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Michael Saylor's $4.7B Bitcoin Bet Back in the Green

MicroStrategy, the software company led by Saylor, began buying the crypto more than three years ago and at last check held more than 158,000 bitcoins.

By Shaurya Malwa
AccessTimeIconOct 23, 2023 at 1:04 p.m. UTC
MicroStrategy Executive Director Michael Saylor (CoinDesk)
MicroStrategy Executive Director Michael Saylor (CoinDesk)
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The bitcoin (BTC) holdings of MicroStrategy (MSTR) have again turned profitable as prices pushed towards $31,000 on Monday morning.

The company's stash was deeply in the red late in 2022 as bitcoin slumped nearly 80% from its November 2021 peak, but catalysts such as a spot ETF and the upcoming halving event have helped bolster fortunes, leading to a near-doubling in price this year.

Formerly the CEO of MicroStrategy and now its executive chairman, Michael Saylor over the years has become one of bitcoin's most vocal supporters and remains a prolific buyer. His firm has so far sold only once: A 708 bitcoin sale in December 2022, worth $11 million at the time.

The company's most recent publicly known purchases were in the weeks ahead of Sept. 24 of this year when it added 5,445 bitcoins for just under $150 million, or an average price of $27,053 each. That brought MicroStrategy's holdings to 158,245 bitcoins acquired at an aggregate purchase price of roughly $4.68 billion, or an average price of $29,582 each.

At the current price of $30,650, the bitcoin bet is in the green by about $1,000 per coin, for a total gain of roughly $160 million.

The firm's holdings of 158,245 bitcoins is nearly 14 times that of the next nearest institutional holder, data from Bitcoin Treasuries show.

Saylor has purchased bitcoin over 30 separate transactions since 2020. (Saylortracker)
Saylor has purchased bitcoin over 30 separate transactions since 2020. (Saylortracker)

And MicroStrategy might be buying even more. The company in August said it may raise up to $750 million by selling more stock, with plans to use some of the proceeds to purchase bitcoin.

Edited by Stephen Alpher.


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Shaurya Malwa
Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.

Follow @shauryamalwa on Twitter

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