MicroStrategy buys $615.7M more bitcoin in December

Tysons-based tech company MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries continued to grow their cryptocurrency cache in December, nearing $8 billion in bitcoin holdings.

The company and its subsidiaries purchased about $615.7 million worth of bitcoin — approximately 14,620 coins — in cash from Nov. 30 to Dec. 26, according to MicroStrategy’s Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries held about 189,150 bitcoins as of Dec. 26, which it purchased for about more than $5.89 billion total. The average purchase price per bitcoin was approximately $31,168, including fees and expenses. As of 12:47 p.m. Friday, bitcoins were selling for $41,719.61 per unit, valuing MicroStrategy’s total bitcoin holdings at about $7.89 billion. That’s a drop from Thursday’s closing price of $42,614.65 per unit.

Also included in the SEC filing, as of Dec. 26, MicroStrategy received approximately $610.1 million in net proceeds from selling more than 1.07 million class A common shares through its sale agreement with Cowen and Co., Canaccord Genuity and BTIG, a deal it agreed to Nov. 30. As of 12:55 p.m. Friday, shares were trading for $619.25, down from Thursday’s closing price of $667.88 per share.

MicroStrategy announced its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020, saying it had converted $250 million from its cash holdings to more than 21,000 bitcoins, making it one of the first public companies to convert its cash treasury reserves into cryptocurrency as a store of value.

MicroStrategy founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who stepped down as CEO after the company’s August 2022 earnings report, is currently facing a lawsuit from Washington, D.C., alleging he defrauded the city of more than $25 million in income taxes. Although in March a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed part of the lawsuit that could have netted D.C. up to $150 million, the city can proceed with the part of the lawsuit seeking $25 million.