MicroStrategy’s US$2 billion Bitcoin buy is largest since 2020

MICROSTRATEGY bought about 27,200 Bitcoin for around US$2.03 billion, the largest purchase by the crypto hedge-fund proxy since just after it began acquiring the digital asset more than four years ago.

The enterprise software maker, whose corporate strategy now includes buying the cryptocurrency, bought the tokens between Oct 31 and Nov 10, according to a statement on Monday (Nov 11). It’s the largest amount of tokens purchased since the firm announced in December 2020 that it snapped up 29,646 Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy co-founder and chairman Michael Saylor decided to invest in Bitcoin in 2020 as a hedge against inflation. The firm initially used cash to make the purchases and has shifted to using the proceeds from the issuance and sale of stock, as well as convertible debt sales to leverage its buying power.

The strategy, along with the surge in the value of Bitcoin, has helped MicroStrategy to outperform every major US stock, including artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia, since the middle of 2020. MicroStrategy’s stock has risen more than 2,500 per cent since August 2020. Bitcoin is up around 660 per cent during the same period.

The latest purchase raised MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings to around US$24 billion, based on Monday’s record price of more than US$86,500 for the digital currency. Bitcoin has received a boost from US President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of the asset class. MicroStrategy is the largest publicly-traded corporate holder of Bitcoin besides BlackRock’s US exchange-traded fund.

As at Nov 10, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company, together with its subsidiaries, held about 279,420 Bitcoin, valued at an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$11.9 billion and an average purchase price of around US$42,692 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.

The firm’s shares jumped as much as 24 per cent to a record US$335 on Monday. That topped the previous all-time high reached in March 2000, when MicroStrategy was among the most popular stocks during the so-called Internet Bubble.

Saylor was one of three MicroStrategy executives that agreed in December 2000 to pay US$11 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges that they caused the company to inflate its financial results for 21 months. BLOOMBERG