Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, said the company is prepared to sell Bitcoin to fund dividends on its STRC preferred equity instrument if needed, while emphasizing that the firm still expects to remain a long-term net accumulator of BTC. In an interview posted to X on May 9, Saylor sought to clarify remarks from Strategy’s earnings call that triggered debate among Bitcoin investors accustomed to his long-running “never sell your Bitcoin” message.
Saylor Clarifies Strategy’s Bitcoin Sale Plan
Saylor said the market reaction followed Strategy’s statement that it could sell Bitcoin to fund dividends on STRC, which he described as part of a broader effort to explain how the company’s Bitcoin-backed capital structure works. “We probably, it’s probably referring to our earnings call where we announced that we’re prepared to sell Bitcoin to fund our stretched dividends if need be,” he said. “The most important thing is we want the market to understand that Bitcoin capital gains fund stretch credit dividends.”
Strategy’s model, as Saylor framed it, is to issue credit instruments, use the proceeds to buy Bitcoin, and then use capital appreciation to support dividend obligations. He said the company expects Bitcoin to appreciate about 30% annually, while noting that it has historically appreciated closer to 40% annually. “We stripped the first 11% of that capital gain and we pay that as a credit dividend,” Saylor said, adding that confusion had developed around whether dividends depended on selling common equity.
The executive chairman said Strategy wanted to counter the idea that its Bitcoin holdings should be treated as inaccessible or unusable on the balance sheet. “So if you had $65 billion worth of something and people wanted to value it at zero, it’s not very good, right? We don’t want the credit rating agencies to think the company has $0 of assets. We want the credit rating agencies to think we have $65 billion of assets.” Saylor argued that being willing to monetize appreciated Bitcoin, when appropriate, helps make clear that the asset has balance-sheet utility rather than merely symbolic value.
Dividends, STRC, and the Net Accumulator Thesis
Saylor distinguished between selling some Bitcoin and becoming a net seller of Bitcoin, saying his better formulation would have been “never be a net seller of Bitcoin.” He said Strategy could sell BTC for obligations while still buying materially more through STRC issuance and other financing activity. “I think that in these periods, even if we were to sell one Bitcoin, we’d be buying 10 to 20 more Bitcoin. So you’re really talking about a situation where we buy 10 Bitcoin, sell one Bitcoin, buy nine net Bitcoin, and continue to create Bitcoin.”
He gave STRC issuance as the central example of the company’s Bitcoin accretion engine. Saylor said Strategy sold $3.2 billion of STRC in April, bought $3.2 billion of Bitcoin, and faced a dividend obligation of roughly $80 million to $90 million for the month. “So you would be, in essence, you would be buying 30 Bitcoin and selling one Bitcoin,” he said. “Our break-even rate is 2.3%. So what that means is that if we sell Stretch, if we issue Stretch credit equal to 2.3% of our Bitcoin holdings, then that means we will be a net buyer of Bitcoin forever, even if we sell Bitcoin to pay the dividend.”
Saylor also said Strategy may use different instruments depending on market pricing and liquidity, including STRC, MSTR common stock, Bitcoin, or bond repurchases. “We’ll do whatever’s in the best interest of the company. But over time, we expect to be a net Bitcoin accumulator. That doesn’t change.” He added that the company does not want to restrict itself by saying it will never use a particular tool, because market conditions can shift and fiduciary obligations require flexibility.
My latest thoughts on $BTC, $STRC, and $MSTR with @TheBonnieChang and @davidlin_TV at Consensus 2026.
0:00 – Strategy’s Bitcoin sale controversy
0:36 – Why Strategy may sell Bitcoin
3:12 – “Never sell your Bitcoin” explained
4:40 – How Strategy buys more Bitcoin than it sells… pic.twitter.com/mQQJefM3mH— Michael Saylor (@saylor) May 9, 2026
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