On Wednesday (February 24), Nasdaq-listed business intelligence company MicroStrategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) announced details of its latest Bitcoin purchase.
According to the company’s press release, the software firm that many uniformed retail investors think of as a sort of unofficial Bitcoin ETF due to the large number of bitcoins it holds in its corporate treasury, it “purchased an additional approximately 19,452 bitcoins for approximately $1.026 billion in cash at an average price of approximately $52,765 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.”
This means that as of 24 February 2021, MicroStrategy “holds an aggregate of approximately 90,531 bitcoins, which were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.171 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $23,985 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.”
Michael J. Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, had this to say:
“The Company remains focused on our two corporate strategies of growing our enterprise analytics software business and acquiring and holding bitcoin. The company now holds over 90,000 bitcoins, reaffirming our belief that bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, can serve as a dependable store of value. We will continue to pursue our strategy of acquiring bitcoin with excess cash and we may from time to time, subject to market conditions, issue debt or equity securities in capital raising transactions with the objective of using the proceeds to purchase additional bitcoin.“
As for Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s President and CFO, he stated:
“MicroStrategy remains dedicated to our enterprise analytics customers and our goal of operating a growing profitable business intelligence company. We believe our bitcoin strategy, including our bitcoin holdings and related activities in support of the bitcoin network, is complementary to our software business, by enhancing awareness of our brand and providing opportunities to secure new customers.“
MicroStrategy’s latest Bitcoin purchase had Anthony Pompliano (aka “Pomp”), a co-founder of crypto-focused asset management firm Morgan Creek Digital Assets, very excited about which large public company could be the next one to buy Bitcoin for use as a treasury reserve asset: