Strategy Sells 32 BTC in First Disposal Since 2022 as Strive, Metaplanet, Bitmine Keep Buying

Bitcoin News

Strategy disclosed the sale of 32 Bitcoin for roughly $2.5 million at an average price near $77,135 per coin, marking the firm's first disposal since December 2022. Proceeds are earmarked to fund distributions on the company's preferred stock, with total holdings reported at 843,706 BTC and a $900 million USD reserve still on the balance sheet. The sale equates to less than 0.004% of corporate holdings, a financially trivial figure. Strategically, however, the move appears designed to validate that a Bitcoin-heavy treasury can meet recurring capital-return obligations without dismantling the underlying position, a question public-market investors have repeatedly asked about asset-backed issuers.

The transaction echoes a comment Michael Saylor made on May 5, when he flagged that a token sale could be used to pay a dividend purely as a market-signal exercise — an inoculation against doubts over liquidity. For a treasury whose narrative was built around uncompromising accumulation, that pivot drew sharp attention. By executing the small sale through a regulated dividend channel rather than open-market disposal, Strategy has effectively demonstrated a controlled cash-conversion mechanism. The framing matters because preferred securities, debt obligations, and shareholder distributions all sit higher in the capital stack than the common-equity holders who originally bid the firm above net asset value.

The broader cohort of digital asset treasuries inspired by Strategy's playbook has thinned considerably since the crypto market peaked in October. Many firms that raised stock and debt last year specifically to acquire BTC, ether, and other tokens watched their share prices fall below underlying net asset value, severing access to attractive capital. Several treasury equities have shed more than 90% from their peaks. The premium-to-NAV model that fueled aggressive token purchases through 2025 has collapsed for most operators, leaving a narrow tier of well-capitalized players still in a position to accumulate on weakness.

Bitmine, led by Tom Lee, has emerged as the most aggressive remaining buyer on the Ethereum side. The company added roughly $53 million of ETH last week and accumulated more than 338,000 tokens across May, worth approximately $665 million at current prices. Total holdings now exceed 5.4 million ETH, cementing Bitmine as the largest corporate holder of the asset. Lee has signaled the firm intends to slow its pace as it approaches an internal target of owning 5% of circulating ether supply. That trajectory makes Bitmine the clearest counterweight to Strategy's narrative shift, redirecting treasury-flow attention toward the second-largest blockchain.

Strive has positioned itself as the most active Bitcoin-focused accumulator among the remaining buyers, disclosing roughly 1,944 BTC acquired across multiple May tranches at a combined cost of about $150 million. The firm's measured cadence — spread purchases rather than block buys — suggests an attempt to minimize market impact while building exposure during the recent drawdown. Bit Digital returned to the bid in May with a $20 million ETH purchase, its first since October, signaling renewed treasury appetite from operators that had stepped aside. Together, Strive and Bit Digital represent the smaller end of a peer group still willing to deploy fresh capital at current valuations.

Japan's Metaplanet rounds out the list of confirmed accumulators, having reported the acquisition of 5,075 BTC in early April. Hyperliquid Strategies and a handful of other smaller treasury vehicles also remain active, though the overall opportunity set has narrowed sharply. The combined picture is one of bifurcation: a small group of well-funded operators continuing to buy, while the majority of last year's treasury entrants now sit on the sidelines or have rotated into net sellers. Whether Strategy's small disposal marks a one-time signaling event or the start of a more flexible posture will shape how the next wave of corporate buyers approaches Bitcoin allocation through the remainder of 2026.

From a market-structure perspective, the absence of fresh spot-level inputs in the immediate technical tape keeps the focus on flow-driven catalysts rather than chart-based triggers. Traders should monitor whether additional treasury firms follow Strategy's lead in unlocking liquidity through small, dividend-linked sales, as that pattern could compress the supply-shock thesis that supported much of the prior bull market narrative. Conversely, continued accumulation from Strive, Metaplanet, and Bitmine offsets that pressure. A break in corporate buying conviction would invalidate the treasury-bid thesis; sustained purchases through any further weakness would reinforce it and likely re-anchor sentiment.