MicroStrategy's plan to sell bitcoin holdings to raise cash creates unnecessary volatility in crypto markets, JPMorgan argued in a filing reviewed by CoinDesk. The bank urged the software firm to pursue equity issuance instead, saying scheduled liquidations inject "two-way risk" into an asset class already prone to sharp price swings.
MicroStrategy, which holds roughly 1 percent of all bitcoin in circulation, has signaled it may sell portions of its stash to fund operations and capital deployment. That would be a sharp reversal from the firm's bitcoin accumulation strategy under CEO Michael Saylor, who has positioned the company as a corporate treasury proxy for the asset.
JPMorgan's concern centers on predictability. When a holder as large as MicroStrategy announces a sales schedule, market participants can anticipate the selling pressure and position accordingly. That creates a template for how traders front-run, hedge, and price in corporate liquidation flows.
The bank did not claim MicroStrategy lacks the right to liquidate its holdings. Rather, JPMorgan framed the choice as a policy matter: equity raises are cleaner for market structure because they don't require dumping a volatile asset into an order book at intervals.
MicroStrategy's bitcoin holdings are currently worth roughly $3.5 billion at recent prices. The firm has not announced a specific sales timetable or volume, leaving the timing and size of any liquidation opaque. That uncertainty, JPMorgan argued, is itself a risk.
The filing reflects how large corporate bitcoin positions now touch traditional finance's risk calculus. As more firms hold crypto on their balance sheets, banks and regulators must grapple with how those holdings are unwound without destabilizing price discovery. JPMorgan's view is that scheduled sales create worse outcomes than equity markets already price in.