"They Said They'd Never Sell"...The 'Bitcoin Whale' That Burned Through KRW 17 Trillion Quietly Changes Course

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[Financial News] Strategy (MSTR), the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has abruptly abandoned its long-standing "Never Sell" principle, a rule it had treated as a founding doctrine. The move comes as the company posted a net loss of more than KRW 17 trillion after steep valuation losses from Bitcoin's decline in the first quarter, and it signals a shift toward a more active approach to asset management.
At an earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2026 held on the 5th local time, CEO Phong Le said, "We are not just going to sit here and say, 'We will never sell Bitcoin.'" He added, "If selling Bitcoin helps us raise dollars or improve Bitcoin per share, we will also consider selling to reduce debt."
This marks an official departure from the strategy that founder and chairman Michael Saylor has repeatedly emphasized since the company adopted the Bitcoin standard in 2020. The company, however, framed the change not as a signal of large-scale selling, but as a way to secure greater flexibility in asset management. The key goal is to increase its unofficial metric of "Bitcoin per share" and thereby enhance long-term shareholder value.
Saylor also said that day, "No one would say it is wrong to sell land bought for $10,000 for $100,000 and use the profit to buy more land or cover interest costs." He added, "As a Bitcoin development company, we are executing a consistent strategy."
Behind Strategy's shift lies a prolonged Bitcoin bear market and weak first-quarter results.
Strategy reported a net loss of $12.54 billion in the first quarter. Earnings per share came in at minus $38.25, more than twice as bad as Wall Street's consensus estimate of minus $18.98.
The main cause of the loss was unrealized losses from the decline in Bitcoin prices. Applying the fair-value accounting principles of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and reflecting quarter-end market prices in its financial statements, the drop in Bitcoin from about $87,000 at the start of the year to around $68,000 at the end of March resulted in a $14.46 billion fair-value loss.
Despite the losses, Strategy continued to accumulate Bitcoin. It bought an additional 89,599 coins in the first quarter alone, bringing its total holdings to 818,334 Bitcoin as of the end of the quarter, based on early May figures. That amounts to an enormous 3.9% to 4% of the total Bitcoin supply of 21 million coins.
To support its Bitcoin purchases, Strategy raised $11.68 billion in capital from the beginning of the year through May 3, continuing an aggressive fundraising campaign. It relied on a range of tools, including the 11.5% dividend preferred stock STRC. In the case of STRC, the issue grew rapidly to $8.5 billion just nine months after launch. The company is also pushing a proposal to increase STRC dividends from once a month to twice a month to improve price stability and liquidity.
Meanwhile, after the remarks about abandoning the principle and news of the huge net loss, Strategy's stock fell more than 4% in after-hours trading, sliding to around $178.80. As of 10:12 a.m. on the 6th in Korea, Bitcoin was trading at $81,144, up 0.30% from the previous day.
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moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter