MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), bought another 3,000 BTC this month at an average price of $51,813 per coin for $155.4 million.
The acquisition brings MicroStrategy’s total crypto holdings up to 193,000 BTC. That’s nearly 1% of Bitcoin’s entire circulating supply, of which there will only ever be 21 million units.
MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Holdings
“The Bitcoin purchases were made using proceeds from the issuance and sale of Shares under the Sales Agreement and Excess Cash,” wrote MicroStrategy in a form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.
The purchases, made between February 15 and 25, continue an ongoing strategy in which the company dilutes its stock to raise cash and buy more BTC. Last quarter, the company announced a $615 million BTC purchase using funds primarily raised using this strategy.
Since the company began purchasing BTC in 2020, its outstanding shares have risen from roughly 9.2 million to 16.97 million. Meanwhile, its shares have jumped from $142 in August 2020 to $790 as of writing.
Bitcoin’s price surged to $53,500 on Monday, tapping another two-year high since Bitcoin spot ETFs were approved in the United States last month. At current prices, MicroStrategy’s entire Bitcoin stash is worth $10.15 billion, acquired for an aggregate purchase price of $6.09 billion – a 66% overall profit.
MicroStrategy Versus Bitcoin ETFs
MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor has frequently likened the company to a Bitcoin ETF with extra benefits, including zero management fees, a revenue-generating software business, and use of leverage.
MicroStrategy (MSTR) has outperformed Bitcoin ETFs over the past month, up 59% as of February 26, compared to the iShares Bitcoin Trust’s (IBIT) 27% gain.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back is a vocal proponent of investing in MSTR for more pronounced BTC-based profits, particularly because of their use of leverage to acquire more coins.
On Monday, the developer noted that MicroStrategy has likely run out of excess cash with which to buy BTC from its previous equity sales. “Time to borrow $1-2 billion and buy more pre-halving IMO,” he wrote.
Thanks to MicroStrategy’s expanding balance sheet, analysts have noted that the firm could soon qualify to be listed as part of the S&P 500. This could potentially expose the company – and by extension, Bitcoin – to an influx of passive flows from regular SPY investors.