Grayscale’s Zach Pandl Says Strategy Could Sell $3B Bitcoin to Meet Cash Needs

Strategy is entering a tense stretch for its “digital credit” preferred stock STRC as the company weighs how to meet large cash obligations while continuing to manage its extensive Bitcoin holdings. In an X post on Saturday, Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, said he hopes Strategy will sell at least $3 billion worth of Bitcoin to cover most of its cash commitments for the next two years.

Pandl’s commentary, however, points to a likely alternative outcome: he expects STRC’s dividend rate to rise by 50 basis points, which would add about $100 million in additional annual obligations over the next two years. For investors watching STRC trade below its $100 par value, that prospect may be less reassuring than a Bitcoin sale intended to stabilize Strategy’s capital structure.

Key takeaways

• Zach Pandl said he hopes Strategy sells at least $3 billion in Bitcoin over the next two years to meet most cash obligations.
• Pandl instead expects STRC’s dividend rate could increase by 50 basis points, adding roughly $100 million in annual obligations over two years.
• Strategy’s preferred stock STRC has been trading at a growing discount to its $100 par value, reflecting pressure on the “digital credit” segment.
• Strategy’s latest SEC filing shows it acquired 520 Bitcoin in mid-June while its cash reserve remains under closer scrutiny, with dividend coverage falling.
• CryptoQuant argues Strategy should pause new Bitcoin purchases and rebuild cash reserves, while others point to mechanisms that may defend STRC’s price without forcing sales.

Dividend math meets market pressure on STRC

Pandl’s remarks highlight a central tension in Strategy’s financing strategy: how to preserve liquidity and defend STRC’s credit profile without further weakening market confidence. He noted that Strategy faces an annual preferred dividend obligation of approximately $1.2 billion, driven primarily by STRC.

STRC is structured as a preferred stock designed to trade near its $100 par value, but it has been sliding for weeks. On Friday, STRC fell as low as $71.25—about a 28.75% discount to par—according to the figures cited in Pandl’s post. Strategy’s common stock, MSTR, also performed poorly; it closed Friday at $82.31, down 26.86% for the week.

Pandl acknowledged that a rate increase is likely if Strategy does not rely on asset sales. Yet he said the 50-basis-point dividend adjustment “probably does not help market confidence,” underscoring the challenge: higher dividends can increase total obligations, which may be read as a signal that liquidity needs are tighter than investors want to see.

SEC filing shows continued Bitcoin buying while cash cushion shrinks

Strategy remains the largest publicly listed corporate Bitcoin holder, with a reported 847,363 BTC stash. That scale means every financing decision—how much Bitcoin to hold, buy, or sell—carries added weight for markets watching corporate crypto exposure.

According to Strategy’s latest 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company acquired 520 Bitcoin for $34.9 million between June 15 and June 21. While that shows ongoing accumulation, other parts of the filing point to a thinner margin for error on cash management.

CryptoQuant, in a Tuesday report, argued Strategy should stop buying Bitcoin and instead focus on replenishing its cash reserve. The analytics firm said Strategy’s cash reserve is down 38% in 2026. In addition, the 8-K filing stated that Strategy increased its US dollar reserve by $300 million to $1.4 billion.

That reserve translates into about 14 months of dividend coverage, the filing indicated—down sharply from an earlier period when the company once had a seven-year cushion. Strategy’s own Monday post said it plans to keep replenishing cash reserves to support the credit quality of its “digital credit” securities, emphasizing the company’s intention to manage STRC through liquidity rather than letting credit fundamentals deteriorate.

Can STRC defend itself without selling Bitcoin?

CryptoQuant argued that Strategy has no direct obligation to sell Bitcoin to support STRC’s price. Instead, it suggested other tools could be used to defend the preferred stock, including raising the current dividend yield—citing the ability to adjust the yield (the report references an 11.5% dividend yield as a baseline) without liquidating Bitcoin.

Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow offered a different framing in a Monday X post, describing STRC as having a built-in “self-repairing mechanism.” His argument is that if STRC trades below its $100 reference price, Strategy halts new ATM issuance, reducing the supply of new shares. In parallel, a lower market price mechanically increases yield for new buyers relative to what they pay, which Mow said should attract demand and gradually pull the price back toward par.

In the same line of reasoning, this dynamic suggests that STRC’s discount could narrow over time even without Bitcoin sales—provided investors trust the market design and believe Strategy will prioritize liquidity management enough to sustain the dividend.

Still, the market reality reflected in STRC’s discount indicates that confidence is not automatic. Pandl’s comments add nuance: even if alternative defense mechanisms exist, investors may interpret a dividend-rate increase as a sign that more expensive capital or tighter resources are necessary.

What readers should watch next

With STRC trading far below its $100 reference price and dividend coverage reduced to roughly 14 months per Strategy’s filing, the next catalysts are likely to be any further announcements about dividend rate adjustments and whether Strategy changes its pace of Bitcoin buying in favor of liquidity replenishment, as CryptoQuant urged. Investors should track how quickly the company’s cash plan stabilizes credit expectations—because the market appears to be pricing not just Bitcoin exposure, but the near-term cost of maintaining “digital credit” obligations.