Nasdaq-listed software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin (BTC), has acquired another 11,931 BTC for $786 million, according to a Thursday morning press release.
Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company as of the end of April held 214,400 bitcoins. This latest acquisition brings the company's total holdings to 226,331 tokens worth just under $15 billion at bitcoin's current price of roughly $66,000. The company's bitcoins were purchased at an average price of $36,798 each, or roughly $8.33 billion.
This most recent purchase followed the company's $800 million convertible note offering to institutional investors. That offering size was originally to be for $500, then raised to $700M and finally closed at $800M. In March, the company added 9,245 BTC for $623 million after raising money in a similar debt issuance.
Saylor and MicroStrategy started accumulating the largest and oldest cryptocurrency in 2020 and since have attempted to spearhead a movement to adopt BTC as a reserve asset for other corporate treasuries. While a handful of companies have added modest amounts of bitcoin to their balance sheet, of particular note is U.S.-listed Semler Scientific (SMLR), which over the past three weeks has not only added bitcoin as a relatively sizable treasury asset, but – in similar fashion to MicroStrategy – is attempting to tap capital markets to buy bitcoin in amounts far larger than what its current market cap might indicate.
MicroStrategy shares have risen roughly ten-fold since the firm's bitcoin purchases began four years ago. Semler shares are higher by more than 60% since the company disclosed its first bitcoin buys in late May.
Last week, brokerage firm Bernstein initiated coverage of Microstrategy, setting a $2,890 price target for the company's shares with an outperform rating. MSTR is currently up 2% premarket to $1,507.
Edited by Stephen Alpher.
