Strategy buys $1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin, but sell-side pressure remains dominant

• Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy scooped up 13,627 BTC for $1.25 billion last week.
• The move comes after MSCI shelved its plan to remove DATs from its indexes.
• Sell-side pressure remains dominant across the Bitcoin market following declines in spot and perpetual net taker volumes.

Bitcoin (BTC) treasury and financial intelligence company Strategy stepped up its accumulation of the top crypto last week after it purchased 13,627 BTC for $1.25 billion, its largest buy since last July.

The move has pushed the company's stash to 687,410 BTC acquired for $51.8 billion at an average price of $75,353. Based on the current BTC market price, Strategy is sitting on unrealized profits of nearly $11 billion.

The purchase was initiated after Strategy sold $1.12 billion of its MSTR Class A common stock and $119.2 million of its STRC perpetual Stretch preferred stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.

Strategy's latest BTC acquisition follows indices provider MSCI's decision last Tuesday that digital asset treasuries (DATs) will remain within its products "for the time being," ahead of its February review. The firm proposed in October to remove companies like Strategy and Bitmine, which held 50% or more of their balance sheets in digital assets, arguing that they function like passive investment funds.

MSCI will review its indexes again in May for a June rebalancing.

Strategy's MSTR share price rose about 2% to $160 at the time of publication on Monday. However, it is down over 60% from its July high of $455.

Bitcoin sell-side pressure maintains dominance

Despite the company's accumulation last week, selling activity remains dominant across Bitcoin's spot and derivatives markets. Spot and perpetual cumulative volume delta (CVD), which measures the difference between net buying and selling taker volume, declined by 10% and 179%, respectively. The move indicates an increase in sell-side pressure, according to Glassnode analysts in a Monday report.

Additionally, the short-term holder (STH) to long-term holder (LTH) supply ratio increased slightly over the past week. "This elevated share of short-term holder supply points to heightened speculative participation and a more reactive market structure, increasing sensitivity to short-term price moves," wrote Glassnode.

Bitcoin is trading above $91,000, up 1% at the time of publication on Monday, but remains down nearly 3% on the weekly timeframe.