MicroStrategy CEO discloses 3 reasons behind Bitcoin sale

The crypto market got a shock on June 1 when Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), née MicroStrategy, announced its first Bitcoin (BTC) sale in years.

Even though the co-founder Michael Saylor had hinted about the potential sale in early May, the announcement of the sale of 32 Bitcoin shook the crypto market.

Related: MicroStrategy CFO sells company shares amid stock plunge

The MSTR stock has lost 25% of its value since the announcement on June 1. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has lost 15% since then.

The company's decision has sparked a wild discussion within the crypto industry, with Jim Cramer going as far as to say that Saylor "murdered" Bitcoin.

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Phong Le reveals reasons behind Bitcoin sale

On June 10, Strategy CEO Phong Le appeared on CNBC's "Power Lunch" show and revealed three reasons why the company sold Bitcoin after years of weekly accumulation:

• To "inoculate" the market for it to understand that the company is willing to sell Bitcoin when it needs to.
• To test the processes of buying and selling Bitcoin so that it knows everything is working.
• To create opportunities to capture tax losses on Bitcoin acquired at a lower cost basis.

Le emphasized that the sale wasn't driven by financial distress.

“We did not need to sell our Bitcoin to satisfy our dividends,” he said. “We’re able to do that through other capital-raising activities.”

In fact, the company remained a net buyer of Bitcoin and will continue to be the largest holder of Bitcoin, he underlined.

He slammed retail "crypto anarchists" who believe in permanent holding and said institutional shareholders are the constituents the company is answerable to.

The MSTR stock was exchanging hands at $117.82 at the time of writing.

Related: Analysts reveal bold Bitcoin target despite AI frenzy