Michael Saylor Just Sold Some of His Bitcoin. Here's Why That Matters for Bitcoin Investors.
Key Points
Strategy sold 32 Bitcoins in the last week of May.
Bitcoin investors shouldn’t worry too much about that near-term noise.
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Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, transformed from a slow-growth software company into the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) over the past six years. It now holds 843,706 Bitcoins, which are worth $51.6 billion as of this writing.
That's 82% of its enterprise value of $62.9 billion. However, it paid an average price of $63,867 per Bitcoin -- which is higher than its current price of about $61,000. Strategy's co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor -- who oversaw its transformation into a Bitcoin treasury company -- also ordered its sale of 32 Bitcoins for $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31.
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That was a drop in the pond for Strategy, but it marked its first Bitcoin sale since 2022. Does that sale suggest that Bitcoin investors should brace for even deeper declines this year?
Image source: Getty Images.
Why did Strategy sell those Bitcoins?
Michael Saylor recently reiterated his long-term price target of $21 million for Bitcoin. Saylor, like other Bitcoin Maximalists, expects the cryptocurrency's value to soar as expansionary monetary policies devalue the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies.
That 34,300% gain -- which Saylor expects to occur over the next two decades -- would turn a $10,000 investment today into $3.4 million. Strategy would also likely become a multibagger stock as the value of its Bitcoin holdings skyrockets.
Therefore, Saylor's decision to trim Strategy's Bitcoin holdings seems to contradict that thesis. However, Strategy sold those Bitcoins to fund its preferred stock dividend payments. It also occurred in the same week the company sold 801,994 shares for $128.3 million under its at-the-market program. None of the proceeds from that stock sale went toward Bitcoin purchases -- so they were also likely used to fund its dividends or other capital needs.
What does Strategy's sale mean for Bitcoin investors?
Bitcoin faces many near-term challenges. Macro and regulatory headwinds are driving investors away from the crypto market, and many are liquidating their crypto holdings to invest in hot AI stocks or in upcoming IPOs like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Therefore, it might seem prudent to convert some Bitcoins to cash right now.
However, Strategy's previous sale -- of 704 Bitcoins for $11.8 million in Dec. 2022 -- was actually poorly timed even though the company leveraged those capital losses to reduce its taxes. Those tokens would be worth $42.9 million today.
So if you're bullish on Bitcoin, you shouldn't fret too much over Strategy's recent sales. It's still an all-in bet on Bitcoin, and its fate remains tightly tethered to the top cryptocurrency.
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Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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