Saylor: ‘We have to be able to sell bitcoin’ after STRC drawdown tests Strategy
Strategy executives said STRCs recent drawdown taught the company to keep more cash on hand and remain willing to trade both bitcoin (BTC) and its preferred stock.
CEO Phong Le said Monday that the biggest lesson was the need for U.S. dollar liquidity to backstop STRC dividends and build confidence among institutional investors. Strategy now holds $4.8 billion in dollars, he said.
Executive chairman Michael Saylor said the episode also changed how Strategy approaches its bitcoin holdings. “We have to be able to sell Bitcoin as well as buy Bitcoin for the Bitcoin to be fairly valued,” Saylor said.
He said refusing to sell bitcoin — which he had preached for years — to fund credit dividends could hurt how investors value Strategys credit products.
The same logic applies to STRC. Strategy must be prepared to buy STRC as well as issue it, Saylor said.
“We were very good at selling STRC at $100, and we were very good at buying BTC,” he said. “But now, we have illustrated to the market that we can sell BTC and we can buy STRC.”