Strategy sells 3,588 BTC for $216M to fund dividends, keeps $2.55B reserve

MicroStrategy’s long-time Bitcoin proxy, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy Incorporated), has again sold a portion of its holdings to fund corporate needs. In a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the company said it sold 3,588 Bitcoin for a total of $216 million, trimming its position to 843,775 BTC.

The disclosed sales were completed across multiple days and were priced at two different average levels: Strategy sold 1,363 BTC at an average of $59,256 between last Monday and Tuesday, and 2,225 BTC at an average of $60,773 between Wednesday and Sunday, according to the filing.

Key takeaways

• Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million, reducing its total holdings to 843,775 BTC, per its Monday SEC 8-K.
• The sales come after Strategy previously reported its first Bitcoin sale in years in early June, following a 2022 tax-related transaction.
• Strategy’s June capital framework ties Bitcoin sales to dividend funding, and it raised its STRC preferred stock dividend rate to 12%.
• Analyst Bernstein said Strategy was unlikely to face forced Bitcoin selling, citing cash coverage for dividend and interest obligations.

Another tranche of Bitcoin sold to support dividends

Strategy’s Monday filing provides the clearest breakdown yet of how its Bitcoin-to-cash conversion is being executed in practice. The company emphasized the total proceeds ($216 million) and the reduced Bitcoin balance that results from the transactions.

While the sale is large in absolute terms, investors have been watching Strategy closely for signals about whether it is merely funding planned payments or shifting toward more sustained liquidation. This latest disclosure follows an earlier, notable break from the company’s long-standing pattern: Strategy had disclosed the sale of 32 BTC in early June, described as its first reported Bitcoin sale since the 2022 tax-loss-related transaction.

That early June disclosure matters because it set expectations that Strategy’s “Bitcoin as reserve” thesis was evolving into a more explicitly managed cash-and-liquidity approach—one that includes periodically monetizing part of its holdings to meet obligations.

June framework links Bitcoin liquidity to capital returns

In its June 29 8-K, Strategy unveiled a capital framework designed to preserve Bitcoin exposure while allowing certain sales to fund dividends. As reported earlier by Cointelegraph, that framework laid out how Bitcoin could be sold to support shareholder returns without abandoning the larger accumulation strategy.

Within that framework, Strategy increased the annual dividend rate on its STRC perpetual preferred stock to 12%. It also disclosed that its U.S. dollar reserve had grown to $2.55 billion in the June filing. Monday’s 8-K, however, indicated that the dollar reserve remained unchanged from the prior disclosure.

In other words, the company used Bitcoin sales even as it reported a stable level of cash reserves—suggesting that the sales are part of the structured dividend-funding mechanism rather than a sign of immediate liquidity stress.

STRC trades below par, raising questions for funding dynamics

Strategy’s dividend funding is closely connected to how STRC performs in the market. During Monday’s pre-market session, STRC traded at $88.70, according to Yahoo Finance data—about 11.3% below its intended $100 par value.

This discount matters because it can affect Strategy’s financing flexibility. If STRC trades below par, the company’s ability to raise additional cash through STRC sales may be less efficient, potentially increasing pressure to keep dividend economics attractive to investors or, alternatively, to rely more on Bitcoin sales to cover obligations.

That dynamic is not speculative in the filing narrative: STRC is described as a key mechanism through which Strategy funds its Bitcoin accumulation and associated capital needs. When preferred shares price-discover below par, the trade-off between issuing equity-like instruments and selling Bitcoin becomes a central variable for investors monitoring Strategy’s capital strategy.

Bernstein: no “forced selling” scenario based on cash coverage

Ahead of the latest sale being disclosed, Bernstein argued that Strategy was unlikely to be compelled into selling Bitcoin. The firm pointed to liquidity and cash reserve coverage supporting dividend and interest obligations.

In the Bernstein report referenced in the article, the analyst estimated Strategy had 17 months of cash available to cover dividend obligations and interest payments. Bernstein also described Strategy as a net buyer of Bitcoin and characterized it as a “balancing force” in a market where other participants—particularly leading U.S. Bitcoin miners—have shifted toward selling rather than accumulating, partly due to their pivot to AI-related strategies.

Bernstein further cited broader market flows, including $5.5 billion of outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) so far in 2026, and suggested Strategy’s buying helped counteract that pressure. The firm also said Strategy’s debt liabilities were about 13% of its Bitcoin collateral value, implying that debt servicing constraints were not dominating the company’s near-term behavior.

According to Bernstein, Strategy’s next principal payment of roughly $1 billion is due in the third quarter of 2028. The timeline is important for investors because it shapes how much of today’s liquidity decisions are about “imminent refinancing needs” versus routine dividend management.

Bernstein maintained a $150,000 year-end Bitcoin price target and reiterated that its long-term outlook on Bitcoin remained optimistic.

What to watch after Strategy’s latest disclosure

Investors will likely focus on whether these Bitcoin sales remain tied to the dividend framework and preferred-stock mechanics, or whether future filings show a larger and more frequent monetization of holdings. The next clue will come from how STRC continues trading relative to par and how Strategy reports its cash reserves and obligations over the coming quarters.

This article was originally published as Strategy sells 3,588 BTC for $216M to fund dividends, keeps $2.55B reserve on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.