MicroStrategy shares slide after $2.5M BTC sale

MicroStrategy sold 32 Bitcoin for about $2.5 million, the company disclosed in an SEC filing last week. The company said proceeds will fund monthly cash distributions on its STRC preferred stock and cover recurring costs tied to STRC. After the disclosure, MicroStrategy shares fell to a 45-day low and traded as low as a one-and-a-half-month trough before partially recovering; the stock was about 5.3% lower at $150.68 and posted an intraday drop exceeding 8.5%.

The filing showed an average sale price of $77,135 per Bitcoin. The transaction reduced MicroStrategy’s holdings to 843,706 BTC, valued at roughly $61 billion at current prices.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor posted on X, “Our goal is to make STRC the best credit instrument in the world.” During the company’s recent earnings call, Saylor stated the firm would “probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend,” describing it as a way to “inoculate the market.” He did not address the specific Bitcoin sale in the X post.

Analysts described the 32-BTC sale as negligible relative to MicroStrategy’s total reserve. Lance Vitanza of TD Cowen calculated the liquidation represented about 0.0038% of the firm’s Bitcoin stockpile and wrote that headlines suggesting a meaningful reduction were misleading. TD Cowen left its $400 price target on the stock unchanged.

Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, noted that Bitcoin does not produce cash flows, so corporate holders with dividend or distribution obligations may eventually need to sell holdings to meet those payments. Gerry O’Shea, head of global markets insights at Hashdex, said the transaction did not alter MicroStrategy’s core strategy and that further selling could occur if current market conditions persist; he described the company as well capitalized.

The disclosure coincided with a pullback in the wider Bitcoin market. Bitcoin slipped to about $71,400, a near two-month low, after ETF outflows totaling roughly $3 billion and other selling pressure.

MicroStrategy has taken additional balance-sheet actions related to STRC, including repurchasing convertible bonds and using about 61% of cash reserves set aside in December to support the preferred stock. Company filings emphasize the recent Bitcoin sale was intended to fund STRC obligations rather than signal a shift away from holding Bitcoin on the balance sheet.