MicroStrategy Sells 32 BTC for $2.5M to Fund Preferred Payouts

MicroStrategy sold 32 BTC last week from its corporate Bitcoin treasury, generating roughly $2.5 million in proceeds at an average price of $77,135 per coin, according to an SEC filing. The filing lists the company’s remaining balance at 843,706 BTC, valued at about $61 billion at current market prices.

The filing says the proceeds will fund distributions on the company’s preferred stock.

The sale followed comments in the firm’s first-quarter earnings call in which Chair Michael Saylor told investors the company would “probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend just to inoculate the market-just to send the message that we did it.” President and CEO Phong Le told investors MicroStrategy “will sell Bitcoin when it’s advantageous to the company,” noting sales could be used to convert to U.S. dollars or to buy debt “if it’s accretive to Bitcoin per share.”

Markets reacted: Bitcoin’s price slipped to around $72,000 on the news, a decline of about 2.4% for the day. The filing was released a week after MicroStrategy used roughly 61% of a $1.38 billion cash buffer in a repurchase of $1.5 billion in convertible notes.

MicroStrategy has previously sold Bitcoin on a limited basis. In December 2022 the company sold 704 BTC for about $11.8 million and repurchased 810 BTC two days later as part of a tax-loss harvesting event. The recent sale departs from the firm’s earlier “never sell” stance.

Mathew Pinnock, chief operating officer at Altura, warned the transaction could change market perception and weaken sentiment about the company’s commitment to Bitcoin.

The SEC filing does not indicate plans for additional sales.