Strategy sells 3,588 BTC to fund Digital Credit dividends

Strategy has sold 3,588 Bitcoin for $216 million to fund dividends on its Digital Credit securities. 

Michael Saylor announced the sale on X, saying the company now holds 843,775 BTC in its Bitcoin reserves and $2.55 billion in USD reserves.

The sale was disclosed in a Strategy press release. The company said the transaction supports dividend payments tied to its credit products, rather than marking a full exit from its Bitcoin treasury plan.

The move comes after Strategy sold 32 BTC in late May to support preferred stock distributions. As crypto.news reported, the earlier Strategy Bitcoin sale was small in size but large in market symbolism because the company had long promoted a buy-and-hold Bitcoin strategy.

The latest sale is larger and arrives at a more sensitive time for Bitcoin traders. Strategy remains the largest public corporate Bitcoin holder, so any sale from its reserves draws attention across the crypto market.

Digital Credit model changes treasury approach

Strategy’s latest Bitcoin sale fits into its wider Digital Credit Capital Framework. The company announced that framework in late June, giving itself room to sell Bitcoin for reserve funding, dividend payments, interest costs, and some repurchase programs.

Strategy’s BTC monetization plan allows up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales under certain conditions. The report said the plan marked a shift from one-way Bitcoin accumulation toward active balance sheet management.

Strategy has also said it wants to keep enough cash to cover dividend payments for its preferred securities. Its $2.55 billion USD reserve gives it more room to meet those obligations without relying only on new stock sales.

Saylor has defended limited Bitcoin sales before. In May he said Strategy should avoid becoming a net seller, rather than follow an absolute “never sell” rule. He said, “Even if we were to sell one Bitcoin, we’d be buying 10 to 20 more Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin sentiment remains fragile

The sale comes after a hard June for Bitcoin. The June crypto crash was driven by several pressures at once, including Federal Reserve concerns, geopolitical risk, Strategy’s earlier BTC sale, and record ETF outflows.

That earlier 32 BTC sale did not carry enough size to move the market on its own. Still, it hit sentiment because traders viewed it as a break from Strategy’s long-running Bitcoin accumulation narrative.

Moreover, Citigroup blamed Bitcoin’s decline more on spot ETF outflows than on Strategy’s earlier sale. The bank said ETF flows remained a stronger demand signal for Bitcoin than one corporate treasury transaction.

That context matters now. The 3,588 BTC sale is larger than the May transaction, but Bitcoin’s next move will also depend on ETF demand, leverage, macro data, and whether investors view the sale as planned liquidity management or stress.

Saylor’s Bitcoin model faces another test

Strategy’s model has faced more scrutiny as its stock premium weakened. Strategy’s Bitcoin flywheel began spinning in reverse after its market value fell below the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

That pressure matters because Strategy’s old model relied on issuing shares at a premium, buying more Bitcoin, and increasing Bitcoin exposure per share. When the premium narrows, that path becomes harder.

Saylor recently argued that Bitcoin’s future may depend less on the old four-year cycle and more on capital flows, credit products, ETFs, and treasury demand. He said Bitcoin should grow by “changing less” at the base layer while financial products expand around it.