Corporate Crypto Treasuries Split as Strategy and MARA Sell Bitcoin

Strategy Sells Bitcoin to Support Its Capital Framework

Strategy disclosed through an SEC 8-K filing that it sold 1,690 BTC between August 3 and August 9 for approximately $108.6 million. The sales were completed at an average of $64,262 per Bitcoin. Strategy subsequently held 840,447 BTC valued at about $54.7 billion. Its holdings had been acquired for approximately $63.4 billion, including fees and expenses, at an average purchase cost of $75,385 per BTC, leaving the position with roughly $8.7 billion in paper losses.

Strategy's remaining holdings represented about 4% of Bitcoin's 21 million maximum supply. The company also sold 6,585,682 MSTR shares during the week for $653.1 million, leaving $22 billion of capacity under that at-the-market program. Strategy said proceeds were used to repurchase 1,152,020 shares of STRC preferred stock and add $650 million to its U.S. dollar reserve, which reached $4.65 billion as of August 9.

Strategy's Digital Credit Capital Framework restricts use of the U.S. dollar reserve to preferred-stock dividends and interest payments. The company has also authorized a $1 billion repurchase program for its digital-credit securities, initially prioritizing STRC, and a separate $1 billion common-stock buyback. Strategy later expanded its BTC Monetization Program to permit as much as $5 billion in Bitcoin sales to fund the reserve, dividends, interest payments and securities repurchases.

STRC had recovered from below $75 in late June to above $95 as Strategy sought to move the preferred security toward its $100 par value. Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor posted another Bitcoin tracker graphic on Sunday with the caption, "Doing Business." His Sunday tracker posts had historically preceded acquisition announcements, though the company's recent activity has included both Bitcoin purchases and sales.

Saylor separately distinguished his personal Bitcoin position from Strategy's corporate policy. "When I say 'Never Sell Your Bitcoin,' I speak as one saver to another. I have never sold mine," Saylor wrote on X. "Not one satoshi. Strategy is a public company, not my wallet."

Bitcoin traded roughly flat immediately after Strategy's filing, while MSTR was up 0.2% in pre-market trading. MSTR had gained 3.3% during the preceding week and closed Friday at $100.01, compared with a 2.4% gain for Bitcoin over the same period.

Bitcoin Treasuries data showed 196 public companies had adopted some form of Bitcoin-acquisition model. Strategy remained the largest corporate holder, while the other companies listed among the top five were:

Shares of Bitcoin treasury companies had fallen substantially from their summer 2025 peaks as market-cap-to-net-asset-value ratios contracted. Strategy itself remained approximately 78% below its earlier level and had an enterprise mNAV of 1.07.

MARA Turns Bitcoin Into Expansion Capital

MARA sold 23,093 BTC during the six months through June 2026 for roughly $1.6 billion at an average selling level of $70,631. MARA said proceeds were used to fund operations, pursue growth opportunities and manage liquidity. The miner expanded its treasury policy during the year to permit Bitcoin disposals while maintaining the option to hold or acquire BTC depending on market conditions and capital requirements.

MARA ended June with 35,577 BTC valued at approximately $2.08 billion, including 9,270 BTC involved in its digital-asset management strategy. Those holdings were valued using a quarter-end Bitcoin level of $58,524. MARA mined 4,669 BTC during the first half, roughly unchanged from a year earlier, but six-month revenue fell 23% to $349.5 million as lower Bitcoin values reduced mining income.

The miner recorded a second-quarter net loss of $611.3 million, reversing an $808.2 million profit a year earlier. The latest quarter included a $343 million loss tied to changes in the fair value of MARA's digital assets.

MARA has also started borrowing against its treasury instead of relying entirely on additional Bitcoin sales. On August 4, MARA raised $600 million of incremental debt through Bitcoin-backed facilities with Coinbase Credit and Two Prime and rolled an existing $150 million Coinbase loan into the new structure.

The facilities were initially secured by 18,750 BTC valued at approximately $1.2 billion when the transactions closed. MARA plans to use part of the proceeds for its proposed $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy in Ohio.

The Two Prime portion consists of a $300 million loan carrying a 7.65% fixed interest rate. Coinbase's facility is priced at the federal funds midpoint plus 3.875 percentage points. Both facilities mature in 2028, although the Coinbase borrowing can automatically extend for one year.

MARA called the financing a "non-dilutive funding source" that allows the company to preserve exposure to potential Bitcoin appreciation. Market commentator Cindy Feng said MARA's second-half execution would center on the Long Ridge closing, AI leases and Exaion's international expansion.

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Empery Digital Cuts BTC Holdings Amid Proxy Fight

Empery Digital has taken a more severe path after both its equity value and Bitcoin treasury deteriorated. Its shares had fallen 72% over the preceding year. About a year earlier, the stock traded at $10 while the company held roughly 4,018 BTC purchased at an average cost of $117,552 per coin. By the Friday preceding the latest update, EMPD traded at $2.84 while Bitcoin was valued at approximately $65,000.

The company's historical holdings were more precisely reported at 4,018.36 BTC as of August 11, 2025, at the same average acquisition cost. By August 6, 2026, Empery reported only 1,279 BTC remaining, representing a 68% decline in its holdings after selling Bitcoin as the asset fell and finalizing tens of millions of dollars in losses.

Outstanding corporate loan agreements restrict 954 of Empery's remaining BTC. At its latest valuation, Empery itself was worth less than the Bitcoin still on its balance sheet.

Empery's treasury strategy began when electric off-road vehicle maker Volcon closed a private placement of more than $500 million on July 21, 2025, installing Empery Asset Management principal Ryan Lane as chairman and co-CEO. Volcon renamed itself Empery Digital less than two weeks later.

Pledditor wrote on July 10, 2026: "$EMPD just sold most of their Bitcoin, took down their BTC treasury dashboard, said they do not plan to buy any more Bitcoin, announced they may sell off the rest, and have announced their pivot to AI."

The treasury unwind has occurred alongside an escalating corporate-control dispute with ATG Capital. Empery had spent $7,828,001 defending the proxy fight through June 30.

ATG Capital Opportunities Fund LP is an outside activist fund. Gabriel Gliksberg founded ATG Capital Management in November 2020 and has proposed nine directors for Empery's board. The fund holds 4.5 million Empery Digital shares, a stake representing 14.7% of the company in March 2026 and a larger percentage after Empery's share repurchases reduced the float.

ATG alleges that Empery's board improperly used corporate bylaws to prevent a proxy-voting contest, while Empery maintains that ATG's nomination paperwork was defective. On March 27, Empery called ATG's proposed slate and a separate self-nomination from shareholder Tice P. Brown "invalid and misleading" under its bylaws.

Empery also said that absent a "valid court order," "any votes or ballots cast for any of ATG Capital's purported nominees will be void and of no force or effect."

The dispute has also reached the Delaware Court of Chancery over a shareholder list assembled by ATG. ATG had redacted shareholder identities and called the list a "protected business strategy." Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will rejected that argument, saying, "The names of stockholders are not, in and of themselves, a business strategy."

Will ordered ATG to provide the list to Empery's counsel while permitting it to retain a "highly confidential" designation that keeps the identities from public disclosure. Formal portions of the trial have concluded, with "final closing briefs before the court renders its verdict" still remaining.