- MicroStrategy raised $34 million during its first ever bitcoin sale.
- In 2022, the company suffered a paper loss exceeding 1 billion.
- MicroStrategy purchased its first bitcoin in August 2020.
Despite making a paper loss of about $1.3 billion in 2022, MicroStrategy’s chief financial officer, Andrew Kang, said that the company will continue trading bitcoin. During a presentation for the Q4 2022 financial results webnier, Kang said:
“We may consider pursuing additional transactions that may take advantage of the volatility in Bitcoin prices, or other market dislocations that are consistent with our long-term Bitcoin strategy.”
The company’s stand on digital currencies comes at a time the crypto market is witnessing considerable recovery from last year’s plunge although it is not clear if digital currencies will ever reclaim their previous highs.
Microstrategy bitcoin investment
Microstrategy made its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020 acquiring 21,454 BTC in what it described as a “capital allocation strategy.” The company has been accumulating bitcoins since then and by December 24 2022 it had as much as 132,500 BTC worth $4.027 billion according to Microstrategy bitcoin statistics On the Buy Bitcoin Worldwide Website.
Kang, in a presentation on February 2023 confirmed that Microstrategy had 132,500 bitcoins worth $1.84 billion as at Dec 31, 2022.
MicroStrategy lost $34 million in the quarter that ended after its first ever Bitcoin sale. To recover some tax losses, the company decided to sell some bitcoins.
Michael Saylor, founder of Microstrategy said Bitcoin is one the most important benchmarks it uses for its stock performance. He said that the company’s stock has risen by 117% since August 2020 compared to the bitcoin price which has risen by 98% in the same period.
Saylor spoke out in an interview with a major news source.
“The only real safe haven for an institutional investor is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the only universally acknowledged digital commodity, and so if you’re an investor, Bitcoin is your safe haven in this regard.”
