Michael Saylor: MicroStrategy Exploring Options to Use Its Bitcoin

MicroStrategy bought 10,300 bitcoins in the fourth quarter and an additional 660 in January

article-image

Michael Saylor, CEO, MicroStrategy; Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • MicroStrategy now holds 125,051 bitcoins, which it has acquired for nearly $3.8 billion
  • More opportunities to use company’s acquired bitcoin will come as banks get more involved in the crypto space, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor says

MicroStrategy is looking to continue buying and holding bitcoin, as executives said the company’s options to pursue leverage, yield or strategic partnership opportunities using its bitcoin will increase as the asset class continues to mature.

The Virginia-based analytics and business intelligence company is the world’s largest publicly traded corporate owner of bitcoin.

MicroStrategy now holds 125,051 bitcoins, which it has acquired for nearly $3.8 billion — an average price of $30,200. About 110,000 of the company’s bitcoins are not pledged as collateral and could be used to generate yield or to leverage, executives said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.

“In a world where, say, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and Bank of America and CitiGroup and JPMorgan are interested and involved in the space, I think the options that will be available to us will be greater and the counter-party risk that we would have to incur will be less,” said CEO Michael Saylor.

MicroStrategy bought 10,300 bitcoins during the fourth quarter for an average price of $57,113. The purchases followed a capital raise through the firm’s at-the-market equity offering.

The firm revealed in a filing Tuesday that it purchased an additional 660 bitcoins between Dec. 30 and Jan. 31 for roughly $25 million in cash – amounting to $37,865 per bitcoin.

[stock_market_widget type=”inline” template=”generic” assets=”BTC-USD” markup=”{name} ({symbol}) is trading at {price} ({change_pct}).” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf”]

MicroStrategy plans to continue using free cash flow to buy more bitcoin, and will also continue evaluating opportunities to raise additional capital as a way to purchase the digital asset, Saylor said. 

Saylor took a few minutes during the earnings call to tout the opportunity of investing in his company’s stock. He argued that MicroStrategy does not have the same capital obligations or competitive uncertainties that bitcoin miners have.

MicroStrategy compares favorably to bitcoin futures-based ETFs, Saylor added, noting the costs of rolling over the futures contracts. 

Even a spot bitcoin ETF, which the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved, would carry a cost between 50 and 100 basis points, he explained.

Some industry watchers have said they do not expect a spot bitcoin ETF to come to market until at least 2023. As issuers wait for approval, the number of blockchain- and crypto-related ETFs continue to increase, and many have MicroStrategy among their top holdings. 

[stock_market_widget type=”accordion” template=”info” color=”#5D25E5″ assets=”MSTR” start_expanded=”true” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf”]


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY

TUES, OCT. 8, 2024

Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

hivemapper.jpeg

Research

We believe crypto market participants overlook Hivemapper’s fundamental potential due to a poor understanding of both the niche map data market and Hivemapper’s positioning relative to incumbents. Hivemapper’s token model catalyzes both a cost and product advantage via unmatched map freshness and near real-time accuracy, which is its wedge into a market characterized by stale data and high data collection costs. Its current and potential future product suite may represent one of the strongest possibilities for PMF in crypto today.

article-image

👨‍⚖️ SBF’s courtroom sequel: Plus, Coinbase’s legal loss was DeFi’s gain

article-image

Public mining companies have been acquiring sites, refreshing machine fleets and diversifying business models in preparation for the event

article-image

Exploit shows centralization can sometimes be an asset

article-image

The Fidelity Ethereum Fund, like other proposed ETH ETFs, seeks to stake a portion of its assets, according to the firm’s Wednesday registration statement

article-image

The DAO first voted on enabling SAFE transfers over a year ago