Michael Saylor, the executive chairman and co-founder of Strategy, has pushed back against critics who accused the company of hypocrisy after it sold approximately $200 million worth of Bitcoin. The firm, formerly known as MicroStrategy, disclosed the sale in a regulatory filing, triggering an immediate online backlash from Bitcoin maximalists and die-hard fans of Saylor’s “never sell your bitcoin” ideology.
In a post on X, Saylor said he personally has never sold a single satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, and that his long-standing advice about holding Bitcoin forever was meant for individuals, not for publicly traded companies. “I’ve never sold a Satoshi, but Strategy is a public company,” Saylor wrote, offering a clear distinction between his personal beliefs and the operational needs of the corporate entity he leads. He went on to argue that Strategy, as a public company, must manage its balance sheet in a way that supports its shareholders and long-term financial stability.
The clarification came just hours after Strategy filed an 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That document revealed the company had sold 1,638 Bitcoin at the end of last month at an average price of roughly $63,957 per coin, generating about $200 million in proceeds. The filing stated that the proceeds were used to buy back STRC preferred shares, a high-yield security that had become a source of concern for analysts who closely followed the company’s Bitcoin accumulation program.
The Filing That Sparked Criticism
Strategy’s decision to sell Bitcoin was seen by many as a major philosophical shift. For years, Saylor was Bitcoin’s most prominent corporate champion, repeatedly saying that the cryptocurrency was the greatest store of value ever created and that selling it would be a monumental mistake. He built his public persona around the idea of using Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset and encouraged other companies to do the same. His personal social media accounts were filled with Bitcoin-themed messaging, and he frequently urged retail investors to ignore short-term price fluctuations and hold their coins for years or even decades.
When the company sold a small portion of its hoard, the narrative collided with reality. Critics quickly pointed out that Saylor had made his reputation by telling people never to sell Bitcoin, yet his company had just sold 1,638 coins. The response was swift, and the hashtag Hypocrisy began trending among crypto commentators. Some users posted screenshots of Saylor’s old tweets, highlighting his most emphatic statements about never parting with Bitcoin. Others called the sale a betrayal of the Bitcoin ethos.
However, Saylor’s supporters noted that a public company has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders. Unlike an individual who can adopt a pure buy-and-hold strategy and ignore market conditions, a public company must consider its capital structure, debt obligations, and the expectations of institutional investors. Selling a small amount of Bitcoin to reduce expensive preferred share liabilities could be seen as prudent treasury management rather than capitulation.
Saylor’s Defense
Saylor’s defense is rooted in the distinction between personal advice and corporate policy. He has made this point explicitly in his public response. “I’ve never sold a Satoshi, but Strategy is a public company,” he said. That statement was designed to reassure Bitcoin holders that the founder still believes in the asset’s long-term value while also acknowledging that the company must operate in the real world of corporate finance.
He has also emphasized that Strategy only sold a symbolic fraction of its total Bitcoin reserve. The company still holds 842,138 BTC, making it one of the largest institutional holders of the cryptocurrency in existence. At the aggregate cost of approximately $63.5 billion, that position represents a massive bet on Bitcoin’s future. Selling 1,638 coins amounts to less than 0.2% of the company’s reserve, which means that even after the sale, Strategy remains overwhelmingly bullish on Bitcoin.
The sale proceeds were not used to buy fiat currency for ordinary operating expenses or to exit the market. Instead, they were used to buy back STRC preferred shares. STRC was part of a broader strategy that allowed Saylor to raise capital for additional Bitcoin purchases. But the instrument carried a high yield, which made it expensive over time. By buying back those shares, Strategy reduces its future cash outflows and strengthens its overall financial position. This move is similar to a company refinancing expensive debt with cheaper money or using excess cash to improve its balance sheet.
A Controversial Treasury Policy
The roots of the controversy go back to the beginning of Strategy’s Bitcoin journey. In August 2020, the company announced its first major Bitcoin purchase, investing $250 million in the cryptocurrency. At the time, Saylor described Bitcoin as digital gold and said the company was committed to holding it for the long term. Over the next four years, Strategy acquired Bitcoin in waves, often taking advantage of favorable market conditions or using newly raised capital to expand its reserve.
