When I gave this speech in October 2022, Bitcoin traded near $20,000, Strategy held 130,000 BTC worth about $2.6 billion, and $MSTR was ~$24 split-adjusted. Weeks later, after Bitcoin fell below $16,000, our debt exceeded the combined value of our BTC and cash reserves by ~$300 million, and $MSTR fell into the $13 range by year-end.
We stayed focused, strengthened the company, and executed our strategy. Since then, Strategy has raised over $60 billion of additional capital and invested it in Bitcoin, adding more than 716,000 BTC. Today, our BTC and USD reserves exceed debt by ~$48 billion. Thank you to everyone who believed, endured, and took the long view.
X is speculating that MSTR's CEO and CFO selling shares is a red flag.
It's not. Here's exactly what happened.
1/ What people saw:
→ CEO Phong Le sold 93,738 shares on June 5
→ CFO Andrew Kang sold 33,062 shares on June 5
→ Stock already down 24% this month
→ Looks terrible on the surface
2/ What actually happened:
On June 3, 2026 both the CEO and CFO had Performance Stock Units (PSUs) VEST.
The CEO received 190,740 shares.
The CFO received 68,120 shares.
This wasn't a choice. PSUs vest on a schedule set YEARS ago.
3/ Why did they sell immediately after?
Simple. The IRS.
When equity awards vest, the IRS treats it as ordinary income, taxable IMMEDIATELY.
You don't get to wait. You don't get to choose the timing.
You pay the tax or you get penalized.
4/ How was the sale structured?
Both executives sold under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
The CEO's plan was established on May 7, 2024 over 2 years ago.
The CFO's plan was established on May 2, 2024 also over 2 years ago.
Neither of them chose to sell on June 5, 2026.
The plan executed automatically.
5/ This happens at EVERY public company.
Apple executives do it.
Google executives do it.
Meta executives do it.
Nvidia executives do it.
Every time RSUs or PSUs vest executives sell a portion to cover taxes.
It appears in SEC filings. It always looks scary. It never means what people think.
6/ The most important detail everyone missed:
Why did the PSUs vest at a 200% payout factor?
Because Strategy's total stockholder return from June 2023 to May 2026 EXCEEDED the 75th percentile of ALL Nasdaq Composite companies.
The executives sold shares BECAUSE the company massively outperformed.
7/ One more thing.
On May 22 2 weeks before the forced tax sale CEO Phong Le VOLUNTARILY BOUGHT shares of $MSTR.
That's the discretionary signal.
The sale was mandatory.
The buy was a choice.
8/ The bottom line:
The CEO and CFO didn't sell because they're bearish.
They sold because the IRS doesn't care about your stock price.
Don't let misinformation shake you out of a position.⚡️👊
@asjwebley What a fantastic day. Great to meet so many fellow SWC holders, all on the same journey. Shame to see this community page go but let's see what the future updates X may bring! Adios amigos, see you on the following page! 🫡
The Bitcoin treasury sector continues to be one of the fastest evolving areas in global capital markets and over the last month it feels as though the industry has really started to converge around what the next phase of the model will look like.
One of the clearest themes emerging, particularly evident from @Strategy’s earnings call, is the growing focus on building simpler and more resilient capital structures. Many of the instruments introduced over recent years, including converts, various forms of preferred equity and other financing structures, were a natural part of building, testing and scaling an entirely new treasury model within the public markets. Each served an important purpose at a particular stage of development.
However, as the sector matures, it increasingly feels like the long-term winners will be the companies able to combine meaningful Bitcoin scale and continued accumulation via capital structures that are cleaner and simpler to understand, primarily centred around:
- Ordinary equity (or common equity as it is referred to in the US)
- Perpetual preferred equity (“digital credit”)
- Bitcoin
In other words, fewer moving parts, less complexity around refinancing cycles or maturities, and structures that are simple and easy to explain, particularly to institutions.
The other topic generating a lot of noise this week was Strategy's comments regarding the possibility of occasionally selling Bitcoin. Predictably, this generated strong reactions across parts of the market, but in my view, it reflects the continued maturation of the sector rather than any philosophical shift away from Bitcoin itself.
The key point here is that people need to separate “selling Bitcoin” from “mismanaging a Bitcoin treasury.”
We already accept, without much controversy, that companies actively manage treasuries built around property, equities, commodities or fiat currencies. Bitcoin treasury businesses will be no different if they are going to succeed over decades rather than just across a single market cycle. The companies that endure will be those that combine real conviction in Bitcoin with the kind of disciplined capital management that institutional markets can understand and support.
What they are signalling is not a change in philosophy. They are simply acknowledging that a treasury built for the long term may occasionally take sensible steps to optimise its structure, manage obligations or improve shareholder outcomes.
It is also a concept worth stating more broadly: every company should reserve the right to adapt its approach as the model develops and as market conditions change.
The metric that matters is not whether a company has ever sold Bitcoin but whether management is growing Bitcoin exposure per fully diluted share over time. A business oriented around that objective remains structurally aligned with net accumulation regardless of occasional balance sheet activity around the edges.
Moreover, demonstrating that level of treasury maturity is likely to strengthen institutional confidence.
At Smarter Web, we believe there is sophistication in simplicity and over the last few months we have continued refining our capital structure as we prepare for the next phase of our 10-year plan.
That has included initiatives such as the pre-IPO warrant buybacks, with the broader objective of reducing complexity and building a structure we believe is more scalable, durable and institutionally attractive over the long term.
Performance
Bitcoin appears to be taking a bit of a pause at current levels after moving steadily higher over the last month or so. In the short term my view remains that the path toward $90,000 is still very much intact and, assuming broader macro conditions remain supportive, I would not be surprised to see that level reached relatively quickly from here.
