Here’s how Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy went about buying $175m in Bitcoin 🚨 This article is 4 years old...
Here’s how Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy went about buying $175m in Bitcoin
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Updated: Oct. 29, 2020 at 8:45 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
MicroStrategy has become the poster child of mainstream Bitcoin adoption amongst corporations. It is the only publicly listed company to turn towards BTC as a reserve asset to store their capital in.
Their announcement last month regarding their decision to ditch the US Dollar in favor of BTC to store their capital was a big one, because it showed that the benchmark digital asset is gaining utility as a store of value.
For a company with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, the decision makes sense, as the crypto’s scarcity allows them to avoid the massive losses that would otherwise be incurred due to inflation.
Acquiring this much BTC without going through over the counter (OTC) venues is no easy task, however, and the company’s CEO explained in a recent tweet how they went about doing this.
MicroStrategy now holds 38,250 Bitcoin
Earlier this week, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor announced that his company had doubled down on their Bitcoin bet, adding $175m worth of the digital asset to their holdings.
This massive purchase came about just weeks after the company had revealed its plans to switch to an alternative Bitcoin-focused financial strategy. They now intend to hold their entire capital reserves in BTC to avoid inflation and devaluation of the US Dollar, which is being printed at unprecedented rates.
This strategy is unprecedented and was kicked off by the purchase of a whopping $250m worth of the digital asset.
The company revealed on September 15th that they were buying even more BTC, conducting a $175 million purchase via the spot retail markets. This may have caused Bitcoin’s price to rally to $10,900 while the rest of the market trended lower.
Their total holdings now stack up to 38,250 Bitcoin, with an aggregated purchase price of $425 million.
Here’s how MicroStrategy market-bought 16,796 BTC
During their latest bout of purchasing, MicroStrategy used the retail market to acquire their crypto, with the company’s CEO explaining that they purchased 16,796 BTC throughout 74 hours of continuous trading.
“To acquire 16,796 BTC (disclosed 9/14/20), we traded continuously 74 hours, executing 88,617 trades ~0.19 BTC each 3 seconds. ~$39,414 in BTC per minute, but at all times we were ready to purchase $30-50 million in a few seconds if we got lucky with a 1-2% downward spike.”
The massive amount of capital that was introduced into the market as a result of these 74 hours of continuous trading likely had lasting impacts that may still be influencing Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Market Data
At the time of press 8:45 pm UTC on Oct. 29, 2020, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the price is up 1.76% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $249.05 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $29.62 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Crypto Market Summary
At the time of press 8:45 pm UTC on Oct. 29, 2020, the total crypto market is valued at at $396.27 billion with a 24-hour volume of $86.98 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 62.85%. Learn more about the crypto market ›
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Michael Saylor is the Executive Chairman, founder, and principal shareholder of MicroStrategy.