Strategy sells $263.5 million in MSTR shares, buys no bitcoin as USD reserve tops $3.2 billion

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy sold approximately $263.5 million worth of MSTR shares last week, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The firm said it sold 2,732,318 MSTR shares between July 13 and July 19, buy did not buy or sell and bitcoin during the period. Proceeds from the MSTR sales were used to boost Strategy's USD reserve by $225 million to $3.225 billion as of July 19. Strategy also said it did not purchase any shares under its share repurchase programs during the period.

Strategy has therefore retained its bitcoin holdings at 843,775 BTC — worth around $54.7 billion — bought at an average price of $75,476 per bitcoin for a total cost of around $63.7 billion, including fees and expenses, according to the company's co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.

Strategy's holdings are still equivalent to around 4% of bitcoin's 21 million supply cap, but carry around $9 billion of paper losses at current prices.

'What's next?'

Saylor posted another Strategy bitcoin acquisition tracker chart to X on Sunday with the caption "What's next?" Similar posts have typically preceded bitcoin acquisition announcements the following day, though the company's strategy has varied in recent weeks, predominantly choosing to build up its USD reserve instead, alongside some bitcoin sales.

Strategy intends to remain a long-term buyer of bitcoin despite its recent sales, President and CEO Phong Le said in a Bloomberg TV interview last week. Le said Strategy would begin considering risks associated with its debt only if bitcoin falls to around $8,000-$10,000, adding that the company currently feels very secure about its balance sheet.

In a separate post on Saturday, Saylor published a 110-point essay titled "110 Reasons BIP 110 Is a Bad Idea," his most detailed case yet against the proposed soft fork that seeks to restrict arbitrary data on Bitcoin.

The essay landed ahead of BIP-110's mandatory signaling window, which opens in early August, with miner support currently at 0.86% per the proposal's public monitor.

'Encouraging signs'

Strategy's larger cash reserves and improving institutional demand in bitcoin futures are "encouraging signs" for the bitcoin outlook, JPMorgan analysts said last week, despite spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund flows remaining volatile.

CryptoQuant analysts also said Strategy's new capital management strategy addresses the company's liquidity concerns by rebuilding cash reserves and pausing bitcoin purchases. However, the firm said Strategy still needs a systematic framework for timing bitcoin purchases and a disciplined plan for selling bitcoin during the next bull market.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, 197 public companies have adopted some form of bitcoin acquisition model. Tether-backed Twenty One, Metaplanet, MARA, and Adam Back and Cantor Fitzgerald-backed Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company make up the rest of the top 5, with 43,514 BTC, 43,000 BTC, 36,303 BTC, and 30,021 BTC, respectively.

Strategy's stock fell 4% overall last week, closing on Friday at $94.85, according to The Block's MSTR price page, down 38.6% year-to-date. Bitcoin rose around 0.5% during the same period.