Michael Saylor has built his company’s entire identity around a diamond-handed commitment to holding Bitcoin. However, during Strategy Inc.’s Q1 2026 earnings call, the executive chairman floated the idea of selling the underlying asset.
“We will probably sell some bitcoin to pay a dividend just to inoculate the market and send the message that we did it,” Saylor said.
As of May 3, the Tysons Corner-based firm held 818,334 Bitcoins.
A shocking tone change
For years, Saylor has been the ultimate Bitcoin maximalist in the corporate world. He has repeatedly reassured investors that his company would never part with its digital gold.
The controversial executive has dismissed any notion of taking profits in fiat currency. “I will be buying the top forever. Bitcoin is the exit strategy,” he said earlier.
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When pressed on whether the company would ever sell to capitalize on massive unrealized gains, he doubled down: “There’s no reason to sell the winner to buy the losers.”
The crypto community reacts
The reactions within the crypto community are rather mixed. Crypto commentator Spreek has opined that Saylor has to perform a delicate balancing act to appease shareholders. “He has to tread a very fine line here, where the STRC holders all believe he will absolutely sell as much bitcoin as he has to in order to satisfy dividends, and the MSTR / BTC holders need to believe exactly the opposite.”
Adam Livingston argued that liquidating assets is entirely unnecessary given the size of Strategy’s holdings. A mere 2.24% annual yield on their collateral would fully cover the dividend. “Even a pathetic little 1% covered-call yield generates $664M… This is the part bears miss,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jeff Park also took note of the unprecedented market mechanics Strategy has achieved.
A quarterly slump
Saylor’s controversial dividend comments come following a brutal financial quarter.
Strategy reported a significantly wider first-quarter loss on Tuesday, battered by a slump in Bitcoin prices that heavily weighed on the value of its holdings.
The company posted a staggering net loss of $12.54 billion, or $38.25 per share, for the three months ending March 31.
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