Strategy CEO Defends Bitcoin (BTC) Sales After 4,603 BTC Purchase at $80,318

Strategy Doubles Down on Bitcoin (BTC)

Strategy chief executive Phong Le has defended the company's decision to sell Bitcoin (BTC) near $60,000 before repurchasing above $80,000, saying in a Sept. 1 interview that treasury decisions hinge on financing costs rather than the coin's market price. A regulatory filing dated Aug. 31 shows Strategy bought 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million between Aug. 24 and Aug. 30 at an average of $80,318, lifting total holdings to 845,050 BTC — acquired for roughly $63.73 billion at an average cost of $75,412 per coin. “We don't buy or sell Bitcoin based on the price of Bitcoin,” Le said. “We buy or sell based on our cost of capital.”

The purchase ended a two-month pause and reflects what Le calls a two-way treasury policy. Strategy's board authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales in June to build a dollar reserve, and the company sold roughly 7,000 BTC during its restructuring — 5,553 BTC per its public ledger. Dollar assets reached $6.71 billion as of Aug. 30, nearly offsetting $6.75 billion of convertible debt and pushing company-defined net leverage to 0.0%. Le said Strategy remains a net accumulator and could keep buying at $90,000 or even $130,000 if financing terms justify it, part of a wider corporate Bitcoin adoption wave reshaping the strategic bitcoin reserve playbook. The model now faces an index test: MSCI's proposal to exclude non-operating companies would put Strategy up for removal, with a decision due by Oct. 16 and analysts estimating roughly $2.8 billion in passive selling — up to $8.8 billion if other providers follow.

ETF Outflows Reverse

Flows turned defensive. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $236.47 million in net outflows on Sept. 1, reversing the $216.7 million of inflows logged on Aug. 31. BlackRock's IBIT drove the bulk of the redemptions with $201.18 million leaving the fund, while Fidelity's FBTC shed $43.67 million; Bitwise's BITB was the only major product to take in money, adding $8.38 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs extended the opposite streak, taking in $10.95 million for a 12th consecutive session. On-chain data adds to the supply overhang: long-term holder distribution climbed 61.5% between Aug. 18 and Aug. 28, from 174,500 BTC to 281,900 BTC — the highest reading since the start of 2026 — while spot demand printed negative for a second straight day.

Macro Shocks Weigh on Price

Macro and geopolitical pressure framed the pullback. Japan's newly issued 10-year government bond yield crossed 3% on Sept. 1 for the first time since 1996, tightening global liquidity just as US military strikes near the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil above $90 a barrel and knocked the Nikkei down 2.7% — the same risk-off tape we mapped in our US airstrikes on Iran market wrap. Bitcoin slid with the risk complex, dipping toward $76,900 before trading near $77,300 early Tuesday, and analysts flag $75,800 as the pivotal level whose loss would confirm a short-term bearish structure after August's 25% rally faded. The Mt. Gox estate, meanwhile, still holds 34,690 BTC ahead of its Oct. 31 repayment deadline.

TD Cowen Trims Year-End Target

Wall Street is recalibrating too. TD Cowen analyst Lance Vitanza cut his year-end Bitcoin target to $97,500, down from a prior call of $141,277, attributing the revision to recent price weakness rather than structural deterioration; the bank kept a Buy on Strategy but lowered its price target to $260 from $400. Corporate accumulators keep adding regardless: Strive disclosed roughly 1,800 BTC purchased between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28, lifting holdings to 23,156 BTC, and TD Cowen raised its target on the stock to $32 from $28. The whale-scale accumulation race keeps broadening — Japan's Remixpoint recently sold its entire altcoin book to hold only 1,506 BTC.

Tokenized Treasury Notes Land on Bitfinex

Exposure routes are multiplying as well. Bitfinex Securities listed five tokenized notes tied to bitcoin treasury companies on Tuesday, giving eligible investors equity-backed exposure to Strategy (CMSTR), Metaplanet (CMTPL), H100 Group (CH100) and Capital B (CALCPB), plus STRCst, a one-for-one tracker of Strategy's 12%-dividend STRC preferred. The listings were approved by El Salvador's Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales, with the notes issued on the Liquid Network by Luxembourg securitization fund ORO (II) and tradable against dollars, USDt and bitcoin; US persons are excluded. The platform — one of the venues tracked in our best crypto exchanges guide — says the additions bring it to 12 tokenized products across 27 trading pairs, with assets above $500 million. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Bybit.

COINOTAG Composite: $77,693 Wall in Focus

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the $77,693 resistance at 89/100 — a STRONG wall of low-volume node, Fibo 0.114, Ichimoku Tenkan and R1 confluence sitting just above the live spot price of $77,556. First support at $76,412 scores 76/100 on a Fibo 0.214, swing-low and bullish pin-bar cluster; losing it opens the $73,365 shelf (69/100; HVN, Ichimoku Kijun, Supertrend). Derivatives lean constructive: funding at 0.0062%, open interest of $15.69 billion and a 1.30 long/short account ratio (56.6% long) show leveraged longs still dominant, while the Fear & Greed Index at 63 signals greed, not capitulation. With RSI at 66 but a bearish MACD cross, our bias is rangebound: reclaiming $77,693 targets $79,914 (83/100); a daily close below $76,412 invalidates the sideways thesis.