Is Michael Saylor Behind Bitcoin Price Decline? Critics Blame Slowing Strategy Purchases As Saylor Refuses To Back Down

Key Takeaways

Strategy’s Bitcoin bet has turned negative as prices fall below its average cost.
Critics argue that Strategy’s reduced ability to keep buying Bitcoin is removing a major source of price support.
Saylor remains firmly bullish despite the drawdown.

Michael Saylor reiterated his refusal to sell Bitcoin on Monday, even as Strategy’s vast BTC holdings fell below their average purchase price, drawing renewed criticism from market commentators who argue the company’s ability to support Bitcoin’s price is waning.

Bitcoin’s latest decline has pushed the token below Strategy’s estimated cost basis of about $76,037, leaving the firm’s holdings underwater and intensifying scrutiny of Saylor’s debt- and equity-funded accumulation strategy.

Strategy has accumulated more than 712,000 bitcoins since 2020, financing purchases largely through share issuance and convertible debt.

The approach allowed the company to steadily expand its holdings during Bitcoin’s long bull market, but recent price weakness has reversed much of that paper gain.

According to market estimates cited by commentators, Strategy is now roughly $630 million underwater on its Bitcoin position, erasing tens of billions of dollars in unrealized gains recorded earlier this year when Bitcoin was trading near record highs.

While Bitcoin remains up more than 500% from the time Saylor began buying in August 2020, Strategy’s overall return has narrowed to roughly flat.

Bitcoin’s price downturn has emboldened long-time critics of both Bitcoin and Strategy’s approach.

Jacob King, a famed Bitcoin critic, said in a post on X that Strategy’s losses have effectively wiped out the firm’s earlier unrealized profits, arguing that aggressive buying near the top has left shareholders exposed as prices retreat.

Fellow Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff went further, claiming Strategy’s purchases themselves played a significant role in driving Bitcoin’s earlier surge, and that reduced buying power is now contributing to the decline.

“Strategy’s Bitcoin purchases are one of the main reasons Bitcoin’s price rose 550%,” Schiff wrote on X.

Schiff added that Bitcoin would not reach a durable bottom, in his view, until Strategy eventually sells its holdings — a scenario Saylor has repeatedly dismissed.

Saylor, as has come to be expected, responded to the backlash with bullish posts on X.