Standard Chartered Dismisses Strategy’s Bitcoin Sales Concerns

Selling bitcoin was not an option for Strategy. However, the giant holder of corporate BTC reserves broke with its doctrine by selling part of its holdings to meet its short-term financial obligations. This unprecedented reversal reignites the debate on the limitations of the accumulation model adopted by listed companies exposed to bitcoin. While markets question the solidity of this strategy, Standard Chartered delivers an analysis that places these movements in a global perspective.

In Brief

• Strategy sells Bitcoin for the first time to strengthen its treasury.
• Standard Chartered views these sales as a simple financial adjustment.
• Strategy’s accumulation model now shows its first limits.
• The collapse of the mNAV weakens the financing of bitcoin purchases.

Bitcoin Sales and the Monetization Framework

Strategy’s operational alignment underwent a major transformation following the implementation of a structured asset liquidation program. The key data and decisions are as follows :

• 3,588 BTC were sold between June 29 and July 5, generating an approximate amount of 216 million dollars ;
• 32 BTC had already been sold at the beginning of June, a minor but symbolic sale that triggered the company’s worst weekly stock performance since 2022 ;
• 1.25 billion dollars in Bitcoin constitutes the maximum formal sales ceiling authorized by the board of directors within the “Digital Credit Capital Framework” unveiled on June 29 ;
• 843,775 BTC now make up the firm’s total reserves, a quantity that still represents more than 4% of the global and final supply of the reference crypto.

The implementation of this “BTC Monetization Program” responds to a corporate treasury restructuring obligation. The funds thus raised were specifically allocated to financing dividends related to its perpetual preferred shares, while also replenishing a cash reserve in fiat currency amounting to 2.55 billion dollars as of July 5.

In a research note, Geoff Kendrick, an analyst at Standard Chartered, downplayed the negative scope of these transactions. He claimed that the bank perceives these sales as “noise rather than a signal” regarding the medium-term trajectory of the asset. Despite these unprecedented sales which alter the perception of the firm’s holding policy, Standard Chartered has chosen to keep unchanged its price forecast for bitcoin, reiterating its price target set at 100,000 dollars for the end of this year.

The Collapse of the mNAV and the Technical Crisis of Preferred Shares

This situation highlights the difficulties of a business model that historically relied on the modified net asset value premium (mNAV). When the company’s common shares traded with a substantial premium compared to the value of its crypto holdings, Strategy could issue new securities to acquire bitcoin, a dynamic that simultaneously boosted its own capitalization and the price of the underlying asset.

However, current data shows the complete collapse of this premium. Standard Chartered estimates the mNAV at a ratio close to 1 based on enterprise value, while the specialized tracker BitcoinTreasuries values the stock at about 0.7 times the diluted value of its bitcoins, reflecting a discount of one third. From a purely accounting perspective, the total bitcoin reserve acquired for a global amount of 63.7 billion dollars now shows a valuation of only 54 billion dollars under current market conditions, forcing Strategy to record an 8.3 billion dollar loss on its assets during the last quarter, although this remains almost entirely unrealized.

The technical viability of this strategic pivot now depends on stabilizing the financial instruments issued by the company, particularly its perpetual preferred shares (STRC). Representing a nominal outstanding amount of about 10 billion dollars and backed by an annual dividend rate of 12%, these shares have experienced marked selling pressure. Following the first disclosure of bitcoin sales, the STRC security hit an intraday low of 71.25 dollars on June 26, moving away from its reference nominal value set at 100 dollars.

Analyzing this reaction, Geoff Kendrick noted that “the market has not yet been fully convinced by this pivot”, while emphasizing that transparent communication remains “essential to reassure markets that a massive sale is unlikely”. The banking expert recalls that the security remains “strongly over-collateralized” by the underlying bitcoins, suggesting that a stabilization of the STRC price toward par would reduce the need for Strategy to continue its sales on the spot market.

Market Outlook and Operator Skepticism

The long-term implications of this paradigm shift call for a cautious evaluation of the future balances of the crypto market. In terms of prices, bitcoin stands at about 64,000 dollars, showing a weekly gain of 3.8% which masks an annual correction of 42% and a 49% gap from its historical October 2025 all-time high set at 126,080 dollars. Operators display marked skepticism about the company’s ability to resume its intense buying waves in the near future.

While Strategy’s doctrinal turnaround has legitimately unsettled a community accustomed to uncompromising accumulation, Standard Chartered’s position reminds that Bitcoin network fundamentals are not altered by internal treasury adjustments. The over-collateralization of Stretch shares and the liquidity buffer accumulated give the company the necessary time to stabilize its financial structure without saturating order books.

Going forward, the success of this transition will depend on the leaders’ ability to maintain impeccable clarity in communication. The course evolution towards the 100,000 dollar target will depend less on Strategy’s tactical sales than on institutional markets’ ability to absorb this new monetization model without succumbing to panic.