Case study

Strategy: “never sell” was not the policy

Strategy sold 32 bitcoin in May 2026, its first sale since 2022, and about 6,900 more by early August, to pay preferred dividends and buy back its own preferred stock. Its board program for selling was published a month after the May sale.

The short version

6,948
bitcoin sold between May 26 and August 9, 2026, for about $431.8 million (our sum of five filings): $1.76B
a year in preferred dividends and interest, by the company’s estimate: $22.77B
of unrealized losses on digital assets reported for the first half of 2026: 848,000
bitcoin held at October 4, 2026, at a cost of $63.97 billion

Sources: [9][11][16][17][10][12][19]

What happened

August and September 2020
The first purchase
MicroStrategy, as it was then called, bought 21,454 bitcoin for $250 million and made bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset. Its board adopted a Treasury Reserve Policy the following month.[1][2]
2020 to 2025
Two versions of the position
In a 2022 interview Michael Saylor, the company’s co-founder, said it would not sell. The annual report reads differently. It calls bitcoin a long-term holding and says the company may “periodically sell bitcoin for general corporate purposes” and “may be required to sell bitcoin” to meet its obligations. It did sell once in this period: about 704 bitcoin on December 22, 2022, reported as a sale to realize tax losses. It had bought about 2,395 in the seven weeks before and bought about 810 two days later.[3][2][4]
January 2025
Fair value
Strategy adopted the fair-value standard and added $12.745 billion to opening retained earnings. From then on, each quarter’s price move ran through the income statement.[5]
November and December 2025
A condition, and a cash reserve
The chief executive said bitcoin would be sold as a last resort, if the company’s mNAV (its market value relative to its bitcoin) fell below 1 and it could not raise capital. On December 1 the company set up a $1.44 billion US dollar reserve, funded by selling common stock, to cover at least twelve months of dividends and interest.[6][7]
May 2026
The first sale since 2022
On the first-quarter call, Saylor said the company would probably sell some bitcoin to pay a dividend. On May 19 it repurchased $1.50 billion of convertible notes for $1.38 billion in cash. Between May 26 and May 31 it sold 32 bitcoin for $2.5 million, at an average of $77,135, to fund distributions on preferred stock. The dollar reserve stood at $900 million at month-end. The Form 8-K that disclosed the sale names no body that authorized it.[8][14][9]
June 29, 2026
The board writes it down
Strategy published a Digital Credit Capital Framework. Under it the board authorized a BTC Monetization Program for three purposes: up to $1.25 billion to fund the dollar reserve, payment of dividends and interest (about $1.76 billion a year), and repurchases of its own securities, capped at $2.0 billion. Sales outside those purposes or limits need further board authorization. The program has no price or mNAV trigger. The same announcement raised the dividend rate on STRC, its largest preferred stock, to 12.00%.[10][13]
June 29 to August 9, 2026
Four more rounds of selling
June 29 and 30: 1,363 bitcoin for $80.8 million. July 1 to 5: 2,225 for $135.2 million. July 27 to August 2: 1,638 for $104.73 million, split between preferred dividends and repurchases of STRC. August 3 to 9: 1,690 for $108.6 million, all for STRC repurchases. With the 32 sold in May, that is 6,948 bitcoin for about $431.8 million (our sum). The company’s presentation shows a cost basis of about $422 million for the bitcoin sold through July 5, against about $218 million received (our sums of the two lots it shows).[11][13][16][17]
August 2026
What the company said
On August 1, according to press reports, Saylor said the program had been announced on June 29 and was not new, that the company had never had a “never sell” policy, and that it expected to remain a net buyer. Purchases resumed in the last week of August with 4,603 bitcoin for $369.7 million.[15][18]
October 2026
Where it stands
Strategy reported 848,000 bitcoin at October 4, at a total cost of $63.97 billion. We found no sale reported in its weekly filings after August 9.[19]

Four questions, and what the record shows

A sale policy answers four questions before a sale happens. This is what Strategy’s public record says about each.

