Michael Saylor’s Strategy sparks Bitcoin sale fears after 411 BTC move

By Finbold | Created at 2026-05-29 15:20:54 | Updated at 2026-06-08 16:32:05 1 week ago

Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) has sparked fresh fears of Bitcoin (BTC) sales after transferring 411 BTC to Coinbase Prime on May 29.

On Friday, Strategy deposited a total of 411 BTC, valued at approximately $30.24 million at press time, into Coinbase Prime, an institutional-grade crypto prime brokerage platform backed by Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence.

The move aligned with Michael Saylor’s statement during Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call that the company could sell some of its BTC holdings to cover dividend obligations. At press time, the company held approximately $871 million in cash reserves, following its recent early debt repayment, as Finbold reported.

Prediction markets bet on Strategy selling BTC in 2026

Following the Coinbase Prime deposit, prediction market traders increased their bets that Strategy could sell Bitcoin before the end of 2026. Specifically, Polymarket traders are betting a 91% chance, up 68% over the last 24 hours, that Strategy could sell any BTC by December 31, 2026.

Phong Lee defend the company’s Bitcoin plan?

During a Fox Business interview on May 28, Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, admitted that the company could sell some of its BTC to increase its shareholders’ coins per share in the long term. Furthermore, Strategy’s aggressive Bitcoin buying during price spikes has created batches of coins purchased at high prices, often above $80,000.

“Will likely sell Bitcoin at some point in time, but we will be net increasing our Bitcoin and, more importantly, increasing your Bitcoin per share,” Le stated.

With BTC price having dropped below the company’s average cost basis of about $75,000, Le explained that the company could generate large unrealized tax losses on its books due to Bitcoin’s volatility.

Le explained that they can strategically sell portions of these higher-cost coins to realize those losses. Moreover, the move could provide valuable tax savings, thereby allowing the company to immediately repurchase more Bitcoin at the lower price and still end up with a net increase in holdings and a lower overall cost basis. As such, Saylor’s Strategy move to deposit BTC to Coinbase Prime could be technical, as Le explained.

Featured image via Lex Fridman YouTube

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