Strategy CEO Defends Bitcoin Sell-High, Buy-Lower Trade as Balance Sheet Move

Strategy CEO Phong Le has no regrets about selling Bitcoin near $60,000, only to buy it back at a higher price weeks later.

In an interview with Bloomberg Crypto on Wednesday, Le said the apparent “sell low, buy high” trade reflected changes in the company’s balance sheet and financing costs—not a bet on Bitcoin’s 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.”

Strategy sold 6,916 BTC in four tranches from late June through mid-August at a weighted-average price of about $62,200, then bought 4,603 BTC last week at an average price of $80,318, according to the company’s Bitcoin ledger.

The company bought 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million in the week ending Aug. 30, paying an average of $80,318 per coin, according to an Aug. 31 regulatory filing. It financed the purchase by selling MSTR shares, bringing its holdings to 845,050 BTC, around $65.4 billion.

However, Le said Strategy’s decisions are driven by its balance sheet rather than Bitcoin’s market price.

“We don’t really make decisions on Bitcoin specific to Bitcoin price,” he said. “What did we do over the last two months while we were not buying Bitcoin? We shored up our balance sheet.”

During the two-month pause in purchases, Strategy increased its assets to $72 billion—$65 billion in Bitcoin and about $7 billion in dollar reserves—and reduced 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, he said. When Strategy’s shares traded at less favorable levels, selling Bitcoin was the better way to meet its obligations.

Strategy accelerated its purchases in February, despite its holdings sitting underwater and mounting questions about its debt and preferred-share financing.

In May, Strategy abandoned its “never sell” position and pledged instead to remain a net Bitcoin buyer. The shift came as STRC—its 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 source of funding for Bitcoin purchases.

“It’s a two-way strategy. There will be times when it makes sense to sell Bitcoin,” Le said. “That 7,000 Bitcoin is less than 1% of the total Bitcoin we have.”

Le said the sale attracted outsized attention despite representing less than 1% of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings, which have increased by 25% to 30% this year.

“A one-way accumulator isn’t really a full operating company,” he 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.