Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has abandoned its long-standing „never sell“ Bitcoin policy. CEO Phong Le announced on the May 5 earnings call that the firm will now consider selling Bitcoin to buy dollars or retire debt — but only if the trade is accretive to bitcoin per share. The move comes after a brutal first quarter that saw a $12.5 billion net loss, driven by the decline in Bitcoin’s price.
The policy reversal
For years, Strategy was the corporate world's most vocal Bitcoin HODLer. It accumulated 818,334 BTC — nearly 4% of the total supply — at an average cost of $75,500 per coin. But the Q1 loss, the biggest in company history, forced a rethink. Le said selling will only happen when it boosts bitcoin per share, a constraint that keeps the door open but not wide. MSTR shares rose 3% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
The numbers behind the decision
At a current spot price of $81,500, Strategy's Bitcoin stash is worth about $66.8 billion. That's above the $61.81 billion total cost, so there's a paper profit. But the average cost basis sits at $75,500, and the market is skittish. The $12.5 billion Q1 loss was largely a mark-to-market hit from Bitcoin's slide earlier this year. Le didn't say exactly how much Bitcoin the company might sell, but any large sale would be one of the biggest institutional moves in recent cycle history.
Execution risks and thin liquidity
A block sale of, say, 5,000 to 10,000 BTC would be enormous by current standards. Strategy would likely use OTC desks to limit slippage, but even that can't fully mask the risk. Market liquidity for Bitcoin in the $70,000–$74,000 band is thin. If BTC drops below Strategy's average cost, the pressure to sell — or the pain of holding — could intensify. Le's accretive-to-bitcoin-per-share rule gives the company an exit ramp, but it also means they won't sell unless it makes mathematical sense.
Bitcoin Hyper: A new Layer 2 project
In related Bitcoin ecosystem news, a project called Bitcoin Hyper is gaining attention. It's a Bitcoin Layer 2 with SVM integration that has raised over $32.5 million in presale. Its token is currently priced at $0.0136, and the project offers 36% APY staking. The presale is ongoing, and the project aims to bring smart contracts to Bitcoin.
Whether Strategy actually executes a sale remains tied to bitcoin's price trajectory and the accretive-to-bitcoin-per-share metric. For now, the market is watching the next price move — and the next earnings call.