When may bitcoin be sold?: Since June 29, 2026, for three stated purposes: funding the dollar reserve up to $1.25 billion, paying dividends and interest, and funding repurchases up to $2.0 billion. For dividends and interest the test is whether management finds a sale “more advantageous than issuing class A common stock” or other capital markets transactions. There is no price or mNAV trigger. Before that date the annual report said the company might sell, including to pay preferred dividends, without limits or an approval process.[10][2]
Who approves a sale?: The board authorized the program, and sales outside its purposes or limits need further board authorization. Inside the program the decision is left to management. No officer or committee is named. Nothing published at the time said who approved the May sale.[10][9]
How is a sale disclosed?: So far weekly, by Form 8-K, with the number of bitcoin, net proceeds, average price and use of proceeds. This is the most complete sale disclosure of any company in this series. The framework itself commits only to disclosing material sales under customary Form 8-K practice.[9][11][16][17][10]
How are the proceeds used?: Stated in each filing: preferred dividends, the dollar reserve, and repurchases of STRC preferred stock. In the last two rounds, $160.9 million went to buying back STRC (our sum).[9][11][16][17]

What the balance sheet showed

Strategy reported $14.46 billion of unrealized losses on digital assets in the first quarter of 2026 and $8.32 billion in the second. Against those numbers the sales are small. The claims behind them are not: $6.71 billion of convertible notes at June 30 and $15.43 billion of preferred stock at July 27.

Strategy bitcoin holdings, cost and fair value, 2024 to 2026
Date	Bitcoin held	Total cost	Fair value
December 31, 2024	447,470	$27.968 billion	Market value $41.789 billion; carried at $23.909 billion before fair value
December 31, 2025	672,500	$50.435 billion	$58.854 billion
June 30, 2026	846,000	$63.939 billion	$49.672 billion
August 9, 2026	840,447	$63.36 billion	Not stated in the weekly filing
October 4, 2026	848,000	$63.97 billion	$70.82 billion at September 30 (company estimate)

Sources: [5][14][12][13][17][19]

What a board can take from it

Interviews are not policy.

The widely held view of Strategy’s position came from statements such as the 2022 interview. The legal position was in the annual report, and the two did not match. When the sales came, Saylor said the company had never had a “never sell” policy. A board should know which version its shareholders believe.

The sale came before the framework.

The board program was published on June 29, a month after the 32 bitcoin were sold. Nothing published before then said who had approved the sale. The annual report had said bitcoin might be sold to pay preferred dividends, with no limits and no process. The order should run the other way.

Say which uses come first.

Preferred dividends and interest cost about $1.76 billion a year. Under the framework, management sells bitcoin when it judges that better than issuing common stock. In the last two rounds most of the proceeds went to buying back preferred stock, which is a choice and not an obligation. A sale policy should rank the uses.

Weekly disclosure is achievable.

Strategy has reported the count, proceeds, average price and use of each week’s sales within days. Nothing about that practice depends on the size of the position.

Sources

Satoshi Institute has no relationship with Strategy. This analysis draws only on public filings and published reporting. It says nothing about Strategy’s internal policies beyond what those sources show. Published October 10, 2026. Last reviewed October 10, 2026.

Other case studies

MARA: the sale that retired the debt
Sold 15,133 bitcoin in three weeks and used the money to retire $1.0 billion of convertible notes below face value.
Sequans: the lenders held the keys
Raised equity and debt to buy bitcoin and pledged all of it to the lenders. Selling the pledged coins needed their consent. None left fourteen months later.
Block: the rule covers buying
Two published documents and a monthly buying formula. No conditions for a sale. No sale reported.
Metaplanet: a sale to prove it could
Sold 10,000 bitcoin and bought back 11,000 in one quarter, to show rating agencies it could. Its position on selling came with the disclosure.
Tesla: the company that sold
Bought under a policy the Audit Committee approved. Sold with no published rule. What the filings show.

The Sale Policy Sprint answers the four questions

A board-ready policy that settles when bitcoin may be sold, who approves it, how it is disclosed and how the proceeds are used. Fixed fee, 15 business days.

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Strategy: “never sell” was not the policy

The short version

What happened

The first purchase

Two versions of the position

Fair value

A condition, and a cash reserve

The first sale since 2022

The board writes it down

Four more rounds of selling

What the company said

Where it stands