West Main Self Storage Executes $261K Tax-Loss Harvest on 11 Bitcoin — Reacquires 11.00005248 BTC in Net-Accretive Round-Trip

West Main sold exactly 11.00000000 BTC at a price of $64,194.35 per bitcoin, generating gross proceeds of $706,137.88. After a 0.59% exchange fee of $4,166.21, the company received net proceeds of $701,971.67.

Those net proceeds were redeployed to purchase 11.00005248 BTC at a price of $63,441.00 per bitcoin, inclusive of a $4,117.34 buy-side exchange fee. A lower fill price on the reacquisition resulted in a net gain of 5,248 satoshis — making the round-trip slightly accretive to the treasury on a pure-bitcoin basis.

The company used the Highest-In, First-Out (HIFO) accounting method to select the lots with the highest cost basis for disposition, maximizing the realized loss. A total of 28 lots were disposed, including 27 weekly DCA purchases dating from July 29, 2025 through January 27, 2026, and a partial slice of the May 13, 2026 lump-sum acquisition. The combined HIFO cost basis of these 28 lots was $963,197.78, compared to net sale proceeds of $701,971.67, producing a realized capital loss of ($261,226.11).

Under current U.S. tax law, the IRS wash sale rule — which disallows a loss deduction if the taxpayer purchases “substantially identical” securities within 30 days of a sale — does not apply to bitcoin or other digital assets. Bitcoin is classified as property, not a security, and the wash sale rule under IRC §1091 is limited to stocks and securities.

This means West Main was able to sell and repurchase the same amount of bitcoin, lock in a $261,226 realized loss for tax purposes, and maintain substantially the same economic exposure. This structural advantage is unavailable to holders of stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other traditional securities, and represents one of the unique tax-planning benefits of holding bitcoin directly on a corporate balance sheet.

It is worth noting that proposed legislation could extend wash sale rules to digital assets in the future. West Main executed this harvest under current law and will continue to monitor regulatory developments.

The $261,226 in realized capital losses does not expire and can be carried forward indefinitely under current tax law. This creates a strategic option — not an obligation — that West Main can exercise at the time and in the manner most advantageous to the company. The captured losses can offset:

1. Future Bitcoin Gains. If bitcoin appreciates and the company sells all or a portion of its holdings at a profit, the $261,226 in harvested losses would offset that gain dollar-for-dollar, reducing the taxable amount. At a 37% marginal rate, this represents up to $96,654 in tax savings.

2. Sale of STRC Preferred Shares. West Main currently holds 10,014 shares of Strategy Preferred Securities (STRC). If the company were to liquidate some or all of its STRC position at a gain, the harvested bitcoin losses could offset that gain, effectively making the STRC exit more tax-efficient.

3. Sale of Real Estate. As a real estate operating company, West Main may at some point sell the underlying self-storage facility or other real property. Capital gains from the sale of real estate — including depreciation recapture — can be offset by the carried-forward capital losses from this bitcoin harvest, potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on a property disposition.

4. Any Other Capital Gain. The losses are not limited to bitcoin. They can offset capital gains from any asset class — equities, real estate, collectibles, or other investments — giving the company broad flexibility in how and when to deploy this tax shield.

In short, the tax-loss harvest gives West Main a balance-sheet option: the right, but not the obligation, to reduce future tax liability by up to $96,654 at the current marginal rate, deployable against gains in bitcoin, STRC, real estate, or any other capital asset. The option has no expiration and no carrying cost.

Beyond the tax optionality, the transaction produces a significant structural improvement to the portfolio’s cost basis. Before the harvest, West Main’s weighted average acquisition price across all lots was approximately $84,209 per bitcoin. After disposing of the 28 highest-cost lots (HIFO basis: $963,197.78) and reacquiring the same quantity at a cost basis of $701,971.67, the new weighted average drops to approximately $66,888 per bitcoin — a 20.6% reduction.

This means the company’s entire bitcoin position now sits on a lower cost floor. Future mark-to-market performance will be measured against this reduced basis, improving the unrealized gain profile at any given bitcoin price. If bitcoin trades at $100,000, for example, the portfolio’s unrealized gain margin widens from approximately $15,791/BTC (at the old basis) to approximately $33,112/BTC (at the new basis).

The total cost basis of the treasury is now $1,008,774, compared to the pre-harvest $1,270,000 — a reduction of $261,226. Holdings remain effectively unchanged at 1,508,152,454 satoshis (~15.08 BTC), with 5,248 more satoshis than before the harvest.

The all-in cost of executing this harvest was the exchange fees on both legs of the trade:

Total exchange fees for the round-trip were $8,283.55 (1.18% combined). These fees are deductible as part of the cost basis adjustment, meaning they reduce taxable gains in the future. Against a potential tax savings of $96,654, the fee represents a return on investment of approximately 11.7x the cost of execution — an efficient deployment of treasury management resources.

Importantly, the buy-side fill came in $753/BTC lower than the sell-side fill ($63,441 vs $64,194), which is what produced the +5,248 satoshi accretion. West Main ended the harvest with more bitcoin than it started with, a lower cost basis, and a $261,226 loss carryforward on its books.

West Main’s bitcoin treasury program launched in July 2025 with a $10,000 weekly dollar-cost averaging commitment. Over the ensuing 47 weeks, the company deployed $470,000 through DCA and supplemented that with an $800,000 lump-sum acquisition in May 2026, funded by a $1.6M self-carrying capital raise. The program has accumulated 1,508,152,454 satoshis (~15.08 BTC) at a new weighted average of approximately $66,888 per bitcoin.

The tax-loss harvest was the first active treasury management action beyond acquisition. It demonstrates that bitcoin’s unique regulatory classification creates opportunities that go beyond simple “buy and hold” — allowing treasury operators to actively optimize basis, capture losses, and create future tax optionality without reducing their economic exposure to the asset.

West Main will continue its weekly $10,000 DCA program, evaluate future lump-sum opportunities, and monitor market conditions for additional tax-loss harvesting events when the portfolio contains lots trading below their cost basis. The company’s sats-per-square-foot ratio now stands at 21,744, meaning every square foot of the West Main facility is backed by over 21,700 satoshis of bitcoin.

West Main Self Storage is a privately held self-storage facility located at 825 West Main Road, Middletown, Rhode Island. The company operates a Bitcoin treasury strategy alongside its core real estate operations, acquiring bitcoin weekly through a disciplined dollar-cost averaging approach and supplementing that DCA with periodic, self-carrying lump-sum allocations funded by capital raises. West Main also holds Strategy Preferred Securities (STRC) as part of its digital credit strategy, generating monthly income through variable-rate distributions, and produces solar energy income from its rooftop array as a third operating cash-flow stream.

For more information, visit westmain.storage/dashboard or contact kenny@westmainselfstorage.com.