Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, said “Bitcoin is on sale” in an Aug. 24 post on X. His remark was seen as a signal that the company may soon announce its third Bitcoin purchase of the month.
Strategy has already made two acquisitions in August. On Aug. 11, the company bought 155 BTC. A week later, on Aug. 18, it added another 430 BTC worth $51.4 million. These purchases lifted Strategy’s holdings to 629,376 BTC, valued at over $75 billion at current prices.
At the end of Q2, Strategy’s BTC holdings were booked at about $42.4 billion. However, the market value now exceeds $70 billion, giving the company tens of billions in unrealized gains.
Schiff Warns of “Going Out of Business Sale” Amid Leverage Concerns
Economist Peter Schiff quickly responded to Saylor’s post. He said, “Says the man who leveraged up to go all-in on Bitcoin.” He added that investors should “wait until the Strategy going out of business sale.”
Schiff has long argued that Saylor’s use of debt and share offerings to fund Bitcoin buys exposes shareholders to excessive risk. At the end of the second quarter, Strategy held 628,791 BTC at a total cost of $46.07 billion, or about $73,277 per coin. The company is up more than 56% on its Bitcoin investment, with $25.8 billion in unrealized gains.
Saylor, however, insists the strategy is working. In another X post, he said that adopting the Bitcoin Standard five years ago has allowed Strategy to outperform “every asset class and every Magnificent 7 stock.”
Corporate treasurer Shirish Jajodia recently explained that Strategy’s Bitcoin acquisitions are done through over-the-counter transactions and private agreements, not through public exchanges. With Bitcoin’s daily trading volume often exceeding $50 billion, he said that even billion-dollar purchases do not move the market directly.
Still, Strategy’s stock has been under pressure. Shares dropped to $325 over the weekend, the lowest level in four months, before rebounding to $358 today on Aug.25. The company remains up about 24% in 2025, but volatility continues to mirror swings in Bitcoin’s price.
Metaplanet Accelerates Bitcoin Buys
Strategy is not alone in adding to its Bitcoin reserves. Tokyo-listed Metaplanet announced on Aug. 25 that it purchased another 103 BTC for $11.7 million at an average price of $113,491. The latest buy lifted its holdings to 18,991 BTC, acquired at an average cost of $102,712 per coin.
Metaplanet is now less than 300 BTC away from overtaking Riot Platforms, which holds 19,287 BTC, to become the world’s sixth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Marathon Digital is the second-largest with 50,639 BTC, while Strategy holds a clear lead with nearly 3% of total Bitcoin supply.
Metaplanet also redeemed $20.4 million worth of bonds this week as part of its balance sheet management. The company has reported a 479.5% year-to-date yield on its Bitcoin holdings and was recently added to the FTSE Japan Index.
OG Whales Affecting BTC Price
Despite corporate buying, Bitcoin’s price has been sliding. It ended Friday just under $117,000 and then dropped to as low as $111,060 before recovering to about $112,500. The decline has been linked to large whale activity.
On-chain data shows that long-time Bitcoin holders—often referred to as “OG whales”—who accumulated coins in 2011 when prices were under $10, now wield enormous influence. As analyst Willy Woo put it, “It now takes more than $110,000 of fresh capital to absorb every Bitcoin they sell.”
This pattern was evident this week when a whale moved 24,000 BTC ($2.7B) to the Hyperliquid exchange and sold more than 18,000 BTC. That triggered a cascade of sell orders, driving the price down from about $117,000 to as low as $111,581.
Analysts also point to structural changes in Bitcoin markets. Spot ETFs and custodians now hold more than 1.3 million BTC. These coins rarely move, reducing demand for on-chain transactions. As a result, transaction fees have dropped to decade lows, even as Bitcoin trades near record levels.
