Saylor backtracks, may sell BTC to pay dividends: Strategy’s Q1 loss is $12.5 billion

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy, Nasdaq: MSTR) announced its 2026 Q1 financial report on May 5—after the BTC price dipped to $62k at one point in February. The company recorded $14.46 billion in unrealized impairment, with a Q1 net loss of $12.54 billion. CEO Michael Saylor for the first time hinted during the earnings call: it may sell some BTC to fund a special dividend. CoinDesk cited Saylor’s exact words: “We will probably sell some bitcoin to pay a dividend just to inoculate the market and send the message that we did it.”

BTC holdings and dividend pressure: annual outlay $1.5 billion, coverage left for only 18 months

Key figures revealed in this report:

Strategy holds 818,334 BTC, with an average cost of $75,537

STRK special-share annual dividend rate of 8%; STRC special-share annual dividend rate of about 10–11.5%

Total annual dividend spending for the two special shares is about $1.5 billion

The company’s current cash flow can cover the dividend spending for about 18 months

“18-month coverage” is the most sensitive number for the market—it means that if Strategy does not raise additional capital, it will face dividend default risk in about one and a half years. Saylor’s core narrative over the past few years has been “never sell” BTC; this statement effectively amounts to an official break from that stance.

Saylor’s “inoculation” framing: actively selling a small amount to avoid market panic

Saylor’s reasoning on the earnings call:

By actively selling a small amount of BTC, the goal is “to prove to the market that Strategy will use its BTC holdings when it is necessary”

By conducting a trial run first, it avoids being forced to dump large amounts later, triggering market panic

Saylor describes this as “inoculate”—helping the market digest in advance the message that Strategy might sell BTC

This framing sparked debate within the BTC holder community—supporters believe Saylor’s move is responsible financial management; opponents argue that this undermines Strategy’s core positioning as a “BTC proxy,” and could also prompt other large institutional holders to follow by selling.

Market reaction: MSTR falls more than 4% after hours, BTC drops below $81k

Price action after the earnings call:

MSTR drops more than 4% after hours

BTC briefly falls below $81k—its lowest level in the past few weeks

The shift in Saylor’s “never sell” stance is seen as a key signal that faith among institutional holders has been shaken

What to watch next is the exact timing, size, and announcement method of Strategy’s first BTC sale. If Saylor chooses to raise funds via a new issuance of special shares, it may avoid an actual BTC sell; if the company directly executes BTC sales, the market will closely watch whether trading volume suppresses BTC spot prices. This case is a key turning point in the 2026 institutional BTC holdings narrative—Strategy’s first public indication that the largest single corporate holder of 818,334 BTC may sell could affect the structure of BTC’s long-term price; that impact needs ongoing monitoring.

This article: Saylor changes his tune on possibly selling BTC to pay dividends—Strategy Q1 loss of $12.5 billion first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.