On May 6th, Michael Saylor, Chairman of Strategy, publicly mentioned for the first time the possibility of selling a portion of Bitcoin to pay dividends to shareholders. This statement, made during the first-quarter shareholder Chia , quickly became a hot topic because Strategy is currently the world's largest holder of Bitcoin among publicly traded companies. According to Saylor, considering selling a small portion of the digital asset is not a sign of a change in core strategy, but rather a proactive step to demonstrate the company's ability to generate real cash flow for shareholders, avoiding market skepticism or the spread of negative sentiment before the company responds.
The context of this statement is quite noteworthy, as Strategy recently announced a net loss of $12.54 billion in the first quarter, primarily due to fluctuations in the valuation of digital assets under new accounting standards. However, the actual financial picture is far more complex. The company holds 818,334 BTC with an Medium Capital of approximately $75,500 per BTC, meaning this investment is still yielding a profit of about $5 billion based on recent market prices. This shows that the accounting loss does not reflect actual cash flow, but it strongly impacts investor sentiment in the stock market.
Immediately following Saylor's statement, MSTR shares fell more than 4% in after-hours trading, demonstrating the market's immediate reaction to any signal related to Bitcoin sales. Bitcoin's price also briefly slipped below $81,000 before quickly recovering. Strategy currently has an annual dividend payment obligation of approximately $1.5 billion and estimates its cash reserves can cover payments for about 18 months. Therefore, mentioning the possibility of selling a portion of Bitcoin is XEM as a long-term preparation to ensure the sustainability of its dividend policy.
