Saylor signals another Bitcoin buy, after hinting at selling in Q1 earnings call

Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, signaled that the Bitcoin treasury company will resume its BTC purchases this week, following an earnings call on Tuesday, during which he said the company may periodically sell portions of its treasury.

“Back to work, BTC,” Saylor said in an X post on Sunday, messaging that has previously preceded a BTC purchase, which typically the day after his posts.

The company last purchased BTC on April 27, buying 3,273 coins for about $255 million, which brought its total holdings to 818,334 BTC. Those holdings were worth about $61.8 billion, according to Strategy's website at the time of publication.

Strategy's history of Bitcoin purchases since 2020. Source: SaylorTracker.com

The company paused its BTC buying streak for one week ahead of Tuesday’s first quarter 2026 earnings call, in which Saylor said that the company could sell portions of its Bitcoin holdings periodically to pay dividends to holders of its credit instruments.

The announcement appeared to contradict the company’s previous stance of never selling BTC, and the sales could weigh on Bitcoin's market price by introducing new selling pressure, critics of the move say.

Related: Bitcoin’s recent rally is largely fueled by Strategy purchases: Bitwise's Hougan

Strategy CEO says dividend-funding sale could “inoculate” the market

“We’ll probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” Saylor said during Strategy’s Q1 earnings call.

The announcement drew mixed reactions from the Bitcoin community, with some, like Strategy investor Adam Livingston, arguing that periodic sales will be accretive for the company’s treasury, allowing it to finance the purchase of more BTC in the future.

Strategy's Bitcoin per share since 2020, measured in sats, the base unit of Bitcoin. Source: SaylorTracker.com

Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow said Strategy’s ability to sell BTC gives it optionality and greater room to maneuver in the financial markets.

Others social media sentiment posited that Strategy’s Bitcoin sales and credit instruments will create a “doom loop” that suppresses the spot market price of BTC.

Strategy CEO Phong Le clarified that the company would only sell BTC in specific instances, including paying dividend yields and deferring taxes, and that neither its sales nor purchases should affect Bitcoin’s market price.

Bitcoin's average daily trading volume of more than $60 billion could easily absorb Strategy’s $1.5 billion in annual dividend payments owed to holders of its corporate credit products, he said.

“I don't think we're driving the price up or down,” Le told CNBC, adding that the company owns about 4% of the total BTC supply. 

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