MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 Conference on June 4, 2021 in Miami.
CFOTO | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Shares of MicroStrategy rose more than 8% on Friday after founder Michael Saylor said the company bought another $1.1 billion worth of bitcoin.
The stock is up 24% for the week and is up 124% this year.
In a post on social media platform X, Saylor said the average purchase price for MicroStrategy’s four years of buying bitcoin was $38,585 per coin. Bitcoin is currently approaching $60,000.
MicroStrategy’s holdings of 244,800 bitcoins are worth $14.6 billion.
Founded in 1989, MicroStategy has businesses in enterprise software and cloud-based services, but its value is now tied almost entirely to its bitcoin holdings, making the company a proxy for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the largest corporate holder of the asset, according to Treasuries.
Saylor’s Friday post added that MicroStrategy’s “BTC return” is 17% for the year. This figure shows that the company created 17% more value for shareholders by selling shares to buy bitcoins.
“We’re basically giving people different types of exposure to bitcoin,” Saylor said in an interview with CNBC this week. “MicroStrategy’s mission is to securitize bitcoin and act as an institutional bridge between traditional, mainstream investors and bitcoin.”
Even after this week’s rally, MicroStrategy shares are down about 26% from their March high. The stock closed Friday at $141.47.
But MicroStrategy is outperforming bitcoin, which is up 35% year-to-date. Saylor said owning MicroStrategy is a way to invest in bitcoin, but with different attributes, such as increased leverage or downside protection.
“A lot of people don’t want or can’t own bitcoin,” Saylor said. Some said, “Give me the volatility of the S&P and half the performance of bitcoin, and I’ll be perfectly happy.”
