MicroStrategy, the largest corporate investor in bitcoin, has expanded its cryptocurrency portfolio by buying an additional 12,000 bitcoins for $821.7 million.
The transaction is one of the largest since the company began buying the leading cryptocurrency nearly four years ago. It brings MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to nearly 205,000 tokens, valued at over $14 billion. The company’s aggressive investment strategy in Bitcoin has led to spending over $1 billion on the cryptocurrency in the first quarter of 2024 alone.
The purchase was carried out between February 26 and March 10 and was funded primarily through the proceeds of a $800 million private sale of convertible notes completed on March 8. Under the leadership of chairman and co-founder Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy has adopted Bitcoin as an inflation hedge and a preferable alternative to cash reserves.
Since Saylor’s initial investment in Bitcoin in 2020, the cryptocurrency’s value has soared by approximately 675%, contributing to a remarkable resurgence in MicroStrategy’s stock price. The company’s market capitalization now stands at around $25.7 billion, surpassing its previous peak in March 2000. The price of Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of around $72,000 last week.
The recent Bitcoin acquisition was made at an average price of $68,477 per token, with MicroStrategy’s average purchase price for its entire Bitcoin holdings being $33,706 per token. This investment surpasses the holdings of BlackRock’s largest spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which has 197,943 BTC.
MicroStrategy used $781.1 million from its recent convertible note offering and an additional $40.6 million of excess cash for this latest Bitcoin purchase. The company’s total investment in Bitcoin now amounts to $6.91 billion, with the current market value exceeding $14.7 billion.
Earlier in January, Michael Saylor sold $216 million worth of his shares in the business software company as part of a plan to exercise stock options granted in 2014 and to acquire additional Bitcoin for his personal account.
Saylor’s decision to sell the shares and purchase Bitcoin aligns with his long-standing advocacy for the primary cryptocurrency. He has been a vocal proponent of Bitcoin since reversing his initial skepticism in 2013.
Saylor’s personal Bitcoin holdings are also substantial. He revealed in a 2020 tweet that he had acquired 17,732 BTC at an average purchase price of $9,882. At current prices, his holdings are worth over $1.2 billion, placing him among the top Bitcoin addresses.
