In a move that would have been unthinkable a year ago, Michael Saylor's Strategy has sold Bitcoin, according to Episode 809 of DH Unplugged, titled He's Selling Bitcoin!. The company sold 3,588 Bitcoin for roughly $216 million while sitting on an $8.32 billion paper loss, a stark reversal from Saylor's longstanding mantra of never selling the cryptocurrency. The hosts, John C. Dvorak and Andrew Horowitz, unpack the implications of this sale against a backdrop of soft economic data and market turbulence.
The episode, published July 7, 2026, opens with a wobble across risk assets. A weak June jobs print showed 57,000 payrolls versus a 110,000 estimate, with April and May revised down by 74,000. Simultaneously, SpaceX joined the NASDAQ 100, displacing weight from megacaps like Nvidia and Microsoft, while Oracle suffered its steepest weekly drop since the dot-com bust, falling 19% with $130 billion in debt and $24 billion in negative free cash flow. The hosts also note renewed strikes on Iran and a market suddenly questioning the AI trade.
Horowitz expressed skepticism about Strategy's pivot, noting that proceeds from the Bitcoin sale are being used for preferred stock dividends and dollar reserves. "This is the guy that said never sell Bitcoin. He was a Treasury poster child, is now selling to serve as the capital structure. Oops," Horowitz said. Dvorak pressed on whether the structure is "Ponzi-ish," while Horowitz walked through an average purchase price of $75,476 against recent sales between $59,000 and $61,000 per coin.
The conversation broadens into the machinery behind the AI trade. The hosts flagged reports that Nvidia's Kyber architecture could slip up to 12 months into 2028 and cited Goldman Sachs data showing hedge funds dumped tech hardware and semiconductor exposure for a fourth straight week. They also questioned Larry Ellison's sudden speaking tour as Oracle's stock cratered. Elsewhere, they covered Microsoft's latest round of roughly 4,800 layoffs pinned on AI, OPEC+ adding 188,000 barrels per day in August, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve falling to 319 million barrels (its lowest since 1983), and a China court handing a death sentence to former Nanjing official Yang Yulin over $325 million in bribes. John Williams's Shadow Stats was cited pegging alternative unemployment near 25% and inflation around 9%.
The implications of Strategy's Bitcoin sale are significant, signaling a potential shift in corporate crypto strategy and raising questions about the viability of Bitcoin as a treasury asset. As the market grapples with these developments, the episode serves as a cautionary tale for investors who have bought into the 'never sell' narrative.
