Strategy CEO Phong Le defended the company's late-May bitcoin sale as an operational test, telling CNBC that institutional shareholders were unfazed while retail holders pushed back.
Strategy CEO Frames Bitcoin Sale as Market Test: CNBC
11 June 2026 - 10:35 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
"We sold because we wanted to inoculate the market, and we sold because we want to test our processes," Le said. "We learned that everything works."
Strategy, the corporate bitcoin treasury firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, sold 32 bitcoins for about $2.5mn between 26 and 31 May, at an average price of $77,135. The 0.004% of holdings reignited debate over executive chair Michael Saylor's 'never sell' doctrine.
Le cited three reasons: signalling willingness to sell when needed, validating internal processes and capturing tax losses on bitcoin bought between $10,000 and $125,000. The sale was not to cover preferred dividends, he said, which were funded through capital raising.
Strategy remained a net buyer, acquiring around 1,500 bitcoins over the month.
