Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) has officially abandoned its long-standing ‘never sell’ Bitcoin policy, CEO Phong Le confirmed during the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call. The firm, which now holds 818,334 BTC—nearly 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply—said it will consider selling Bitcoin to buy dollars or retire debt when such a trade is accretive to Bitcoin per share. This marks a direct reversal of the philosophy that Executive Chairman Michael Saylor built the entire corporate brand around. “We will sell Bitcoin when it is advantageous to the company,” Le stated.
The pivot came after the company posted a net loss of $12.54 billion for the quarter, driven by a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings as the price of BTC fell nearly 30% during the U.S.-Iran war. Strategy’s Bitcoin stash was acquired for $61.81 billion at an average cost of $75,500 per coin. With BTC spot at around $81,500, the position is valued at $66.8 billion. Despite the loss, the firm continued accumulating, purchasing 89,599 BTC during the quarter and reporting a 9.4% Bitcoin yield.
During the call, Saylor noted the company may sell some BTC to fund dividends, demonstrating Bitcoin’s utility as a treasury asset. The news sent MSTR shares down over 4% in after-hours trading, while Bitcoin briefly dipped below $81,000. A block sale of even 5,000–10,000 BTC would be one of the largest institutional transactions in recent cycles and could carry significant price signal, though any disposal would likely go through OTC desks to limit slippage. The company previously sold 704 BTC in December 2022 during market stress, but the policy shift is a groundbreaking departure from Saylor’s famous 2025 tweet: “Sell a kidney if you must, but keep the Bitcoin.”
