Michael Saylor co-founded business intelligence company MicroStrategy, which has been buying bitcoin since August 2020. The company holds 140,000 BTC, making it the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency, which it bought at an average price of $29,803. MicroStrategy is committed to continuing to strengthen its BTC position despite bitcoin’s volatility and the 2022 bear market. The firm has made substantial purchases throughout the entire of 2021, with notable sums each quarter, resulting in great success due to bitcoin’s price records that year. Despite the collapse of FTX in Q4, the entity bought over 8,200 BTC, with MicroStrategy sitting on a whopping $1.8 billion of unrealized loss by the end of the year.
Adding More BTC During Every Quarter
The company’s most significant purchases came at the beginning of its bitcoin strategy in Q3 2020, when it accumulated over 38,000 BTC before taking that amount to more than 70,000 BTC by the end of the year. The entity bought over 8,200 BTC throughout 2022 during the market downturn, including even during the second quarter, when the LUNA/UST crash occurred. However, bitcoin’s declining price meant MicroStrategy ended the year with a substantial unrealized loss of $1.8 billion.
The start of 2023 saw a change in trends as the crypto market showed signs of recovery. The company bought an additional 7,500 BTC since the beginning of this year, increasing the total holdings to 140,000 BTC. This increase in value has allowed MicroStrategy to register a net income of $461 million during Q1 and repay its $205 million loan to Silvergate Bank at a 22% discount due to tax benefits resulting from the firm’s BTC holdings.
The Positive Start of the Year
MicroStrategy is publicly listed and has seen its shares rise, with MSTR stocks worth around $145 on January 1 and now hovering around $318, a 120% surge.
“Our investment in bitcoin is part of our new capital allocation strategy, which seeks to maximize long-term value for our shareholders.
This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash,” MicroStrategy’s Executive Chairman – Michael Saylor – said at the time.
