Strategy Sells $216 Million in Bitcoin, Then Trump Talks It Back Up

Bitcoin finished Monday in the green, but only because Donald Trump talked it off the floor. The token was down more than 2% earlier in the session, sliding toward $60,000, after Strategy revealed it had sold $216 million of bitcoin. It closed up 1.8% at $63,853.85 after the president told a news conference he had become 'a big crypto guy.'

Breaking the never-sell vow

Strategy disclosed the sales in a Monday regulatory filing. It moved roughly $80.8 million between June 29 and 30 at an average price of $59,256 per token, then sold another $135.5 million from July 1 to 5. It is the second sale this year from the Michael Saylor-led firm, after years of insisting it never would.

The damage is less about the dollars than the signal. Strategy still holds 843,775 bitcoin, worth roughly $52.1 billion, at an average cost of $75,476 per coin. The sales barely dent that pile. But they contradict the pitch. 'Strategy's entire investment thesis was built on a public promise never to sell,' Barclays analyst Ajay Rajadhyaksha wrote. When the company sold 'even a minuscule amount' and unveiled a framework allowing more sales for 'capital allocation purposes,' he said, 'it was a significant hit to sentiment.'

The Washington bounce

The rescue came from Washington. Asked whether bitcoin might be added to the newly launched Trump Accounts, the president said, 'Well ... I've become a big crypto guy.' The tax-advantaged 503A accounts went live over the holiday weekend and let children build savings through broad-market ETFs, with the inflows expected to land mostly in U.S. equities rather than crypto. The comment was vaguer than the bounce it produced.

Center of gravity

For Saylor's shop, the math is no longer only about bitcoin. Strategy's preferred stock, STRC, gained almost 3% Monday but still trades below its $100 par value. Cantor analyst Ramsey El-Assal reads the bitcoin sales as an effort to prop up that stock, which he called the company's 'center of gravity,' rather than a verdict on the token.

El-Assal expects more of the same. 'We fully expect the company to do whatever it takes to lift STRC to par,' he wrote, warning the Street to brace for 'frequent, periodic actions.' The company now juggles three camps: preferred holders, common shareholders and bitcoin bulls. Helping one can cost another. 'Where STRC goes,' El-Assal wrote, 'MSTR common shares follow.'

The market read

Bitcoin trades at $64,205.10, up 2.0% on the day and 5.1% over the week, with a 30-day gain of 3.0%. The tape has held steadier than the headlines: a green week and a modestly positive month suggest buyers keep absorbing the supply that firms like Strategy have been shedding.

Volume of $21.81 billion against a $1.26 trillion market cap points to normal turnover, not panic. The weekly move outpacing the monthly one hints at recent momentum, though a single policy comment or filing has repeatedly been enough to swing the intraday direction.