Bitcoin traders have identified Michael Saylor as a new suspect in the recent selloff, but the numbers tell a different story.
The strategy disclosed in its Form 8-K dated June 1 that it sold just 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 for $2.5 million, at an average net price of $77,135, with the proceeds being used to pay out preferred stock distributions.
The company still held 843,706 BTC as of May 31st, and the sale represented 0.0038% of Strategy’s total holdings and approximately 0.014% of the $17.45 billion in daily Bitcoin trading volume reported on the same day.
A selloff of this size carries no supply-side weight to a $17 billion-per-day market and lands as a narrative event that cracks the narrative traders have built confidence in.
After the disclosure, Bitcoin fell below $71,500, a decline also due to Iran-related geopolitical tensions and the liquidation of over $90 million in BTC-linked futures, with Strategy’s sale being one of several.
Big seller hiding in May
Four other companies accounted for the majority of the national treasury’s Bitcoin reduction in May, and together they dwarfed Strategy’s total sales.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, Bitcoin reductions by listed companies for the month totaled approximately 7,500 BTC, with Strategy’s 32 BTC included in next month’s tally. The application date is June 1st.
Excluding Strategy, MARA exited with 3,386 BTC, Core Scientific with 1,990 BTC, Sequans with 1,481 BTC, and Prenetics with 502 BTC, for a total of 7,359 BTC.
At Bitcoin’s May 31st price of $73,579, this price drop would give it a face value of about $541 million, or about 230 times Strategy’s sales.
| company | BTC reduction | Approximately 73,579 BTC worth | context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mara | 3,386BTC | ~$249 million | Linked with March bond repurchase activity |
| core scientific | 1,990BTC | ~$146 million | Notes on backdate entry method |
| Continue | 1,481BTC | ~$109 million | Debt redemption/relaxation of financial strategy |
| Prenetics | 502BTC | ~$37 million | Complete withdrawal from BTC treasury position |
| total | 7,359BTC | ~$541 million | Not a dump adjusted in May |
BitcoinTreasuries noted that the May roundup used a methodology that incorporated past entries, specifically flagging Core Scientific’s 1,990 BTC reduction as not appearing in the previous method.
MARA’s large reduction also goes back to its March disclosure that the company sold 15,133 BTC between March 4 and March 25 to fund a $1 billion convertible bond buyback, and is not a new decision in May.
Sequans is rolling back its failed Bitcoin financial strategy to pay off debt, and Prenetics has already approved a complete exit from Bitcoin to redirect capital to its IM8 health business.
Each price drop had its own logic and schedule, and none reflected a common judgment that May was a good time to sell.
The net situation from Bitcoin Treasuries makes the dump theory difficult to sustain, as the public Bitcoin treasury company added or disclosed 51,000 BTC before the May cut, and added or disclosed a net amount of 43,500 BTC after the cut.
Why Sailor’s sale was a different success
The market’s disproportionate reaction to 32BTC reflects Strategy’s position as a symbol of corporate longevity in Bitcoin.
Since 2020, Michael Saylor has built a reputation for the company’s identity as an accumulator that never dispenses and treats every dip as an opportunity to buy. This positioning has attracted a class of investors who use the strategy as a way to ensure that the company will be a structural buyer of Bitcoin.
The one-time sale of preferred stock to satisfy distribution obligations mechanically left the accumulation theory intact, but introduced the variable that the strategy had ongoing financial obligations and Bitcoin was the only asset that could satisfy them.
Even if the immediate reaction was overblown, the ensuing fears are reasonable because Strategy has fixed dividend debt and preferred stock obligations.
As Bitcoin prices fall further, the spread between those obligations and companies’ ability to raise capital through equity issuance or operating cash narrows.
The sale of 32 BTC confirms that the sale option exists and that management will exercise it under sufficient financial stress.
Traders who have built positions with a permanent buyer need to price in the seller’s price from time to time, and do not need to initiate large-scale selling to reprice.
Actual structure of orthodontics
Attributing Bitcoin’s more than 12% weekly decline solely to government bond selling is a misreading of the flow data.
The U.S.-traded Spot Bitcoin ETF recorded approximately $4.4 billion in outflows over the past 13 trading days ending June 3.
These outflows dwarf Strategy’s $2.5 million sale and May financial cuts, which totaled $541 million.
Geopolitical tensions related to Iran added an additional layer of risk-off, and over $90 million in futures liquidations amplified the directional movement that was already underway.
Strategy Disclosure entered that environment as an accelerant to the story, traders looking for a reason to reduce exposure found one, and the symbolic weight of the Saylor sell gave the move attention-grabbing headlines.
Even after the decline, Standard Chartered’s Jeffrey Kendrick kept his Bitcoin target at $100,000 by the end of 2026, treating the drawdown as a positioning reset.
This framework will hold as long as the ETF outflow cycle reverses and there is continued net accumulation in the Treasury sector, but it will break down if Strategy and other debt holders face sustained stress that requires large-scale liquidations.
What financial models must now prove
Once the market realizes that small tactical sales can fund debt without ending the accumulation theory, Strategy’s June 1 disclosure will become a governance footnote.
Net Treasury accumulation of 43,500 BTC in May, continued ETF inflows after the current outflow cycle runs out, and Standard Chartered’s unchanged target price all support this number.
Bitcoin stabilizes, the strategy’s premium to net asset value recovers, and the sale of 32 BTC comes under balance sheet control.
May is a recurring template for headline risk when investors decide that companies with debt and senior debt are conditional buyers and instead reprice the Treasury model.
Each quarterly filing season, priority distribution date, and convertible note expiration creates new small sale opportunities that land with great narrative power.
This re-pricing price correction will be driven by the erosion of premium investors allocated to Strategy’s permanent accumulation position.
The company’s Bitcoin Treasury bond built its market value partly on the promise of one-way purchases, but the sale of 32 BTC raised questions about how many times a permanent buyer could sell before the market stopped treating it as permanent.
(Tag translation) Bitcoin
