Bitcoin Selling Strategy Fears “All Wrong,” Says Bitwise

Fears that Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR) will be forced to sell Bitcoin if it is delisted from MSCI indexes are “completely false,” Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said.

“I understand why the bears want to embrace the MSTR ‘doom loop’ idea,” he said in a Dec. 3 statement. note to customers. “It would indeed be very bad for the Bitcoin market if MSTR had to sell its $60 billion worth of Bitcoin in one go. But with no debt to pay before 2027 and enough liquidity to cover interest payments for the foreseeable future, I just don’t see that happening.”

He noted that with Bitcoin priced at $92,000 and trading at $92.9,000 as of 11:52 a.m. EST, it is 24% higher than the average price at which Strategy acquired its stash, Hougan said.

“There are a lot of things to worry about when it comes to crypto,” he added. “Michael Saylor and Strategy selling Bitcoin is not one of them.”

Concerns arise as MSTR finds itself in trouble. Data from Google Finance shows that MSTR has fallen more than 23% over the past month and nearly 50% over the past six months.

MSTR Price (Source: Google Finance)

MSCI and other index removals won’t have as big an impact, says Hougan

MSCI announced on October 10 that it was considering removing digital asset treasury (DAT) companies from its investment indices, with the decision expected next month.

JPMorgan estimates that such a delisting would likely result in the sale of up to $2.8 billion of MSTR shares, and much more if other index providers follow suit, with some $9 billion of MSTR held by passive fund managers.

“I’m not convinced the withdrawal would be a big problem for the stock,” Hougan said. “$2.8 billion is a lot of sales, but in my experience watching index additions and deletions over the years, the effect is usually smaller than you think and is accounted for well in advance.”

When MSTR was added to the Nasdaq 100 Index last December, funds that track the index had to buy $2.1 billion of MSTR, Hougan said, adding that the company’s stock price “barely budged.”

“In the long term, the value of MSTR depends on how well it executes its strategy, not on whether index funds are obligated to hold it,” he argued.

In response to fears of delisting from MSCI indexes, Saylor said: “We are a publicly traded operating company with a $500 million software business and a unique treasury strategy that uses Bitcoin as productive capital. Index classification does not define us.”

Answer to the question about the MSCI index

Strategy is not a fund, trust or holding company. We are a publicly traded operating company with a $500 million software business and a unique treasury strategy that uses Bitcoin as productive capital.

This year alone we completed…

-Michael Saylor (@saylor) November 21, 2025

Math Shows Strategy Has No Reason to Sell Bitcoin

Hougan also said that simple calculations do not support the idea of ​​a doomsday loop for MSTR.

“MSTR has two significant obligations on its debt: It must pay approximately $800 million per year in interest and it must convert or roll over specific debt instruments as they mature,” Hougan said. “These two obligations are not a near-term concern for Strategy.”

Interest payments are not a near-term concern because the company has $1.4 billion in cash, meaning it can easily pay its dividends for a year and a half, he said.

Strategy’s first debt instrument doesn’t mature until February 2027, and the amount is only about $1 billion, which Hougan says is “bargaining chip” for a company that currently has $60 billion in Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

Could insiders pressure MSTR to sell Bitcoin if its shares continued to fall, Hougan asked.

“Doubtful,” he said. “Michael Saylor himself controls 42% of the voting shares, and it would be difficult to find a human being more convinced of the long-term value of Bitcoin. He did not sell the last time MSTR shares traded at a discount, in 2022.”

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