MicroStrategy Sells 32 BTC to Fund Preferred Payouts

MicroStrategy sold 32 Bitcoin for $2.5 million in the final week of May, the company disclosed in an 8-K filed Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale averaged $77,135 per coin and reduced MicroStrategy’s reported holdings from 843,738 BTC to 843,706 BTC. The company said the proceeds will be used to make distributions on its preferred stock.

The filing also shows MicroStrategy sold 801,994 shares of its Class A common stock during the same period, generating $128.3 million in proceeds. The company reported no preferred stock issuances that week. Blockchain-tracking tools registered transfers of BTC to a custody service before the disclosure.

MicroStrategy’s Nasdaq-traded shares fell more than 6% after Monday’s market open, trading near $148.70 per share. Bitcoin prices slipped below $72,000 following the disclosure, trading around $71,939 at the time of reporting.

The sale is the company’s first reported disposal of Bitcoin since a 2022 tax-loss trade, when MicroStrategy sold 704 BTC and repurchased 810 BTC two days later. The transaction follows broader financing activity by the company, including a recent repurchase of $1.5 billion of debt at a discount and a reduction in outstanding notes as part of its capital management efforts.

CEO Phong Le told investors last week that the company may sell Bitcoin at times while seeking to increase Bitcoin on a per-share basis. Executive chairman Michael Saylor posted a bubble chart of the firm’s Bitcoin purchases on X over the weekend and did not address the $2.5 million sale in that post; observers noted the absence of an immediate comment.

Corporate disclosures show some public companies with Bitcoin treasuries are slowing purchases or reducing holdings. Over the past week, firms reported a combined net acquisition of 144 BTC, down from 603 BTC the prior week. Separately, one Nasdaq-listed company sold roughly 52 BTC to fund a share repurchase.