Michael Saylor Floated Bitcoin Sales Idea to Avoid ‘Impairing The Asset’

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said he raised the possibility of selling Bitcoin during Strategy’s recent earnings call to protect the asset’s long-term interests.

“We own about $65 billion worth of Bitcoin. If the market thought we would never sell it, the credit rating agencies would say, Well then, I guess it’s not an asset,” Saylor told Scott Melker on The Wolf Of All Streets podcast published to YouTube on May 10.

“There is $20 to $100 billion of liquidity in the Bitcoin market that is not correlated to our equity or to our credit. If we were to say we’re never going to take advantage of that liquidity and we’re never going to use that asset, then we’re impairing the asset, which 98% of the company is built on,” Saylor explained, adding:

“It’s pretty important to us to send the signal that if we need to, we can.”

It comes after growing speculation within the Bitcoin community after Saylor said during Strategy’s first-quarter earnings call that his company could sell Bitcoin to “inoculate” the market against sudden panic or to reinforce confidence in the company, in contrast to its long-standing “never sell” Bitcoin strategy.

Michael Saylor spoke to Scott Melker on The Wolf Of All Streets podcast. Source: The Wolf Of All Streets

Bitcoiners began to speculate on social media. Prominent Bitcoiner and BnkToTheFuture CEO Simon Dixon said on May 7 that Strategy “might need to sell some Bitcoin when the financial industrial complex manipulates our Bitcoin collateralized debt obligations and perpetual dividends wrappers.”

Strategy has been consistently buying Bitcoin since August 2020, when it began holding Bitcoin as a primary treasury asset. The company now holds 818,869 BTC at an average purchase price of $75,540 per coin, according to its website.

Related: Sharplink CEO points out 3 catalysts for Ethereum’s price to surge higher

On Monday, Cointelegraph reported that Strategy acquired 535 Bitcoin for $43 million between May 4 and May 10 at an average price of $80,340 per BTC.

While Saylor is known for regularly posting “Never sell your Bitcoin” on X, on May 6, he wrote, “Buy more bitcoin than you sell.”

Magazine: eToro founder timed Bitcoin top perfectly due to belief in 4 year cycles

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.