Strategy CEO says selling bitcoin at $60,000 before buying at $80,000 was the 'right trade'

Strategy CEO Phong Le brushed aside concerns over the company’s sale of roughly 7,000 bitcoin at $60,000-$65,000 before it resumed buying around $80,000, saying the trades were driven by capital costs rather than bitcoin’s price.

"It was the right trade at the time to sell bitcoin to fund some of our Stretch dividends," Le said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday. "It’s the right trade at this point in time to sell MSTR at a premium to buy bitcoin."

Strategy paused bitcoin purchases for about 10 weeks while it shored up its balance sheet. Le said the company reduced net debt from roughly $7 billion to zero and built about $7 billion in cash reserves.

The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company bought 4,603 BTC for approximately $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318 last week. With the purchase, Strategy’s holdings rose to 845,050 BTC, worth roughly $65 billion at current prices. 

According to Le, the company remains a "net accumulator" but has shifted to a "two-way strategy," allowing it to sell bitcoin when needed to fund dividends and other obligations.

The roughly 7,000 BTC sold during the buying pause represented less than 1% of Strategy’s holdings, Le said, noting that the company had increased its holdings by about 30% this year.

Le also said the company could continue buying bitcoin at $90,000, $100,000, or even $130,000 if the capital economics remain attractive.

Meanwhile, Bernstein analysts last week maintained their Outperform rating on Strategy but cut their price target to $350 from $450, while forecasting bitcoin at $150,000 by mid-2027.

Bitcoin was approaching $77,000 early Wednesday, although down 1.1% over 24 hours, according to The Block's BTC price page.

Strategy shares closed at $124.88 on Tuesday, down 6.1% for the day, The Block's MSTR price page shows.