After Threatening to Sell, Strategy Buys 535 More Bitcoin
Right after walking back its "Never Sell" doctrine, Strategy bought 535 more BTC for $43M. Total holdings now 818,334 BTC. Peter Schiff called it a double Ponzi; Saylor pushed back.
- Strategy bought 535 BTC for $43M right after CEO Phong Le publicly walked back the "Never Sell" doctrine — saying the firm could sell bitcoin only for STRC preferred-dividend funding or tax optimization
- Total holdings now stand at 818,334 BTC, average cost $75,537
- Q1 2026 net loss was $12.5B (mostly accounting fair-value marks)
$12.5B paper loss. The "Never Sell" doctrine retired. Peter Schiff calls it a Ponzi. Words changed; the action did not.
Strategy (MSTR) bought again. 535 BTC at an average price of $80,340 — about $43M total. The timing is striking. Just days earlier, CEO Phong Le told CNBC he would take "a mathematical approach over an ideological one" and that the company could sell bitcoin. It was the first public reversal of the "Never Sell" doctrine Michael Saylor has held for years.
What followed the statement was a buy, not a sell.
What "we could sell" actually means
Read Phong Le precisely and the nuance shifts. He named two scenarios for selling.
First, when the perpetual preferred STRC needs dividend funding. If selling bitcoin raises bitcoin-per-share (BPS) more than issuing new equity, sell.
Second, for tax optimization. Realizing gains or losses for tax-structure efficiency.
Not "sell anytime" but "sell when it's mathematically advantageous." CNBC called this "a subtle pivot from simple bitcoin accumulation to active balance-sheet management."
Saylor added on X: "Bitcoin only needs to compound at 2.3% annually for STRC to fund dividends forever. If needed, sell BTC to fund dividends." It is less "doctrine retired" than "flexibility added."
After a $12.5B loss, they bought 142,500 more BTC
The purchase came right after Strategy reported a Q1 2026 net loss of $12.5B (~₩17T). Most of it is accounting — bitcoin fair-value marks, not realized. Not a cash crisis, but not weightless either.
Even so, Strategy has added more than 142,500 BTC year-to-date. Total holdings now stand at 818,334 BTC at an average cost of $75,537. Neither market criticism, nor the loss print, nor their own "we could sell" statement slowed accumulation.
Peter Schiff: "A centralized Ponzi stacked on a decentralized Ponzi"
Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff framed the whole structure as a double Ponzi.
Bitcoin produces no income or dividends, so existing investors need new investors to buy higher to make money. That is the decentralized Ponzi. On top of that, Strategy runs a classic centralized Ponzi.
Peter Schiff — bitcoin critic
Saylor pushed back: "He has never liked bitcoin or this industry." But even if Schiff's framing is wrong, the structural risk doesn't disappear. As STRC dividend obligations grow, a bitcoin drawdown could turn into a funding squeeze.
Words changed. Actions, not yet.
The Never Sell doctrine is gone — replaced by conditional sell. But the actions remain consistently buy-side.
What markets will watch is the day actual dividend-funded selling happens. When it does, markets will read it as "words have finally become actions."
Frequently Asked Questions
Has the Never Sell doctrine been fully retired?
It is more accurately framed as conditional flexibility than full retirement. Selling only for preferred-dividend funding or tax optimization makes large-scale discretionary selling unlikely.
Could STRC dividends actually trigger bitcoin selling?
If bitcoin rises enough, selling BTC to fund dividends — rather than issuing new equity — can raise bitcoin-per-share (BPS). If the price falls, the funding pressure becomes real and selling pressure builds in.
Is the $12.5B paper loss an actual crisis?
It is an unrealized loss on bitcoin fair-value marks, so it is not a cash crisis. But FASB's new accounting standard means price moves will continue to flow directly through the income statement going forward.
Is Peter Schiff's Ponzi argument valid?
The premise that bitcoin produces no intrinsic income is factually true. The same logic also applies to gold, however. Coming from a gold advocate, the consistency of the criticism is worth scrutinizing.
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