Strategy, Inc., the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), has sold 3,588 bitcoin for $216mn to fund dividends on its Digital Credit preferred stock, a sharp escalation of its shift from pure accumulation toward active capital management and more than 100 times the size of its first such sale five weeks ago.
Strategy Sells More Bitcoin as Dividend Funding Test Deepens
6 July 2026 - 15:47 CEST
By Matt Neill & Stu Clelland
Bitcoin fell to a session low near $61,400 at 13:30UTC after the disclosure, down from about $62,400 beforehand and an early-session peak near $63,900. Strategy shares were up slightly at the NY open at around $97, but almost 3% off Thursday's close of $100.77.
The sale is trivial against daily Bitcoin turnover measured in tens of billions of dollars, so the drop reads as a verdict on the signal rather than the flow: the largest corporate holder is now a repeat seller. The pattern echoes Strategy's first sale in late May, a negligible 32 coins that still preceded weeks of weakness. Analysts have tied Bitcoin's broader slide since its October peak to fading momentum, ETF outflows and a rotation into gold and AI equities rather than Strategy's selling – but each disclosure now lands on an already-fragile tape.
Michael Saylor said on 6 Jul that the company sold the bitcoin to fund dividends and held 843,775 BTC in its reserves as of 5 Jul, alongside $2.55bn in USD reserves. Strategy's US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed the sales took place in two stages: 1,363 BTC sold between 29 Jun and 30 Jun for $80.8mn, and 2,225 BTC sold between 1 Jul and 5 Jul for $135.2mn.
The sale follows Strategy's capital-structure overhaul last week, when the company introduced a Bitcoin Monetization Program, part of a wider Digital Credit Capital Framework, allowing bitcoin sales of up to $1.25bn to fund reserves, dividends, interest costs and repurchases of preferred or common securities. That framework was initially welcomed by investors as it gave Strategy more flexibility after its mNAV, the ratio of its market value to the worth of its bitcoin, fell below one, and STRC, its variable-rate preferred stock designed to trade near $100, slid far below that reference value.
Dividends drive BTC sales
Saylor said the proceeds funded Q2 quarterly dividends on its STRF, STRE, STRK and STRD preferred series, as well as the full monthly June dividend on STRC.
STRC has become a central stress point in the company's funding model, its dividend adjustments used to support demand. It fell as low as $71.25 in late June, roughly 29% below par, raising concerns over whether preferred stock could keep supporting Strategy's Bitcoin acquisition strategy.
Strategy raised the STRC dividend rate by 50 basis points to 12% for July and said its corporate objective is for STRC to trade over time at $99 to $100. The latest sale shows the cost of holding that capital structure together when preferred dividends remain due and market prices are under pressure.
Market weighs new model
The move tests the market's positive reaction last week, when investors sent MSTR and STRC higher after Strategy introduced its capital plan. Markets appeared to favour added liquidity, buyback capacity and dividend coverage over a strict "never sell" Bitcoin stance. Bitcoin's slide as the first sale under that plan landed suggests the welcome may be wearing thin.
The trade-off is now explicit. Strategy still holds more Bitcoin than any other public company, but that Bitcoin is now an active funding tool: a treasury no longer solely about accumulation, but about defending the preferred securities built on top of it.
