Strategic sell-off of Bitcoin has little impact on prices, drawing criticism

Strategy sold 1,638 bitcoins, but the market reaction was flat

Strategy sold 1,638 bitcoins last week, its third disposal of bitcoins in 2026, but there was almost no market reaction. The deal, disclosed in an 8-K filing Monday by the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, was sold for an average price of $63,957 between July 27 and August 2, with a total value of approximately $104.7 million. At the time of the document's release, Bitcoin prices were hovering around $63,400, and after briefly falling below $63,000, fell less than 1% that day. A year ago, such a combination of news would have pushed prices down by a few percentage points, but this time the market is treating it as routine practice.

Sellers no longer feared by the market

This calm is the real story line. For five years, Strategy has been the most reliable single buyer in the Bitcoin market, only increasing its holdings and never reducing its holdings. Today, the company has disclosed three consecutive reductions, and each reduction has a smaller impact on prices than the previous one. The 1,638 bitcoins sold this time represent less than 0.2% of their total holdings, which is negligible compared to daily spot trading volume, so direct supply pressure has never been a major issue.

What has really changed is market expectations. Once traders accept that Strategy has transformed from a permanent buyer to an occasional seller, the shock of a single disclosure disappears. The company's own data explains the reasons for the sale. Strategy reported a GAAP net loss of $8.22 billion in the second quarter, almost entirely due to non-cash impairments after Bitcoin prices fell by about 14%, while the cash it had to pay for preferred stock dividends soared to $400.7 million from $49.1 million in the same period last year. These dividends will not be paid automatically.

Strategy's three bitcoin sales in 2026

First sale·May 26 to 31:32 bitcoins, average price of US$77,135, amount of US$2.5 million (First sale since December 2022)
Second sale·June 29 to July 5: 3,588 bitcoins, with an average price of approximately US$60,200, with a value of US$216 million (Largest in history, sold below cost)
Third sale·July 27 to August 2: 1,638 bitcoins, average price of US$63,957, and value of US$104.7 million (used for dividends and STRC repurchase)

Sell Bitcoin to defend the US$100 share price

The use of funds reveals the purpose of the sale. Of the $104.7 million raised last week, approximately $52.4 million was used to pay dividends on Strategy preferred stock and approximately $52.3 million was used to buy back STRC (the company wants it to maintain its floating rate preferred stock at a face value of $100). Strategy bought back 912,143 STRC shares this week at a cost of $81.2 million, funded by a Bitcoin sale and a separate $290.6 million common stock financing through the ATM program. The majority of these equity financing ($250 million) was placed in U.S. dollar reserves, which currently total $4 billion.

The logic is as follows: STRC offers an annualized yield of 12%, is designed to fluctuate around $100, and is a credit instrument rather than a bitcoin bet. Getting it close to face value requires stable cash and occasional buybacks. Because Bitcoin is trading at a price lower than Strategy's average cost of $75,419, issuing new shares to buy more Bitcoin would dilute shareholders 'equity at an unfavorable price, so the company did the opposite: raising cash to repay debt and supporting the preferred stock structure. Michael Saylor described this week's operation as narrowing the STRC's Bitcoin credit spread by 5 basis points and extending the duration of US dollar reserves by 57 days to 2.3 years.

Ran Neuner called the cycle a "contradiction"

The more acute criticism is that the entire operation has fallen into a cycle. Ran Neuner was one of the louder voices questioning Strategy's turn, outlining loopholes in logic and arguing that Saylor was either sending a signal to the rating agencies that all balance sheet tools were operational or was completely lost. What is hard to ignore is the mathematics behind it: Strategy is selling Bitcoin at a price below its own cost of $75,419 to support an income-based product and hopes to repurchase it at a higher price in the future.

Criticism points to a specific contradiction. Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoins below cost in June, selling for about $63,957 last week, while the company's own holding cost was above $75,000. Selling at a low price to fund a revenue product and expecting a buyback at a high price can only be established on paper if bitcoin is matched. Saylor insists the company expects to remain a net buyer, but documents show that the company added only 37 bitcoins between the end of May and the end of July, and then reduced 1,638 bitcoins in the following week. On a net basis, Strategy currently holds fewer bitcoins than it did in the spring.

The confrontation shown on the chart

The price background helps explain the calm reaction of the market. Bitcoin has been in range volatility since June, trading roughly between $58,000 and $68,000, and closed close close to $63,700 that day. On the daily chart, the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement level of $63,679 has been serving as support, and buyers continue to defend this level, so the decline below $63,000 cannot be sustained. The RSI on the 14th was 48.67, slightly below the neutral line of 50, indicating that trading pressure was close to balance and slightly downward. There are no signs in the momentum indicator that a breakthrough or crash is imminent.

Glassnode described the market similarly, pointing out that spot demand was weak and derivatives holdings remained defensive. The company pointed out that stable activity on the chain, reluctance by holders to sell and continued inflows of ETFs provided bottom support for prices, although overall market confidence remained sluggish. It is this balance that allows the market to easily absorb Strategy sales without being impacted.

Net buyers promise real tests

Strategy's exit is more important than any single sale. For years, the company has withdrawn some supply from the market almost every week, and a buyer who only buys but not sells provides a floor price for demand that disappears once it becomes a conditional transaction. The market easily absorbed last week's sales, but a Strategy of selling when weak and buying when strong would marginally change the arithmetic of all other participants.

Currently, the company's primary goal is to return STRC to par value, which analysts at TD Cowen and Benchmark pointed out after the second-quarter earnings call, while maintaining a buy rating on the stock. Benchmark still lowered its target price for MSTR to $435 from $570 and lowered its year-end bitcoin price forecast to $100,000 from $125,000. Whether Saylor's net buyer promise can be fulfilled will depend on several future disclosures and whether Bitcoin can recover above cost-each sale currently results in a loss on paper.