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MicroStrategy Buys More Bitcoin, Chairman Saylor Urges Microsoft To Do the Same
Key Takeaways
MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) bought another $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin ( BTCUSD ) last week, the company said Monday.
With this latest purchase of 15,400 bitcoins, MicroStrategy now holds 402,100 total, which is just under 2% of the 21 million total supply that will ever exist.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, MicroStrategy is the second-largest holder of bitcoin in the public markets behind BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ( IBIT ), which is a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
MicroStrategy continued its bitcoin buying spree, with this latest stash acquired at an average purchase price of $95,976 per bitcoin. Company chairman Michael Saylor teased the announcement on X over the weekend.
MicroStrategy shares were down nearly 1% in recent trading Monday, though they have gained a whopping 500% year-to-date. Bitcoin was trading below $96,000 at the same time, down 1.4%
Saylor Urges Microsoft To Buy Bitcoin
Saylor has espoused the potential benefits of publicly-traded companies holding bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset since 2020, when MicroStrategy made its first bitcoin purchase.
As more companies have started to adopt this strategy in 2024, some analysts believe it could prop up the prices for the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization in times of volatility.
However, other mega-cap tech firms—with the exception of Tesla ( TSLA ), which sold most of its bitcoin holdings but still owns roughly a billion dollars worth—have not made active bitcoin purchases. Saylor is looking to change that by urging Microsoft ( MSFT ) to buy the digital asset.
In a video dated Dec. 1, Saylor said he presented to the Microsoft board why the tech giant should buy bitcoin. He urged the tech giant to invest in the cryptocurrency instead of buybacks or distributing dividends to eliminate shareholder risk and increase enterprise value.
This presentation follows a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a think tank that engages in shareholder activism in support of conservative policies, for an assessment of investing in bitcoin. The Microsoft board previously recommended shareholders vote against the proposal.