Michael Saylor’s Strategy stock falls below Bitcoin treasury value

The market value of MicroStrategy’s common stock slipped below the net worth of its Bitcoin treasury – the company now trades at about $31 billion while its 847,000 BTC are worth roughly $51 billion, a gap that forces the firm to consider selling coins to meet cash‑flow needs [1].

Premium collapse drives the sell‑off

For most of the past five years, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) sold shares at a premium to the Bitcoin it held, letting the market pay up to 3.4 times the BTC value in late 2024. That premium shrank to 1.2 times by the end of 2025 and has now vanished, causing the stock to fall 78% over the past year versus Bitcoin’s 51% decline [1]. The premium acted like leverage: when it contracted, the stock fell faster than the underlying asset.

The premium’s erosion also crippled the company’s preferred‑share financing tool (STRC). STRC, a high‑yield IOU used to fund Bitcoin purchases, fell to $74—26% below its $100 face value—by late June, making new issuance an expensive way to raise cash [1]. With the stock below the Bitcoin value, issuing more shares would dilute Bitcoin per share rather than increase it, removing the core engine of the “premium‑loop” model.

First Bitcoin sale since 2022 and the dividend burden

In late May, MicroStrategy sold 32 BTC for about $2.5 million, explicitly to fund the $1.7 bn annual cash dividend on its STRC preferred shares [1]. The 32 coins represent only 0.004 % of the treasury, but the move breaks Saylor’s long‑standing “never sell” pledge and signals that cash‑flow, not balance‑sheet weakness, is the immediate pressure point. The company’s cash reserve of $1.4 bn covers roughly ten months of dividend payments, but with preferred‑share issuance stalled (no proceeds in the week to June 21) the reserve will dwindle if Bitcoin sales continue [1].

A separate on‑chain transfer of 411 BTC to a Coinbase Prime wallet—about 0.05 % of the holdings—further fueled market speculation that more sales are imminent. Polymarket traders pushed the probability of a year‑end Bitcoin sale to 91% after the deposit was flagged, though the odds of a sale within the next 48 hours remained low [2]. The transfer was the first direct exchange move in nearly two years, underscoring the shift in strategy.

What to watch

• MSTR price: $183 per share (the level where the premium would return, assuming Bitcoin near $91,500) [1].
• Preferred‑share price: $100 face value; current trading around $74—any rebound could revive financing capacity.
• Bitcoin price: A sustained move above $60,000 would reduce dividend‑driven cash pressure; a further drop could accelerate coin sales.

MicroStrategy’s predicament illustrates how a corporate Bitcoin treasury can become a liability when the market premium disappears, forcing the firm to balance dividend obligations against the desire to hold the asset indefinitely. Whether the company can restore the premium or will continue a slow bleed of its Bitcoin stash remains to be seen.