MicroStrategy Just Bought Another $786 Million in Bitcoin

MicroStrategy bought $786 million worth of Bitcoin, according to an SEC filing, as the software firm expands its enormous stockpile of the leading cryptocurrency.

The company raised $800 million earlier this week selling convertible senior notes, which can be exchanged for company stock. The actual purchase was closer to $786 million after deducting costs. 

Two days after raising the funds, Michael Saylor's firm bought approximately 11,931 Bitcoin at a price of an average cost of $65,883—an intention the firm set out when it sold the notes.

With this recent purchase, the firm now holds approximately 226,331 Bitcoin. At Bitcoin’s current valuation, this works out to approximately $15 billion. However, MicroStrategy says that it acquired these coins at an aggregate purchase price of $8.33 billion. This works out to roughly $36,800 per coin, an extreme discount from Bitcoin’s current valuation of $65,900.

MicroStrategy, the American software firm co-founded by Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, was already the largest institutional holder of the world’s top cryptocurrency by some distance. This recent move only widens its lead.

By embarking on an aggressive Bitcoin spending spree, MicroStrategy’s fortunes have often been closely tied with the leading cryptocurrency. The firm, which produces mobile software and cloud-based services, fell a huge 25% to $152.15 on a single day in June 2022, as a crypto winter equally damaged Bitcoin’s price. This move was so catastrophic that MicroStrategy nearly faced a margin call. 

The 10 Public Companies With the Biggest Bitcoin Portfolios

For many years, the idea that publicly traded corporations might buy Bitcoin for their reserves was considered laughable. The top cryptocurrency was considered too volatile, too fringe to be embraced by any serious business. That taboo has been well and truly broken, with a number of major institutional investors buying up Bitcoin in recent years. The floodgates first opened when cloud software company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) bought $425 million worth of Bitcoin in August and September...

But as Bitcoin has performed well in 2024, so has MicroStrategy’s stock. It has increased 144% to $1,469.43 since the year started. The stock hit an all-time high in March, not long after Bitcoin also hit its all-time high price. 

Bitcoin is flat today at a current price of $64,910, with MicroStrategy's stock price likewise nearly flat since Wednesday's close.

Edited by Andrew Hayward