Saylor Shrugged: 491 BTC Walks Out, $BTC Waves Back 👋

Strategy, the enterprise software company led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, has not confirmed an on-chain transfer that moved 491 BTC, worth roughly $30 million, from a company-linked wallet on July 1. Pseudonymous trader Light flagged the transaction, and the claim spread on X after analyst Crypto Rover wrote, "Michael Saylor's Strategy may have just sold 491 BTC on July 1st. The transaction hasn't been confirmed yet, but if true, this would be one of the first signs of Strategy reducing its Bitcoin position after years of 'never sell' narratives." Neither Strategy nor Saylor has publicly addressed the rumor.

The alleged transfer would equal 0.058% of the 847,363 BTC Strategy reported in its latest SEC disclosure, a stack that covers about 4% of bitcoin's 21 million coin supply. On June 29 the company adopted a Bitcoin monetization framework authorizing up to $1.25 billion in tactical sales to fund dividends and buybacks, and a 12% STRC preferred dividend took effect on July 1, the same day as the flagged movement. Strategy completed its first Bitcoin sale since 2022 in late May, offloading 32 BTC to cover preferred stock dividends, and its only earlier sale came in December 2022, when it sold 704 BTC for $11.8 million to harvest tax losses before repurchasing 810 BTC within days.

Bitcoin showed little reaction to the speculation. BTC opened at $61,492 on Friday, up 2.5% from Thursday, and traded at $62,016, up 1.35% over 24 hours and more than 7% above the July 1 low of $57,800, according to TradingView and BeInCrypto data. The strength followed a weak June jobs report rather than treasury headlines and extended a recovery from what analysts have called the worst month for BTC prices in four years.

Reactions on X split between traders dismissing the amount as a rounding error and others warning that repeated sales could weigh on sentiment, with JPMorgan recently cautioning that the new sales policy adds risk to the crypto market. Strategy reported its May sale within days, so any confirmation of the July 1 transfer is likely to arrive through an upcoming company filing.