The value of bitcoin continues to surge higher, blasting past $60,000 per token on Wednesday, up some 5.5% as midday Eastern approached. Certainly one of the key catalysts is the record net inflows into the recently launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as we wrote about Tuesday.
For the reason that 11 spot bitcoin ETFs debuted on January 11, the value of bitcoin has jumped from about $43,000 to the present $60,000+ level — about 40%. This week alone, the value has climbed a staggering 16% from about $51,000 on Monday. The value of bitcoin is now closing in on its all-time high of just about $69,000, set in November 2021.
One other catalyst for the spike was likely an enormous purchase by MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), a business intelligence firm that can also be the most important corporate owner of bitcoin.
MicroStrategy owns 193,000 bitcoin
MicroStrategy, based in Tysons Corner, Va., offers AI-powered intelligence, data and workflow software solutions for businesses. Nonetheless, in 2020, the corporate implemented a latest corporate strategy of adopting bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. Company officials said MicroStrategy was the primary publicly traded company to adopt this strategy.
Based on the corporate’s fourth-quarter earnings report, MicroStrategy held 190,000 bitcoin as of Feb. 5, valued at $5.93 billion or $31,224 per bitcoin. Within the fourth quarter and into the present quarter, the corporate has been on a bitcoin buying spree.
“We acquired 31,755 additional Bitcoins because the end of the third quarter, marking the most important quarterly bitcoin holding increase within the last 3 years and the thirteenth consecutive quarter of adding more bitcoin on our balance sheet. We benefited from the numerous increase in Bitcoin prices in Q4 and we also continued to leverage our strategic capital markets activities and money available to build up more bitcoin and accrete incremental value for our shareholders,” said Andrew Kang, chief financial officer at MicroStrategy, within the earnings report.
Since that report got here out on Feb. 6. MicroStrategy has bought one other roughly 3,000 bitcoin, based on a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing posted on Feb. 26.
Based on the SEC filing, MicroStrategy purchased roughly 3,000 bitcoins between Feb. 15 and Feb. 25 for $155.4 million at a mean price of roughly $51,813 per bitcoin. The purchases were made using proceeds from the issuance and sale of shares and excess money. After this purchase, the corporate now owns roughly 193,000 bitcoins valued at $6.09 billion, at a mean purchase price of roughly $31,544 per bitcoin.
Stock price up 52% YTD
MicroStrategy stock has been on a tear this past week, popping one other 10% on Wednesday to about $960 per share during Wednesday’s session. For the reason that close of the market last Friday, when it was trading at $687 per share, MicroStrategy stock is up by about 40% as of Wednesday. Yr so far, it’s up by about 52% as of Feb. 28.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, MicroStrategy founder and Chairman Michael Saylor said the corporate’s bitcoin purchases won’t subside.
“I’m going to be buying the highest eternally,” Saylor told Bloomberg.
He called bitcoin the “strongest asset class,” and he believes capital goes to maintain flowing into it from other asset classes like gold, real estate, and stocks or the S&P 500.
“There’s just no reason to sell the winner to purchase the losers,” Saylor added.