Bitcoin’s latest downturn has sparked considerable speculation about whether Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) and its massive Bitcoin holdings are contributing to the market’s weakness. Concerns escalated sharply when wallet-monitoring platforms flagged large Bitcoin transfers linked to the company, igniting widespread claims that a major sell-off had begun.
The conversation gained even more traction after a widely circulated report alleged that Strategy had slashed its Bitcoin holdings by tens of thousands of tokens. Michael Saylor, Strategy’s co-founder and executive chairman, moved quickly to address the rumor. However, the ongoing back-and-forth between on-chain data interpretations and official statements raises questions about what is truly happening behind the scenes.
### How Wallet Movements Turned Into Full-Blown Sell-Off Rumors
The controversy began when Walter Bloomberg shared a post citing Arkham Intelligence, claiming that Strategy had reduced its Bitcoin stash from 484,000 BTC to roughly 437,000 BTC. This alleged drop of about 47,000 BTC immediately led to speculation that the company had quietly started liquidating its holdings.
Saylor responded directly beneath the post, stating, “There is no truth to this rumor,” dismissing the claim outright.
As the rumor spread across social platforms, Arkham Intelligence later clarified what had actually occurred. In a post on X, the firm explained that Strategy had moved 43,415 BTC since midnight UTC — worth over $4.2 billion — but emphasized that this activity was routine custodian rotations.
According to Arkham Intelligence, the transfers were due to shifting assets from Coinbase Custody to a new custodian, alongside internal rebalancing and wallet refresh processes. None of these movements indicated any sales. In fact, Strategy frequently performs such custodial transitions.
Anyone tracking these wallet clusters over the past two weeks would have observed similar flows, eventually followed by relabeling once new addresses were established.
### Saylor’s Public Reassurance and Continued Bitcoin Accumulation
In response to the swirling speculation, Saylor took a definitive stance to calm markets. During an interview on CNBC, he addressed the controversy head-on, explicitly stating that Strategy had not sold any Bitcoin and had no plans to do so.
His remarks left no room for ambiguity: “We are buying; we’ll report our next buys on Monday morning.”
Saylor also spoke about the company’s financial position and long-term confidence. He highlighted that Strategy has established a very strong base with its Bitcoin holdings and reassured investors that the firm’s debt structure poses no immediate obligations. According to him, the debt is still “4.5 years out,” meaning there is currently no financial pressure that would necessitate liquidating Bitcoin assets.
Shortly after the interview, Saylor reinforced his message on X, plainly stating, “We bought bitcoin every day this week,” directly contradicting any claims of ongoing sell pressure from Strategy.
### Market Context and Current Price Action
Bitcoin has spent most of this week trading on a downtrend, which has now pushed its price below $100,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $96,084.
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*Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.*
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/bitcoin/is-bitcoin-falling-because-of-strategy-sell-offs-on-chain-data-fuels-debate/
