Michael Saylor Fires Back After Bitcoin Drop

Michael Saylor defended Strategy’s controversial Bitcoin sale at BTC Prague as backlash intensified across the crypto industry this week.

Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen nearly 15% since Strategy disclosed on June 1 that it sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 for about $2.5 million. MSTR stock, on the other hand, has lost 24% of its value during the same period.

But the company chairman, Michael Saylor, has now defended the sale and pushed back against criticism.

Saylor Defends Strategy Move

Speaking at the BTC Prague conference, Saylor said he had only advised individuals not to sell their Bitcoin and never claimed the company itself would avoid doing so. He added that Strategy has consistently disclosed over the past five years that it could sell Bitcoin if necessary.

“By the way, I said to you never sell your Bitcoin. I never said the company wouldn’t sell Bitcoin. And anybody who is listening to our earnings call or reading our disclosure or has half a brain knows, for the last five years, we’ve been very clear that of course we sell the Bitcoin if we have to.”

Strategy’s BTC sale was its first in years. The units were sold at an average price of $77,135 each, slightly above the firm’s acquisition cost of $75,699 per BTC. Although Saylor had previously hinted at the possibility of a sale in early May, the move still rattled parts of the crypto market. Strategy’s previous Bitcoin sale took place in December 2022 during a severe bear market that followed aggressive interest rate hikes, the collapse of FTX, and broader contagion across crypto lenders and hedge funds.

The move also sparked backlash from some industry figures, including Jim Cramer, who tweeted, “Saylor murdered Bitcoin.”

Backlash

While Saylor blamed last week’s Bitcoin sell-off on the growing excitement around artificial intelligence stocks, crypto investment firm Arca strongly rejected that explanation. In a weekly investor note, Arca Chief Investment Officer Jeff Dorman said the market weakness was primarily caused by Strategy’s BTC sale.

Dorman wrote that the selling pressure was “clearly due to the Saylor/MSTR news,” despite what he described as “gaslighting” from the firm and other Bitcoin bulls.

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Despite the controversy, Strategy has continued buying the crypto asset. It recently added 1,550 BTC for just over $100 million. The company now holds 845,256 BTC purchased at an average price of $75,680 per coin.