Non-Strategy Bitcoin Treasuries Have Disclosed ~37,000 BTC of 2026 Sales, but 84% Is MARA and Riot Funding AI Capex; the Pure-Play Sellers Sum to ~6,000 BTC Across 7 Names, and of the 4 Biggest Non-Strategy Holders Only Strive (1.36x mNAV) Still Buys
Strip Strategy out and the 2026 corporate bitcoin story is not a treasury-company dump. It is two miners recycling inventory into AI data centres, plus a handful of debt-stressed pivots unwinding. Nine listed holders outside Strategy have disclosed 2026 sales totalling roughly 37,000 BTC. MARA alone sold 23,093 BTC for about $1.6bn in the first half (average $70,631) to buy back converts and fund its Long Ridge power deal, ending June at 35,577 BTC. Riot sold 8,078 BTC in H1 (4,300 in Q2) for its data-centre build, ending June at 11,380 BTC per its Aug 14 results. That is ~31,000 BTC, or 84% of everything sold ex-Strategy.
The actual "treasury pivot" sellers add up to about 6,000 BTC across seven names: Sequans (2,139 BTC at year-end to 314 by early August, exiting entirely), Empery Digital (1,770 BTC in two sales, holds 1,514, says it will not buy more), Nakamoto (284 BTC in Q1 and ~600 in Q2 for ~$48m, holds 4,467 with 3,805 pledged), Satsuma (668 BTC being liquidated after a 90.6% shareholder vote, listing cancelled ~Sept 14), Fold (632 BTC to repay a revolver), Smarter Web (178 BTC at $65,762 to retire an $11.7m convert) and Genius Group (84). Every one sold to service debt, fund operations or wind down. None sold to take profit; most sold underwater.
The flow data agrees. Glassnode's Week 37 note puts net purchases by listed companies at ~5.9K BTC over the three months to end-August, against 89K BTC in July 2025 alone, with the corporate cost basis at $80.5K: "a buyer that has stopped buying and holds a paper loss is not support." The FT's August tally has the top 50 holders' combined market cap down from $150bn to $67bn, 43 of 50 below their pre-pivot share price, 35 down at least half, and the cohort net sellers of ~2,500 BTC in July for the first time.
Valuation now dictates behaviour. On bitcointreasuries.net's Sept 21 board, Twenty One trades at 0.72x mNAV (43,514 BTC, unchanged for months, CEO Jack Mallers gone July 20), Metaplanet at 0.75x (43,000 BTC, no purchase since July 2, a ¥75bn buyback running to Oct 28, and a 41% cut to its option pool on Sept 11 after a dilution backlash), and Nakamoto at 0.90x, though on Sept 1 its $126m market cap was under half its $343m of coins, with a $25m buyback and a 1-for-40 reverse split behind it. Strive is the exception at 1.36x and the only one of the four still accumulating: 469 BTC on Sept 14 to reach 25,000, funded by SATA preferred now over $1bn. Above par you buy; below par you buy back stock or do nothing.
Two names the headlines mislabel: GameStop has not sold a coin (4,710 BTC, 4,709 pledged to Coinbase for covered calls), and Trump Media is a net buyer, up 22% to 14,139 BTC at July 31 by selling $159.6m of bitcoin-linked securities, though 6,338 BTC are pledged and its $1bn convert carries a Nov 30 investor put.
What the headlines got wrong: "treasury companies are dumping" describes ~$2.6bn of miner sales that miners always make; and "corporates still net buyers" hides that Strategy's late-August 4,603 BTC was roughly three-quarters of Glassnode's 5.9K. Ex-Strategy and ex-miners the cohort is a rounding error. September so far: Strive +469 against Satsuma's 668 and Sequans' 314 going out the door, with no other non-Strategy purchase on the tracker's September feed. Flat to slightly negative.
Watch: the Nov 30 Trump Media put; whether Metaplanet resumes buying before its buyback lapses Oct 28; MARA and Riot Q3 10-Qs in November for more miner supply; and whether any second name joins Strive above 1x.
