoin, worth $66.7 billion. Strategy has leaned on dividend-paying perpetual preferred stock offerings like Stretch to fund recent purchases. Saylor said the firm is aiming to build Stretch into the “biggest credit instrument in the world.”
| Metric | Q1 2025 | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Net loss | $12.5 billion | Mostly unrealised Bitcoin losses |
| Bitcoin acquired (2025) | 145,834 BTC | Funded via Stretch offerings |
| Total holdings | 818,334 BTC | Worth $66.7 billion |
| Bitcoin Q1 decline | 23.8% | Drove unrealised losses |
Saylor expects neobanks to launch Bitcoin-backed accounts
Several Bitcoin-focused decentralised finance protocols, including Pendle and Saturn, have started tokenising the 11% monthly dividends from Stretch, allowing them to be traded and improving liquidity for Bitcoin-backed credit. Saylor said he is hopeful a neobank will start offering Bitcoin-backed digital yield accounts soon. “We had none of these conversations going on eight weeks ago or 12 weeks ago, and now I see like three dozen initiatives,” Saylor said.
Saylor said Bitcoin-backed digital yield accounts could offer investors up to 8%, which he argued are far more lucrative than what many stablecoins offer. “Check back in 12 more weeks, I think we’ll have some exciting news,” Saylor said of the broader Bitcoin credit market. Meanwhile, MSTR shares fell 4.33% in after-hours trading to $178.80 on Tuesday after the earnings release. Strategy is on track to record a stronger second-quarter performance, with Bitcoin up nearly 20% to $81,250 since April 1.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Readers should not act on any information contained here without first consulting an authorised financial adviser. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
