MicroStrategy Eyes Bitcoin Sale to Pay Dividends
For years, Michael Saylor said the same thing over and over, Strategy would never sell its Bitcoin. Not for any reason. Not under any pressure. The company would buy, hold, and keep holding forever. That position crumbled on Tuesday.
Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy and widely regarded as the most aggressive corporate Bitcoin buyer in history, publicly admitted that the firm is now considering selling a portion of its enormous Bitcoin stockpile. The reason is not a loss of faith in the digital currency. It is a dividend bill that needs to be paid.
The pressure comes from a financial product called STRC, a perpetual preferred stock that Strategy launched in July 2025. The stock pays an 11.50 percent annualised dividend to its holders. As that dividend bill grows, Strategy is running short of easy options to cover it, and Bitcoin, sitting in the company’s reserves, is looking like the most obvious solution.
Saylor framed the potential sale in careful terms, describing it as a deliberate and controlled move rather than a sign of panic. His logic was straightforward: the company borrows money to buy Bitcoin, waits for Bitcoin to increase in value, and then sells a small portion at a profit to cover the dividend when needed. He also said the move would send a clear message to the market that Strategy is capable of managing its obligations without financial stress.
Strategy’s chief executive, Phong Le, added that the company would consider selling Bitcoin whenever doing so was genuinely in the company’s best interest, while making clear that the firm intends to remain a net buyer of Bitcoin over the long term.
The announcement rattled investors immediately. Shares in Strategy fell sharply after the remarks, reflecting how closely the company’s stock value is tied to its Bitcoin holdings and its reputation as an unconditional believer in the asset. On prediction market platform Polymarket, traders quickly pushed the probability of Strategy selling some Bitcoin before December 31, 2026, up to 48 percent, nearly a coin flip.
The numbers behind the story are staggering. Strategy currently holds 818,334 Bitcoin, acquired at an average cost of approximately $ 75,537 per coin. It remains the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin anywhere on earth. A key shareholder vote on how to handle the STRC dividend payments is scheduled for June 8.
