Strategy CEO Phong Le defended the company's recent bitcoin sales in comments to Bloomberg on Tuesday, characterizing the moves as necessary for balance sheet management rather than market timing.
Le stated that Strategy now has a "bullet-proof balance sheet" and that selling bitcoin was "the right trade at the time." The company halted bitcoin purchases in June, during which period it sold portions of its holdings and built cash reserves before resuming buying on Monday.
"We don't really make decisions specifically on bitcoin's price," Le said. He described the company as "a net accumulator" and emphasized that decisions to sell follow "a bit of a capital management mathematical equation" rather than price speculation.
Le added that he does not anticipate significant future bitcoin sales, saying: "I don't foresee us selling bitcoin as we enter into what I consider a pretty heavy bull market."
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, is an enterprise software company that shifted its focus to bitcoin treasury management in 2020. The firm now holds 845,050 bitcoins and is the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. Investors can gain exposure to Strategy's bitcoin holdings through its Nasdaq-listed stock, ticker MSTR.
In July quarterly earnings, Strategy reported an $8.22 billion loss. Le noted that current paper losses were not a primary concern for the company's near-term outlook.
Strategy stock was trading 2% lower on Wednesday, with year-to-date performance down 22%.
