Strategy shells out $100M more to buy back its sold bitcoin

Over the past several weeks, Strategy has been buying back the 5,553 BTC it offloaded during the summer months. With the company selling low in the summer and repurchasing high this autumn, the roundtrip has resulted in a missed gain exceeding $100 million.

Despite years of pledges that he would never sell, Michael Saylor’s firm offloaded 6,948 BTC between May and August at an average of $62,150 each. It then bought back 5,553 coins at an average price of $80,207.

That left Strategy holding the very same 5,553 coins it had started with, but the cost to replace them was $445.4 million versus the $345.1 million raised from their sale.

The repurchase came in 29% more expensive, and being out of the market during the BTC rally meant giving up a $100.2 million investment gain.

Beyond that realized opportunity cost, the pain for shareholders is even more significant.

The sale was essentially for public relations—not because the company needed the cash. During a May 5 call with analysts, Saylor said the company would sell BTC “just to inoculate the market” and ensure news publications reported that it had done so. 

He told Fortune, “the skeptics and the short-sellers don’t recognize that we’re just selling a BTC derivative, and we have the option to sell the BTC.” 

Saylor and CEO Phong Le appeared across numerous TV interviews and podcasts, explaining that Strategy’s initial BTC sale was about sending a message.

Official SEC filings for the sales claimed the proceeds went toward dividends, even though the company had enough cash to cover those payments without touching its bitcoin holdings.

Strategy has sold nearly 7,000 BTC in 2026

Read more: Every time Michael Saylor said he’d never sell bitcoin

Strategy paid $100 million extra to rebuy BTC

Strategy’s first repurchase of the year came in the week ending August 30, when it picked up 4,603 coins at $80,318 each, for a total of $369.7 million.

That was the firm’s first buy in 10 weeks, financed with newly issued stock that diluted common shareholders. 

The following week, it bought another 950 BTC at $79,670 each, this time using cash rather than additional share issuance. 

Every coin was repurchased at roughly $18,000 more than the average price it had been sold for.

What’s worse, the replacement is incomplete. Strategy has spent $445 million to bring back 5,553 coins, but 1,363 coins are still missing. Today, the company holds 846,000 BTC, down from 847,363 as recently as June 21. 

At current BTC prices, buying back those missing 1,363 coins would cost another $100 million.

Unfortunately, nobody at Strategy is apologizing for any of this.

Saylor remains unrepentant, and Le posted on the day of Strategy’s fourth sale of the year, “This is the Digital Credit Capital Framework at work.” 

He’s since told Bloomberg that it was “the right trade at the time to sell BTC.” 

“It’s a two-way strategy,” he added, unfazed by criticism. “There will be times when it makes sense to sell bitcoin.”