Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought $1.9 billion of Bitcoin, the largest acquisition of the cryptocurrency in terms of tokens by the firm this year.
The purchase, the latest in a series of almost weekly acquisitions of the cryptocurrency since late October, increased the dot-com-era software maker turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy’s holding of the digital asset to around $43.4 billion. That is about 2.5% of all the 21 million in tokens slated to be issued.
The former MicroStrategy purchased 22,048 Bitcoin at an average price of approximately $86,969 from March 24 through March 30, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
In the first quarter, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company spent $7.79 billion on Bitcoin, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The next largest purchase as measured by tokens was 20,356 announced on Feb. 24. Strategy announced nine purchases during the first quarter.
Strategy financed the latest purchase with proceeds raised through its common shares at-the-market sales program and preferred shares offerings.
The common shares of Strategy have surged about 2,200% since Saylor began investing the company’s cash into Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation in 2020. Bitcoin is up over 600% during the same period.
Hedge funds have been driving some of the demand for the convertible debt that’s been doled out in public offerings, as they seek out Strategy for trades that incorporate buying the bonds and selling the shares short, essentially betting on the underlying stock’s volatility.
