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Strategy sold 1,638 Bitcoin for $104.7 million in the week ending August 2, per a regulatory filing. That’s not a small number. The sale cut its total holdings from 843,775 BTC down to 842,138 — and the coins went out the door at an average price of $63,957 each.
The company split the proceeds pretty much down the middle. About $52.4 million went straight to funding dividends on preferred stock. The other $52.3 million was used to buy back shares of STRC. That buyback, when you add in shares covered by common stock sales, came to $81.2 million total — 912,143 shares repurchased. The remaining $28.9 million came from selling common stock, not from Bitcoin. It’s the second buyback under a $1 billion program announced in June. Strategy still has $893.8 million left in that program, so there’s room to keep going.
Not just a simple sell-and-pocket move.
The financial mechanics go a bit deeper. The sales extended Strategy’s USD duration by 57 days, bringing it to 2.3 years. It also tightened STRC’s Bitcoin credit spread by five basis points. The annual dividend rate on preferred stock stays at 12%, with semi-monthly payments of $0.50 per share. That’s a fixed, recurring obligation — and it’s basically what’s driving a lot of these decisions.
The “Never Sell” Policy Is Gone
Strategy’s USD reserve has now crossed $4 billion. That’s a milestone worth pausing on, because it wasn’t long ago the company was publicly committed to never selling Bitcoin. That stance broke in May, when it sold 32 BTC — its first sale since December 2022. Back in 2022, that sale was part of a tax-loss harvesting move, with Bitcoin repurchased shortly after. The May sale was different. It funded preferred distributions and it signaled something had changed.
Then in June, Strategy formalized the shift. It rolled out a capital framework that explicitly allows for up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin disposals under specific conditions. So far, $321 million of that capacity has been used — and that figure doesn’t even include the original 32 BTC sale from May.
Since hitting a peak of 847,363 BTC in June, the company’s holdings have dropped by 5,225 BTC. That’s a 0.6% reduction from the top. Small in percentage terms, but the direction of travel is clear. Strategy hasn’t added a single Bitcoin to its reserve since June. Every move since then has been about building USD, not accumulating crypto.
Selling Shares to Cover Dividends
The dividend load is heavy. Strategy faces $1.76 billion in annual dividend obligations, and it’s funding much of that by selling MSTR shares. Last week alone, it sold over 3 million shares for $290.6 million. Of that, $250 million went into the USD reserve.
That’s a lot of share issuance. And it’s ongoing. The company’s approach right now is basically: sell equity, park dollars, cover dividends, and occasionally trim Bitcoin when needed. It’s a different machine than the one that spent years buying Bitcoin at every dip and telling the world it would never let go.
Bitcoin was trading around $62,600 on Monday, down roughly 1% per market data. At that price, the 842,138 BTC Strategy holds is worth somewhere north of $52 billion on paper. But paper value doesn’t pay dividends. Cash does.
Prediction Markets Turn Skeptical
On Myriad, a prediction market, the odds of Strategy holding over 1 million BTC by 2027 dropped to 6% — down from 12% the prior week. That’s a sharp move. It probably reflects traders recalibrating after watching the company sell twice in two months and show no signs of buying.
Whether Strategy ever gets back to accumulation mode is unclear. The capital framework caps disposals at $1.25 billion total, and $321 million is already gone. That leaves roughly $929 million in remaining disposal capacity under the framework, not counting the May sale. If dividend pressure stays high and Bitcoin prices stay soft, it’s not hard to imagine more sales.
And the share-selling program isn’t slowing down either. Over 3 million shares in a single week is a meaningful clip. The $1 billion buyback program running alongside it seems almost paradoxical — buying back STRC with one hand while issuing MSTR shares with the other — but it makes sense if you think of them as separate instruments with separate investor bases.
Strategy’s Bitcoin reserve remains enormous by any measure. 842,138 BTC is still one of the largest corporate holdings in the world. But the June peak of 847,363 BTC now looks like it might have been the high-water mark. The company sold 1,638 Bitcoin last week at $63,957 average, and its USD reserve sits at $4 billion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Strategy sell Bitcoin in August 2026?
Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million to fund preferred stock dividends and repurchase STRC shares, as part of its capital framework introduced in June.
How much Bitcoin does Strategy hold after the sale?
As of August 2, Strategy holds 842,138 BTC, down from a peak of 847,363 BTC reached in June.
