(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc. bought a record $4.6 billion in Bitcoin, making good on plans announced last month to tap capital markets to speed up purchases of the cryptocurrency.
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The enterprise software maker, whose corporate strategy includes buying the digital asset, acquired about 51,780 Bitcoin between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, in keeping with an US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. That follows purchases of over 27,000 Bitcoin between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10, and two large acquisitions in September. The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm now owns around $30 billion in Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy co-founder and Chairman Michael Saylor decided to speculate in Bitcoin in 2020 as a hedge against inflation. The firm initially used money to make the purchases, and has shifted to using the proceeds from the issuance and sale of stock, in addition to convertible debt sales to leverage its buying power. On Oct. 30, the firm announced that it hired banks to assist it raise $42 billion through the sale of recent shares and stuck income to purchase more Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy tapped its so-called at-the-market program to sell 13.6 million shares into the market over the week ending Nov. 17, the filing showed. The sales are a part of a record $21 billion program that permits the corporate’s bankers to create shares to sell into the market. The proceeds pooled over the past week would mark the fourth largest, at-the-market deal by itself, a signal of the rampant demand for shares, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The corporate is now the most important institutional holder of Bitcoin, with 331,200 Bitcoin purchased at an aggregate price of roughly $16.5 billion — well below the present value.
Investors are on board with the strategy. The corporate’s stock price is up over 400% year-to-date, making it the second-best performer amongst major stocks followed by Bloomberg after Applovin Corp.
–With assistance from Tom Contiliano.
(Adds the at-the-market program within the fourth paragraph.)
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