Strategy CEO defends $60K Bitcoin sale, $80K rebuy on capital costs

The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin is defending a trade that appears to have sold low and bought high, with its chief executive pointing to the cost of capital as the deciding factor.

Phong Le, chief executive officer at Strategy, said the company's funding costs justified selling Bitcoin near $60,000 before repurchasing 4,603 BTC at an average $80,318. The defense comes as traders question the roughly $20,000 per-coin gap between the two transactions.

Strategy acquired the latest batch of Bitcoin for approximately $370 million over the past week, its first accumulation since late June. The purchase lifted total holdings to 845,050 BTC at an average acquisition cost of $75,412 per coin, according to company disclosures. Strategy funded the buy by selling 4,531,421 shares of common stock between Aug. 24 and Aug. 30, generating net proceeds of approximately $602.8 million.

Of that amount, $369.7 million went to Bitcoin, $151.8 million to repurchasing 1,557,177 shares of STRC preferred stock, $50.7 million to STRC dividends, and $30 million was retained as cash. Total Bitcoin acquisition costs reached $63.73 billion, with dollar reserves of $5.1 billion and cash of $1.61 billion, representing $6.71 billion in total liquidity and net leverage of zero.

Supporters view the approach as a long-term treasury strategy where capital costs, not short-term price timing, determine entry and exit points. Chairman Michael Saylor has consistently framed Bitcoin as a core treasury asset rather than a trading vehicle. The company reported a U.S. dollar duration of 4.0 years and STRC's BTC credit at 56 basis points following the transactions.

Bitcoin traded at $78,581 on CoinGecko as of 09:00 UTC on Sept. 1, failing to reclaim $80,000 as renewed concerns over U.S. interest rate hikes kept price action range-bound. The crypto Fear & Greed Index fell seven points to 62, cooling from recent "Extreme Greed" readings. Corporate buying appeared to take a backseat to monetary policy as the dominant price driver.

The purchase reinforces demand-side pressure on Bitcoin from the largest publicly known corporate holder. Strategy's continued accumulation, even at prices above its prior sale level, suggests institutional treasury demand for Bitcoin remains intact, though the trade's optics may weigh on investor confidence in the company's capital allocation discipline.

Pre-market trading for MSTR and STRC showed conflicting data, with reports ranging from a 7 percent decline to a gain of less than 1 percent for the common stock. Verified Nasdaq data was not yet available. The market is watching whether Strategy's resumption of accumulation translates into broader institutional Bitcoin demand recovery.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.