Strategy's $369M BTC Buy: CEO Explains Price-Agnostic Strategy
Strategy Inc., the company behind the MSTR stock, has faced criticism for selling Bitcoin at $60K-$65K and buying it back above $80K. CEO Phong Le explained that the decision was based on the cost of raising capital, not the price of Bitcoin.
In an interview, Le stated that Strategy doesn't buy or sell Bitcoin based on its price, but rather on their cost of capital. When they can issue common stock at a premium to their net asset value, buying Bitcoin is accretive on a per-share basis. However, when this isn't possible, selling Bitcoin to meet financial obligations may be the better move.
Between July and August, Strategy sold roughly 7,000 BTC across three disclosed transactions totaling 5,553 BTC. The sales generated dollars to cover preferred dividend payments and fund a broader balance sheet cleanup. Le called these sales 'minuscule' relative to total holdings.
After building its dollar asset base to $6.71 billion as of August 30, nearly matching its $6.75 billion in convertible debt, Strategy's net leverage dropped to 0%. The company then purchased 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million between August 24 and August 30 at an average price of $80,318 per coin.