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Strategy May Sell Bitcoin to Help Pay Dividends, Michael Saylor Says

Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le said Strategy may sell Bitcoin when advantageous, including to help fund dividends, signaling more explicit flexibility in managing its corporate treasury.

BTC

Fact Check
All three sources - two from CoinDesk and one from crypto.news - independently and consistently confirm that Michael Saylor made this statement on Strategy's Q1 2026 earnings call on May 6, 2026. The CoinDesk business article ('Michael Saylor's Strategy signals potential bitcoin sale to fund dividends obligations') directly quotes Saylor's exact words and provides full context: Strategy holds 818,334 BTC, posted a $12.54B Q1 net loss, and faces ~$1.5B in annual dividend obligations. The second CoinDesk markets article corroborates the same quote and notes the immediate market reaction (MSTR -4% after-hours, BTC briefly below $81,000). The crypto.news article adds that this marks a departure from Saylor's prior 'never sell' stance. The convergence of multiple credible, independent news sources reporting the same direct quote from a named earnings call on the same date gives very high confidence that the claim is accurate.
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Summary

Michael Saylor said Strategy will “probably sell some bitcoin” to help pay dividends, while CEO Phong Le said the company may sell Bitcoin when doing so is advantageous. Together, the remarks mark a clearer public shift away from Strategy’s long-associated never-sell posture and indicate greater flexibility in its Bitcoin treasury strategy. Strategy remains identified as the largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, and the source noted little immediate market reaction. No completed sale, timing, size, or specific transaction details were confirmed in the provided content.

Terms & Concepts
  • Bitcoin treasury strategy: A corporate approach of holding Bitcoin on the balance sheet as a reserve asset rather than keeping all excess capital in cash or short-term instruments.
  • bitcoin: A decentralized digital asset and blockchain-based currency that can be held directly or on corporate balance sheets.
  • dividends: Payments a company makes to shareholders, typically in cash, from earnings or available reserves.