The company’s buying spree made it a bellwether for Bitcoin adoption. Every time Strategy bought Bitcoin, the market took notice, and the price often reacted positively. Saylor became a regular fixture at Bitcoin conferences and was welcomed as a hero by the crypto community. He used his platform to advocate for a Bitcoin standard, arguing that governments, corporations, and individuals should all allocate at least a portion of their wealth to the cryptocurrency.
However, not everyone was comfortable with the way Strategy funded its Bitcoin purchases. To keep buying Bitcoin even as prices rose, Strategy increasingly turned to leverage. The company issued convertible notes, senior secured notes, and eventually preferred stock such as STRC. These instruments allowed the company to raise billions of dollars, but they also carried costs. Convertible notes can dilute shareholders when converted, and preferred shares often carry dividend obligations that eat into cash flow. In a rising market, those costs are easily offset by gains on the Bitcoin itself. But in a falling market, the combination of high-yield securities and a volatile underlying asset creates a much riskier financial profile.
Top on-chain analysts had flagged this issue months before the sale. They noted that Strategy’s average purchase price was rising as the company bought Bitcoin at higher and higher levels. Some analysts specifically warned about the dangers of high-yield preferred shares, arguing that the cost of capital would eventually become too burdensome if Bitcoin’s price stagnated or fell. Saylor initially doubled down, continuing his buying campaign even when Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 and then below $80,000. The market grew increasingly skeptical, and the company’s share price came under pressure.
Critics Weigh In
Peter Schiff, a longtime Bitcoin critic and gold advocate, was quick to respond to the news of the sale. Schiff tweeted that the sale proved Saylor’s Bitcoin strategy was failing and suggested that more sales would follow. He has long argued that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value and that Saylor’s corporate treasury strategy was a bubble waiting to burst. His remarks reignited the longstanding Bitcoin-versus-gold debate.
Other critics were less interested in debating Bitcoin’s value and more focused on Saylor’s credibility. One user accused Saylor of sending mixed messages, saying that individual investors had been led to believe that selling Bitcoin was always a mistake. Another user made a more nuanced point: Saylor may be right that his advice was intended for individuals, but because he is the face of a company that owns hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin, every action Strategy takes will be interpreted as a signal from Saylor himself. Public companies are judged by their leaders, and when a Bitcoin maximalist executive oversees a sale, the optics are difficult to escape.
There were also more sympathetic voices. Some pointed out that selling 1,638 BTC from a treasury of more than 800,000 BTC is barely a dent. They argued that the real story is the company’s continued commitment to Bitcoin and its willingness to adjust its financial structure when needed. If the sale allows Strategy to reduce its high-yield liabilities without materially reducing its Bitcoin exposure, then the company may be in an even stronger position to continue accumulating in the future.
What the Sale Means for Strategy
At the time of the sale, Strategy’s average acquisition cost for its entire Bitcoin treasury was estimated at around $75,000 per coin. That is significantly above Bitcoin’s trading price of roughly $63,000 at the end of last month, meaning the company is currently sitting on an unrealized loss across its BTC holdings. The aggregate cost of $63.5 billion, when compared against the current market value of 842,138 BTC, shows that the paper profit from the early purchases has been erased by the more recent high-priced acquisitions.
Many of those high-priced acquisitions occurred when Bitcoin was trading above $100,000 or in the $80,000 range. Those purchases were partly funded with proceeds from STRC and other instruments. By selling a small amount of Bitcoin at $63,957 and using the cash to buy back some of those preferred shares, Saylor is effectively reducing the company’s exposure to the most expensive form of financing it had used. The move may also help calm shareholders who were worried about the company’s growing debt and preferred share obligations.
The sale does not mean Strategy is abandoning its Bitcoin strategy. The company still has one of the largest Bitcoin treasuries in the world and could easily resume buying if market conditions improve. The decision to sell a symbolic amount is better understood as a portfolio adjustment made to protect the company’s financial health. Saylor appears to be listening to at least some of the criticism he has faced over the past year, particularly the warnings about using high-yield instruments to buy Bitcoin at expensive valuations.
While the optics remain awkward for a man who built his brand on never selling Bitcoin, the underlying logic of the transaction is straightforward: Strategy is using a small portion of its Bitcoin holdings to strengthen its capital structure. Whether critics accept this explanation remains to be seen, but Saylor has made it clear that he believes there is a difference between personal conviction and corporate financial management. As long as Strategy holds the overwhelming majority of its Bitcoin and continues to support the network, Saylor’s place in the Bitcoin ecosystem is unlikely to change.
Source:ZyCrypto News