Michael Saylor is leading the charge again as institutions are piling into Bitcoin
Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy bought 6,455 Bitcoins over the last five weeks, according to a recent filing with the US financial regulator, the SEC.
The crypto purchases were made at an average price of about $23,238 per token, and totalled roughly $150 million.
This latest spree takes the software company’s holdings up to 138,955 Bitcoins, according to media reports, at an average price of $29,817 each.
MicroStrategy’s primary focus is on developing and selling software that enables companies to analyse and visualise large amounts of data, using tools such as dashboards and reports. The company’s software is used by businesses across a variety of industries, including finance, healthcare, retail, and government.
Crypto investments are not new for MicroStrategy, and Saylor frequently advocates for Bitcoin on his Twitter account. In 2020, the company made headlines when it announced that it had converted $425 million of its treasury reserves into Bitcoin, since then the CEO appears to have been on a stacking mission.
Many commentators have expressed surprise about Saylor’s relentless enthusiasm for Bitcoin, citing two main reasons.
First, Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent weeks, with the price pushing over $29,000 briefly yesterday, registering a new high for the year, and typically investors will, of course, prefer to buy low and sell high. This hasn’t been the case here.
Second, US regulators’ crackdowns on industry giants, such as Binance and its CEO CZ would normally whip-up uncertainty and fear, spooking away institutional money. Again, this hasn’t happened.
Instead, MicroStrategy is ramping up Bitcoin investments.
The purchases underscore that institutional investors’ interest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency continues to grow apace – seemingly whatever happens.
These big players, who bring with them not only huge reserves of capital, but also expertise and reputational influence, typically seek to diversify their investment portfolios to reduce risk and maximize returns – and Bitcoin offers an alternative asset class that has a low correlation to traditional assets like stocks, bonds, and commodities.
There’s also, as we are currently seeing and have seen before, the enormous potential for high returns, as its value continues to increase over time.
Saylor, among many others, has often cited the reason his company continues to increase exposure to Bitcoin is because it’s a hedge against inflation due to its finite supply and the fact that its production is limited.
In addition, it is increasingly seen – even by more traditional financial commentators – as a store of value, similar to gold or other precious metals. This characteristic makes it appealing to institutional investors who are looking for a long-term investment.
Plus, with the increasing adoption and acceptance of Bitcoin as a legitimate asset class, institutional investors are seeing it as a way to participate in the growth of the cryptocurrency market and gain exposure to a new asset class.
While others continue to throw shade at Michael Saylor’s unrelenting bullish sentiment on Bitcoin, he shows no signs of decreasing his investment pace. This will not have gone unnoticed by other major investors.