Business intelligence vendor MicroStrategy reveals it’s bought a billion bucks of bitcoin
- Reference: 1608616868
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/12/22/microstrategy_bitcoin_investment/
- Source link:
The company on Monday published a [1]statement revealing that it recently purchased “approximately 29,646 bitcoins for approximately $650.0 million in cash in accordance with its Treasury Reserve Policy, at an average price of approximately $21,925 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.”
That purchase brought the company’s total bitcoin holding to “approximately 70,470 bitcoins,” according to MicroStrategy CEO Michael J. Saylor.
“The acquisition of additional bitcoins announced today reaffirms our belief that bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value,” Saylor said. President and CFO Phong Le weighed in, saying “The Company continues to believe bitcoin will provide the opportunity for better returns and preserve the value of our capital over time compared to holding cash.”
A single bitcoin was valued at around $7,150 in January 2020. At the time of writing, you’d need $22,803 to buy one unit of the cryptocurrency. That kind of increase in value is hard to find at any time, never mind during a year the World Bank [2]predicts will bring “the deepest global recession since the Second World War.”
CEO Saylor thinks buying up bitcoin is one reason his company’s share price has done well. It currently sells for $317.60 a share, compared to $144.33 on January 1st, 2020.
However, the company’s scrip took a ten percent dive in early December. And bitcoin shed 3.7 percent of its value on Monday alone.
MicroStrategy trades on the NASDAQ, but disclosure of its bitcoin holdings was made in a press release rather than a regulatory filing, as was the case when it [3]filed [PDF] news of an earlier purchase.
It unusual for listed businesses to disclose the exact nature of the instruments they use for easily-liquidated investments, but MicroStrategy’s CEO Saylor appears to be a genuine bitcoin believer and his enthusiasm for it and use of it at a listed company could conceivably increase confidence in the cryptocurrency. Which could, in turn, send its price even higher. ®
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[1] https://www.microstrategy.com/en/company/company-videos/microstrategy-announces-over-1b-in-total-bitcoin-purchases-in-2020
[2] https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/2020-year-review-impact-covid-19-12-charts
[3] https://www.microstrategy.com/content/dam/website-assets/collateral/financial-documents/microstrategy-announces-acquisition-of-16796-bitcoin-at-aggregate-purchase-price-of-175M_8-14-2020.pdf
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
There is considerable speculation that the founder (who has previously been investigated by the SEC for fraud, settling without admitting wrongdoing) has used his company's money to buy his personal bitcoin stash. This one will be interesting when the crash comes.
"Dependable store of value"?
As a way to make easy money for a while, I can understand - but as a way to store them, not so much.
Re: "Dependable store of value"?
"As a way to make easy money for a while"
And providing your luck holds.
Re: "Dependable store of value"?
and you only sell them in small quantities
Re: "Dependable store of value"?
Sitting on 70,000 BC @ $22k+ ea. How many can he try to sell before tanking the price?
His luck will evaporate as he tries to cash in.
Re: "Dependable store of value"?
If this is a "dependable store", then we are all doomed:
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/
If I were a shareholder the news that the company had a billion or so lying around with nothing better to do than be used for speculative investment I'd want to know why it wasn't being returned to me by way of divvies or share buy-back.
Well said
Well said, as surely the logical extension to this strategy is just to liquidate the rest of the company's operations and put the funds into Dunning-Krugerrands?
It is pure speculation, and surely not part of its core strategy/Articles of Association?
End all this nonsense
Quoted from their website, which also has a nice photoshop'ped image of him with a very attractive person.
"Bitcoin is a bank in cyberspace, run by incorruptible software, offering a global, affordable, simple, & secure savings account to billions of people that don’t have the option or desire to run their own hedge fund."
~ Michael J. Saylor
I have this nice London Bridge I can sell you
Going cheap.
Failing that, I have these nice e-Tulips which only exist in my imagination, which I can let your shareholders have for a good price.