Strategy's CEO Defends Selling $BTC at $60K, Buying Back at $80K: "Right Trade

Strategy CEO Phong Le said the company made the correct decision selling 6,916 $BTC near $60,000 earlier this summer and repurchasing 4,603 $BTC at a higher price last week, telling Bloomberg Crypto the moves were driven by balance sheet mechanics rather than Bitcoin's market price. "It was the right trade at the time to sell Bitcoin to fund our STRC dividends," Le said. "It's the right trade at this point in time to sell MSTR at a premium to buy Bitcoin."

The company sold the 6,916 coins across four tranches from late June through mid-August at a weighted-average price of about $62,200, then bought 4,603 $BTC for $369.7 million in the week ending Aug. 30 at an average of $80,318 per coin, according to an Aug. 31 regulatory filing. The latest purchase was financed by selling MSTR shares, bringing Strategy's holdings to 845,050 $BTC, worth roughly $65.4 billion.

Le said Strategy's decisions are tied to financing costs, not Bitcoin's price. "We don't really make decisions on Bitcoin specific to Bitcoin price," he said. During the two-month pause in purchases, Strategy increased its assets to $72 billion, including $65 billion in Bitcoin and about $7 billion in dollar reserves, while reducing net debt from roughly $7 billion to zero. Le said the stronger balance sheet made it cheaper to issue MSTR shares and use the proceeds to buy Bitcoin; when the shares traded at less favorable levels, selling Bitcoin was the better way to meet obligations.

STRC, Strategy's variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, fell below its $100 stated value in June. Because Strategy adjusts STRC's dividend to keep the shares trading near $100, the decline made issuing more stock less attractive and reduced a key funding source for Bitcoin purchases. Le framed the approach as a two-way strategy. "There will be times when it makes sense to sell Bitcoin," he said. "That 7,000 Bitcoin is less than 1% of the total Bitcoin we have." He added that Strategy's holdings have increased by 25% to 30% this year and rejected criticism that the company should buy and never sell. "A one-way accumulator isn't really a full operating company," Le said. "Somebody who is able to buy and sell Bitcoin, buy and sell equity, buy and sell preferreds—that's really a true operating company and a two-way capital management company. That's what we are."

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