(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc. bought another 12,000 Bitcoin for $821.7 million, the second-largest purchase by the enterprise-software maker since it began acquiring the cryptocurrency almost four years ago.
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The fresh hoard raised MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to around 205,000 tokens, or to more than $14 billion. The tokens were bought from Feb. 26 through March 10, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company. The Bitcoin was acquired mostly with the proceeds from the sale of $800 million of convertible notes through a private sale that was completed March 8.
Michael Saylor, the chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy, started buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to holding cash. MicroStrategy has already spent more than $1 billion in Bitcoin in the first three months of 2024, more than half of last year’s total buying. The cryptocurrency is up around 675% since Saylor began buying.
The shift into Bitcoin has led to a revival in the share price of MicroStrategy, which has surged more than 1,000% since Saylor’s pivot. The company’s market capitalization has increase to around $25.7 billion, topping the level that it previously peaked at in March 2000. MicroStrategy reached a settlement in December 2000 with the SEC over accounting fraud allegations.
The average price for the latest acquisition of Bitcoin was $68,477, while the average price for the total holding is $33,706, according to the filing. Bitcoin reached a record high of more than $72,000 on Monday.
Shares of MicroStrategy rose 6.6% to %1,513.46 as of 9:33 a.m. in New York.
–With assistance from Tom Contiliano.
(Updates the convertible notes, context of Microstrategy’s Bitcoin purchases throughout the article.)
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