The business software company founded by Bitcoin devotee Michael Saylor disclosed in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had purchased 1,045 Bitcoin for about $29.3 million in cash—an average price of around $28,016.
MicroStrategy’s recent purchase puts the company’s total Bitcoin holdings at about 140,000, worth about $4 billion and bought at an average price of $29,803, according to a Wednesday tweet by Saylor.
MicroStrategy has acquired an additional 1,045 #bitcoin for ~ $29.3M at an average price of $28,016 per bitcoin. As of 4/4/2023 @MicroStrategy holds 140,000 bitcoin acquired for ~$4.17 billion at an average price of $29,803 per bitcoin. $MSTR https://t.co/IBufTxalnv
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 5, 2023
Crypto Twitter, especially Bitcoin fans, immediately jumped to congratulate Saylor and MicroStrategy, both of which have been longtime HODLers of the cryptocurrency.
Microstrategy every two days: pic.twitter.com/qFi58Xn1mA
— Nosh ☯︎ (@0xnosh) April 5, 2023
Microstrategy now owns 0.666% of all #bitcoin that will ever exist. Beast mode by @saylor
— Bitcoin for Freedom (@BTC_for_Freedom) April 5, 2023
In December, the company sold off Bitcoin for the first time—704 at an average price of $16,776, collecting $11.8 million—according to an SEC filing.
The period in which MicroStrategy made the multimillion-dollar purchase (March 24 to April 4) overlapped with a massive sale by the U.S. government, which offloaded $215 million in Bitcoin seized from an alleged hacker in a case centered around the Silk Road online black market.
US gov sells, MicroStrategy buys pic.twitter.com/MMIz1y2Oxp
— SIDNΞY SWIFT 🧬 (@sidneyswift) April 5, 2023
Defendant James Zhong was accused of, and later pleaded guilty to, wire fraud for illegally obtaining 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road marketplace. The government seized the digital assets, and even after last week’s selloff still has just over 41,000 remaining—worth more than $1 billion as of Wednesday.
Bitcoin has been on a tear since the start of the year, skyrocketing 73% in the first three months of 2023, its best quarter in two years, according to CoinDesk.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency outperformed three major indexes—the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq—in the first quarter, as some analysts said it regained its edge as a store of value similar to gold’s.
Bitcoin was trading just below $28,000 on Wednesday, down half a percent over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.