Bitcoin tops $81,000 as Strategy mulls selling its BTC to fund dividend obligations
Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor signalling a potential bitcoin sale to cover $1.5 billion in annual dividend obligations sent MSTR down 4% after hours and BTC briefly below $81,000.
What to know:
- Bitcoin surged above $81,000 alongside record-setting global equities as easing Iran tensions and renewed AI optimism fueled a broad risk-on rally.
- Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, signaled it may sell part of its 818,334-BTC stash for the first time to help fund dividend payments, sending its shares lower in after-hours trading.
- Ether lagged the crypto advance amid a turn to net outflows from spot ETH exchange-traded funds, even as other major tokens including Solana and dogecoin posted solid gains.
Ether is the laggard, off 0.3% over 24 hours despite holding a 3.9% weekly gain at $2,376. Spot ETH ETF flows turned negative last week, ending a three-week inflow streak.
Wall Street gauges closed at all-time highs Tuesday after President Donald Trump signalled progress toward a “final agreement” with Iran and announced a pause on Operation Project Freedom for a short period. Brent crude fell 1.7% to about $108 a barrel. The dollar, which had been the haven of choice through the US-Israel war on Iran, weakened against all its G-10 peers.
Asian equities zoomed to an all-time high on Wednesday morning, with the MSCI gauge for Asia Pacific shares advancing 1.8%. South Korea’s Kospi jumped more than 6% to a record, with Samsung Electronics surging 15% to reach a $1 trillion valuation, the second Asian company ever to clear that mark.
