MicroStrategy Taps Stock Market to Fund Record Bitcoin Buy

(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc. bought a record $4.6 billion in Bitcoin, making good on plans announced last month to tap capital markets to accelerate purchases of the cryptocurrency.

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The enterprise software maker, whose corporate strategy includes buying the digital asset, acquired about 51,780 Bitcoin between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, according to an US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. That follows purchases of over 27,000 Bitcoin between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10, and two large acquisitions in September. The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm now owns around $30 billion in Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy co-founder and Chairman Michael Saylor decided to invest in Bitcoin in 2020 as a hedge against inflation. The firm initially used cash to make the purchases, and has shifted to using the proceeds from the issuance and sale of stock, as well as convertible debt sales to leverage its buying power. On Oct. 30, the firm announced that it hired banks to help it raise $42 billion through the sale of new shares and fixed income to buy more Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy tapped its so-called at-the-market program to sell 13.6 million shares into the market over the week ending Nov. 17, the filing showed. The sales are part of a record $21 billion program that enables the company’s bankers to create shares to sell into the market. The proceeds pooled over the past week would mark the fourth largest, at-the-market deal by itself, a signal of the rampant demand for shares, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The company is now the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin, with 331,200 Bitcoin purchased at an aggregate price of approximately $16.5 billion — well below the current value.

Investors are on board with the strategy. The company’s stock price is up over 400% year-to-date, making it the second-best performer among major stocks followed by Bloomberg after Applovin Corp.

–With assistance from Tom Contiliano.

(Adds the at-the-market program in the fourth paragraph.)