Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow has responded to criticism that Strategy has betrayed its principles by indicating it might sell BTC in the future to fund dividends.
In a post on X on May 7, Mow argued that public companies holding Bitcoin require flexibility to protect shareholders, and that selling a portion of reserves at certain times may be necessary.
Treasury Firms Need Optionality
JAN3 CEO Mow said the “never sell” idea is guidance for individual holders, not a rigid corporate mandate. He emphasized that advice for personal HODLers—avoid selling Bitcoin without good reason—is not the same as a binding rule for publicly traded companies.
“As an individual HODLer you shouldn’t sell your Bitcoin for no reason. Avoid selling if you can. That is the message. It is not literally ‘never sell and take it to the grave,’” he wrote.
He argued the calculus changes for a publicly traded treasury company. Mow’s central point focused on optionality: a company that pledges to only accumulate Bitcoin removes strategic options and can become vulnerable to short sellers and arbitrageurs. By maintaining flexibility—selling, hedging, issuing equity, or buying back—such a company becomes harder to game and better positioned to serve shareholders.
“A company with real optionality is hard to game: it might sell, might hedge, might issue, might buy,” he wrote.
Mow stressed that Strategy’s objective should be to benefit and protect shareholders, not to adhere to a literal “never sell” slogan. He cited his own work designing Bitcoin-linked bonds for nation-states, which include scheduled BTC sales after a lockup period so issuers can return capital to bondholders. He argued that without that built-in selling mechanism, those instruments would not function.
He compared Strategy’s STRC preferred stock to those bond structures, describing STRC as a product intended to reduce Bitcoin’s volatility for investors while preserving upside exposure without subjecting them to full drawdowns.
Mow also pointed to a post from Michael Saylor, in which Saylor calculated Strategy’s Bitcoin breakeven annual return at roughly 2.05%. According to that figure, if Bitcoin’s price rises faster than that rate, the company could sell a portion of its BTC to cover dividend obligations without diluting existing shareholders.
When an X user suggested Saylor should be criticized for having built his reputation on “never sell,” Mow responded succinctly that corporate strategy should not be driven by catchy soundbites from podcasts.
“Corp strategy can’t be driven based on cool soundbites from a pod.”
Dividend Pressure and STRC Scrutiny Grow
The discussion has intensified alongside Strategy’s growing use of preferred stock offerings, especially STRC. In its Q1 2026 financial report, Strategy disclosed a $12.5 billion loss and noted that STRC issuance has reached $8.5 billion, while the company raised nearly $12 billion year-to-date.
Critics question whether the business model relies too heavily on issuing new securities. Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff recently labeled STRC an “obvious Ponzi scheme,” arguing the company lacks sufficient operating income outside its software business to sustain dividend payouts.
Supporters counter that preferred instruments like STRC are structured to offer investors targeted exposure and that corporate flexibility—selling, hedging, or issuing instruments—can be necessary to meet obligations without harming long-term shareholder value. The debate highlights tension between purist HODL principles and the practical demands of managing a public company treasury that must balance growth, income distribution, and investor protections.