Strategy CEO Phong Le said the company’s recent sale of roughly 32 bitcoin was not a retreat from its treasury strategy, but a deliberate operational and market test. Speaking on CNBC’s Power Lunch, Le framed the transaction as small relative to Strategy’s broader bitcoin position and said the company remains a net buyer after adding more than 1,500 BTC in the same period.
Strategy CEO Says Bitcoin Sale Tested Processes
Strategy’s sale of about 32 BTC drew attention because it marked the company’s first bitcoin sale since 2022, even as bitcoin traded near $61,000 and had recently fallen below $60,000. CNBC noted that the asset was down more than 20% over the past month, creating a sharper backdrop for investor scrutiny around any sale by one of the market’s most closely watched corporate bitcoin holders.
Le said the sale served several purposes, including preparing the market for the possibility that Strategy may sell bitcoin when appropriate and confirming that its internal systems could handle such a transaction. “One, we thought it was good to inoculate the market to understand that we are willing to sell Bitcoin when we need to. We haven’t needed to, but it’s an important thing to do. Two, it’s a lot easier for us process-wise to buy Bitcoin than to sell Bitcoin, so we want to make sure everything’s working.”
Pressed again on why Strategy sold, Le gave a shorter explanation centered on execution rather than financing pressure. “We sold because we wanted to inoculate the market and we sold because we wanted to test our processes.” Asked what the company learned, he replied: “We learned that everything works.”
Le Says 32 BTC Sale Did Not Fund Dividends
Le also rejected the idea that Strategy sold bitcoin to fund dividend obligations, saying the company was able to meet those needs through other capital-raising activities. “One reason we didn’t sell our Bitcoin, we did not need to sell our Bitcoin to satisfy our dividends. We’re able to do that through other capital-raising activities.” He added that future bitcoin sales could also allow Strategy to capture tax-loss assets tied to coins bought at different price levels.
The Strategy CEO acknowledged frustration among some bitcoin investors who interpreted any sale as inconsistent with a long-term holding posture. Le said the company has several groups to consider, including common shareholders, preferred shareholders, debt holders and bitcoin holders. “We have a set of constituents that we have to be able to answer to. One is our common stock, our MSTR shareholders. Second is our preferred stock, our STRC shareholders.”
Le said institutional shareholders had not appeared unsettled by the 32 BTC sale, while some criticism came from retail participants committed to never selling bitcoin. “Our institutional shareholders that we talk to don’t seem to be unnerved by it. I think the unnerving is the retail community that has views on never selling your Bitcoin that are crypto anarchist. And frankly, you know, we have a lot more than just them as constituents.”
“We’re the largest holder of Bitcoin in the world. We’re the largest purchaser of Bitcoin in the world. And we’ll continue to be”. Watch my conversation with @CNBC @PowerLunch below.
00:00 — “We’re net purchasers of Bitcoin.” The 32 BTC sale helped inoculate the market, test our… pic.twitter.com/aHlcNincNU
— Phong Le (@phongle) June 10, 2026
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