Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy sells $263.5M in MSTR to lift USD reserves, keeps BTC stack unchanged

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy sold approximately $263.5 million worth of MSTR shares last week to increase its cash buffer while leaving its bitcoin holdings unchanged, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cited by The Block.

The firm disposed of 2,732,318 MSTR shares between July 13 and July 19 and did not buy or sell any bitcoin during that period. Strategy used the proceeds to lift its U.S. dollar reserves by $225 million, bringing its cash position to $3.225 billion as of July 19.

Strategy continues to hold 843,775 BTC, worth around $54.7 billion at current prices, according to co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor. The position was acquired at an average price of $75,476 per bitcoin for a total cost of roughly $63.7 billion including fees and expenses, implying around $9 billion in unrealized losses.

The company’s stash represents about 4% of bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap, cementing its role as the largest listed corporate holder. Despite recent BTC sales and the build-up of USD reserves, President and CEO Phong Le told Bloomberg TV that Strategy remains a long-term buyer and would only start to focus on debt risk if bitcoin dropped to the $8,000–$10,000 range.

Saylor posted another Strategy bitcoin acquisition tracker chart on X over the weekend captioned “What’s next?”, a format that has often preceded purchase announcements in the past, though recent activity has skewed toward cash accumulation. He also published a 110-point essay, “110 Reasons BIP 110 Is a Bad Idea,” setting out his opposition to the proposed soft fork that would restrict arbitrary data on Bitcoin ahead of its mandatory signaling window in early August.

JPMorgan analysts described Strategy’s larger cash reserves and strengthening institutional demand in bitcoin futures as “encouraging signs” for the bitcoin outlook, even as spot ETF flows remain volatile. CryptoQuant said the firm’s emphasis on rebuilding liquidity and pausing BTC buys mitigates near-term concerns but argued Strategy still lacks a systematic framework for timing future purchases and eventual sales in the next bull market.

Bitcoin Treasuries data shows 197 public companies have adopted some form of BTC acquisition strategy. Other top holders include Tether-backed Twenty One, Metaplanet, MARA, and the Adam Back and Cantor Fitzgerald-backed Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, with holdings ranging from roughly 30,000 BTC to over 43,000 BTC.

Strategy’s stock fell 4% over the week, closing Friday at $94.85, and is down 38.6% year-to-date, per The Block’s MSTR price page. Over the same period, bitcoin gained around 0.5%.