Against that backdrop, our shares are now approximately 50% above the recent lows and it has also been encouraging to see our mNAV trading around the 1.0x level.
Our current view remains that the market is increasingly rewarding companies able to demonstrate responsible and manageable amplification. Since mid-March, we have increased our leverage ratio from 0.4% to approximately 10% through our Coinbase facility and have received constructive feedback from investors on this approach.
Whilst we do not have a publicly disclosed leverage target, our view remains that with Bitcoin still trading materially below recent all-time highs, introducing responsible leverage at this stage of the cycle is an appropriate strategic step. We will continue to manage the balance sheet prudently and dynamically in response to both market conditions and opportunities available to the Company.
Importantly, as and when Bitcoin appreciates, the leverage ratio would naturally decline relative to the size of the balance sheet.
As we continue into year two of our 10-year plan, one of the things that continues to give me confidence is the strength of our balance sheet. We currently hold 2,805 Bitcoin, representing approximately £168m of pristine collateral, a term I think will start becoming more widely adopted.
If and when Bitcoin returns to previous all-time highs, that would represent more than £250m of value on the balance sheet - a quarter of a billion pounds of balance sheet strength. As we continue to grow and evolve our capital structure over time, our view is that this balance sheet can continue to expand alongside it, further strengthening our flexibility, optionality and the ability to solidify our position as the UK’s leading Bitcoin treasury company.
Weekly activity
Monday was a UK Bank Holiday, however @Croesus_BTC appeared on @RoxomTV to discuss how we see the Bitcoin treasury company model evolving over time.
On Tuesday, we announced the acquisition of a further 27 Bitcoin (approximately £1.5m), taking total holdings to 2,805 Bitcoin. We have now added 141 Bitcoin during 2026 across eight separate purchases, bringing our quarter-to-date Bitcoin yield to 13.58% today.
Owning 129,383 shares in SWC is now equivalent to one Bitcoin. For context, that figure was approximately 14.2 million shares in May 2025, which we believe highlights the scale of progress made in growing Bitcoin per share over the last twelve months.
We also announced approximately £0.1m via our ATM facility from the previous the week.
On Wednesday, our one-year anniversary merchandise officially began shipping. A huge thank you to @LauraStH1991 for the significant amount of work involved in organising and distributing everything. There are still a limited number of items available via our website, and, for a bit of fun, we are giving away two tickets to our upcoming conference for the most creative community photo submissions.
On Thursday, our recently appointed Group Financial Controller, Oliver Hewett, invested approximately £502k of personal capital into the Company via a direct subscription, purchasing 1,283,975 shares at 39.1p, being the closing bid price the previous evening.
I continue to believe that when senior management are willing to commit meaningful personal capital alongside shareholders, it demonstrates strong alignment with the long-term vision of the business and confidence in what we are building as the UK’s largest Bitcoin treasury company. This followed my own recent purchase last week, where I invested a further approximately £48k into the Company for myself and my family.
Friday was a particularly busy and intense day, involving a number of conversations with key stakeholders, including potential investors and several important service providers as we continue strengthening the Company’s long-term foundations.
Community
The community energy this week has been brilliant, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed seeing how creative a lot of the content has become.
Like many of you, I’ll be sad to see the X Community page disappear at the end of the month. We built one of the largest communities in the Bitcoin treasury sector completely organically and watching that grow over time has been something I’ve always been extremely proud of.
I know there are already lots of conversations happening around what the right next step is and how the community should evolve from here. My feeling is that what’s been built over the last year is much bigger than any single feature or platform. The people, relationships and shared energy don’t just disappear overnight.
One thing I’ve always particularly enjoyed in these weekly letters is being able to highlight members of the community and some of the content being created around the Company. As the platform evolves and new formats emerge, we’ll continue thinking about the best ways to do that - but the support and engagement from so many people certainly will not go unnoticed as we continue to grow.
I’m very confident the community will adapt, evolve and ultimately come out of this even stronger over time.
Closing comment
After what has been a very challenging six months or so for the sector, my view remains that sentiment is starting to gradually improve, something that is increasingly being reflected not just in the Bitcoin price, but also in our share price and the quality of conversations we are having across the market.
I appreciate it has not been an easy period for many people, but my hope is that we are now moving closer to the point where a lot of the hard work put in starts to become more visible.
What continues to drive me, and the rest of the team, is the belief that we are building something special at The Smarter Web Company. Something ambitious, long term and ultimately something the UK can be proud of within this emerging sector.
Your continued support, engagement and belief in what we are trying to build remains hugely appreciated and never taken for granted.
Thank you again, as always, for the continued support. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I look forward to continuing the momentum together next week.
LSE: #SWC | OTCQB: $TSWCF | FRA: $3M8
Haha. When your ISA and SIPP is rammed with MSTR and SWC.
What does Warren say “Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.” I know what I'm doing - shorting fiat!
#Bitcoin Sock Giveaway🧦
In celebration of #Bitcoin Pizza Day coming up, we have 3 pairs of pizza socks up for grabs!
To enter:
✅ Follow @bitcoinhodlco
❤️ Like
🔁 RT
Winners announced tomorrow! Best of Luck 🔥
Here's my entry! Medieval weekend in our local town. Can't help thinking what life would have been like living on a hard money standard back then. They even done a court room playrole and money clipping was one of the cases!! Lol
@asjwebley Fantastic update as always, thank you. I think btctc's should make more of a focus on the amount of shares needed per BTC - almost a new way of pricing BTC. I remember back in 2021 having the focus to get my MSTR shares to the equivalent of one BTC (in ISA and SIPP).