Executive summary

1. Strategy — the world's largest publicly listed bitcoin holder — sold 6,948 bitcoin through five sales windows between 26 May and 9 August 2026, generating net proceeds of around 431.8 million dollars at a weighted average price of about 62,152 dollars — around 18% below the acquisition cost basis, meaning the average purchase price of the holdings, of 75,385 dollars. Apart from a symbolic initial window (32 bitcoin sold above cost), all other sales were executed below the average cost.
2. The sales do not reflect a change in price conviction but are driven by cash obligations: the preferred-stock layer comprises five series with a notional value of around 15.5 billion dollars — notional value is the reference value on which dividends are calculated — with dividend rates between 8% and 12%; cash dividends paid jumped from 49.0 million dollars in Q2 2025 to 400.2 million in Q2 2026 — more than eightfold in one year, with an ongoing annual obligation estimated at around ~1.73 billion dollars.
3. The new driver is the USD Reserve, a cash balance earmarked to pay preferred-stock dividends and debt interest: from 900 million dollars on 31 May to 4.65 billion on 9 August — built primarily through the issuance of new common shares worth around 2.2 billion dollars in six weeks. Conversely, bitcoin sales themselves financed a substantial portion of STRC preferred-share repurchases at a discount to their notional value.
4. This has been reflected in the metric on which the company built its narrative: the Bitcoin per Share measure, representing each share's portion of bitcoin holdings, fell by an estimated ~6.7% in just six weeks. The wheel designed to raise this figure is now lowering it.
5. What is new through 21 August 2026: Bitcoin closed at 78,338 dollars, 3.9% above the acquisition cost basis of 75,385 dollars, following a 21.7% rise over four sessions — the first condition for restarting in section seven. MSTR rose from 97.68 to 119.25 dollars (+22.1%). However, the company has not resumed purchases: the 8-K filed on 17 August states that “no purchases or sales of bitcoin were executed this week” for the 10–16 August period, while holdings remained 840,447 bitcoin at a total cost of 63.36 billion dollars. The annual cash obligation of ~1.73 billion dollars has not changed with the price.
6. The phenomenon is sector-wide, not isolated. MARA Holdings sold 15,133 bitcoin for around 1.1 billion dollars, while Twenty One Capital recorded a quarterly loss of 414 million dollars and its shares trade at a deep discount to the value of its holdings. The list of sellers in the sector grows longer week by week.