Crypto09 May, 20263 min read
Michael Saylor Floats Strategy Bitcoin Sale To Fund Dividend, CEO Phong Le Sets Conditions
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Strategy may sell Bitcoin to fund STRC dividend. Sales framed as tactical to shore up Strategy's capital structure.
Tactical BTC sales
Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor floated the idea that the company could “sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend,” reframing a potential bitcoin sale as a tactical move to shore up Strategy’s capital structure. Strategy’s CEO Phong Le said in an interview on Friday that the company will sell Bitcoin only in specific cases, including to pay the dividend on its Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC) and to defer or offset taxes. Le also said Strategy would only sell BTC to pay the yield owed to holders of its credit instruments if the sales are “accretive” to Strategy’s shareholders, meaning the company increases the BTC per share metric.
The debate follows Saylor’s earlier comments that Strategy might sell portions of its BTC periodically, which stoked fears among BTC investors about potential impacts on Bitcoin’s market price. Strategy’s latest quarterly filing acknowledged that software revenues alone won’t meet either its near- or long-term liquidity demands, pointing instead to a mix of cash on hand, bitcoin sales, and new offerings of both common and preferred shares.
Dividend math and volume
Le told CNBC that Strategy will sell Bitcoin to pay the dividend on its Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC), which pays an 11.5% dividend to holders. In an earnings call on Tuesday, Saylor said, “We’ll probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” linking the sales to dividend funding. Saylor added that if BTC appreciates by more than 2.3% annually, Strategy could fund its dividend payments “forever” without selling Strategy’s stock and diluting shareholders.
Le argued the company’s approach would not move markets, saying BTC’s daily trading volume of about $60 billion is enough to absorb the more than $1 billion in annual dividends that Strategy owes. Cointelegraph also quoted Le saying, “I believe in math over ideology,” and framed the decision as choosing between selling Bitcoin versus selling equity to pay a dividend.
What investors watch next
Strategy reported first-quarter 2026 results showing revenue of US$124.3 million and a net loss of US$12.54 billion, with the loss tied to unrealized markdowns on its 818,334-bitcoin treasury and heavy preferred dividend obligations. Simply Wall St described the shift as a “major policy reversal,” saying Saylor and Le signaled that Strategy may now sell bitcoin tactically to fund its high-yield preferred dividends and optimize balance-sheet management. The same analysis said the new focus for near-term catalysts is whether Strategy can service roughly US$1.5 billion in annual obligations without eroding its BTC per share story.
TechStock² | Other reported that as of May 3 the company held 818,334 bitcoins with market value pegged at $64.14 billion, and that Strategy flagged volatility in bitcoin prices, shifting financing conditions, tax rules, securities regulation, crypto market liquidity, and its own capital-raising capacity as factors that could drive outcomes away from management expectations. Against that backdrop, Le’s stance that sales would be limited to cases that are “accretive” to shareholders and that the company can fund dividends through Bitcoin sales sets the terms for how investors interpret Strategy’s bitcoin exposure going forward.