Sources (6)
AI Research
Key Takeaway
Outside Strategy, 2026 treasury-company selling is ~37,000 BTC of which 84% is MARA and Riot funding AI capex; the pure-play pivots have sold ~6,000 BTC to service debt or wind down, three of the four largest non-Strategy holders sit at 0.72-0.90x mNAV and have stopped buying, and only Strive at 1.36x is still accumulating.
Strip Strategy out and the 2026 corporate bitcoin story is not a treasury-company dump. It is two miners recycling inventory into AI data centres, plus a handful of debt-stressed pivots unwinding. Nine listed holders outside Strategy have disclosed 2026 sales totalling roughly 37,000 BTC. MARA alone sold 23,093 BTC for about $1.6bn in the first half (average $70,631) to buy back converts and fund its Long Ridge power deal, ending June at 35,577 BTC. Riot sold 8,078 BTC in H1 (4,300 in Q2) for its data-centre build, ending June at 11,380 BTC per its Aug 14 results. That is ~31,000 BTC, or 84% of everything sold ex-Strategy.
The actual "treasury pivot" sellers add up to about 6,000 BTC across seven names: Sequans (2,139 BTC at year-end to 314 by early August, exiting entirely), Empery Digital (1,770 BTC in two sales, holds 1,514, says it will not buy more), Nakamoto (284 BTC in Q1 and ~600 in Q2 for ~$48m, holds 4,467 with 3,805 pledged), Satsuma (668 BTC being liquidated after a 90.6% shareholder vote, listing cancelled ~Sept 14), Fold (632 BTC to repay a revolver), Smarter Web (178 BTC at $65,762 to retire an $11.7m convert) and Genius Group (84). Every one sold to service debt, fund operations or wind down. None sold to take profit; most sold underwater.
The flow data agrees. Glassnode's Week 37 note puts net purchases by listed companies at ~5.9K BTC over the three months to end-August, against 89K BTC in July 2025 alone, with the corporate cost basis at $80.5K: "a buyer that has stopped buying and holds a paper loss is not support." The FT's August tally has the top 50 holders' combined market cap down from $150bn to $67bn, 43 of 50 below their pre-pivot share price, 35 down at least half, and the cohort net sellers of ~2,500 BTC in July for the first time.
Valuation now dictates behaviour. On bitcointreasuries.net's Sept 21 board, Twenty One trades at 0.72x mNAV (43,514 BTC, unchanged for months, CEO Jack Mallers gone July 20), Metaplanet at 0.75x (43,000 BTC, no purchase since July 2, a ¥75bn buyback running to Oct 28, and a 41% cut to its option pool on Sept 11 after a dilution backlash), and Nakamoto at 0.90x, though on Sept 1 its $126m market cap was under half its $343m of coins, with a $25m buyback and a 1-for-40 reverse split behind it. Strive is the exception at 1.36x and the only one of the four still accumulating: 469 BTC on Sept 14 to reach 25,000, funded by SATA preferred now over $1bn. Above par you buy; below par you buy back stock or do nothing.
Two names the headlines mislabel: GameStop has not sold a coin (4,710 BTC, 4,709 pledged to Coinbase for covered calls), and Trump Media is a net buyer, up 22% to 14,139 BTC at July 31 by selling $159.6m of bitcoin-linked securities, though 6,338 BTC are pledged and its $1bn convert carries a Nov 30 investor put.
What the headlines got wrong: "treasury companies are dumping" describes ~$2.6bn of miner sales that miners always make; and "corporates still net buyers" hides that Strategy's late-August 4,603 BTC was roughly three-quarters of Glassnode's 5.9K. Ex-Strategy and ex-miners the cohort is a rounding error. September so far: Strive +469 against Satsuma's 668 and Sequans' 314 going out the door, with no other non-Strategy purchase on the tracker's September feed. Flat to slightly negative.
Watch: the Nov 30 Trump Media put; whether Metaplanet resumes buying before its buyback lapses Oct 28; MARA and Riot Q3 10-Qs in November for more miner supply; and whether any second name joins Strive above 1x.