Why Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Buys No Longer Move the Market

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has long financed Bitcoin purchases through debt and issuances of common and preferred stock, making Bitcoin holdings per share an important measure of shareholder value for investors. The dispute centers on whether issuing additional shares, while expanding the company’s assets, also dilutes existing shareholders by increasing the number of shares outstanding.

Strategy disclosed on June 8, 2026, that it had sold more than 1.4 million MSTR shares and raised about $181 million. It spent $101.3 million to buy 1,550 Bitcoin between June 1 and June 7. BTC Yield fell to 12.8% from 13.0%. Saylor said on June 9 that the transaction remained accretive after accounting for an additional $100 million in cash, which brought reserves to $1 billion.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has continuously purchased Bitcoin since 2020 with funds raised through debt, equity and preferred stock offerings, making it the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. Its buying affects Bitcoin supply and demand while closely linking the share prices, dividends and financing capacity of MSTR and STRC to the cryptocurrency.

Michael Saylor hinted on April 19 with the phrase “Think Even ₿igger” that the next purchase would exceed the 13,927 Bitcoin that Strategy bought for $1 billion from April 6 to 12. On June 7, he again signaled further buying by posting a chart of the company’s holdings. STRC dividend payments have been changed to the 15th and last day of each month, with voting on the proposal closing June 8.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were a major force behind the 2024 bull market, but hedge funds withdrew as arbitrage premiums disappeared, while South Korean retail investors shifted toward semiconductor stocks that had risen more than 150% over the previous 12 months. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has instead raised funds to buy Bitcoin through its STRC preferred stock, which carries an 11.5% annual yield. With demand concentrated in one company’s financial engineering, any breakdown in its fundraising could also weaken support for Bitcoin prices.

As of May 21, 2026, Bitcoin was trading at about $77,900. Strategy had purchased 171,238 Bitcoin since the start of the year, more than the roughly 62,000 coins produced by miners over the same period, and was estimated to account for 70% of market buying. It held about 843,700 Bitcoin at an average cost of $75,700. Meanwhile, miners were increasingly selling coins as they produced them and redirecting capital toward AI infrastructure and computing-capacity leasing, adding to supply pressure.