Starting this year, Bitcoin has entered a phase of accelerating its rise, officially breaking through the $60000 mark on Wednesday, resulting in a staggering 40% increase for the month. This is undoubtedly a frenzy for Bitcoin holders.
The biggest beneficiary of this frenzy is undoubtedly MicroStrategy, the world's largest buyer of Bitcoin. MicroStrategy is an enterprise software company that became widely known for its cryptocurrency speculation, and over time, its market value began to rely entirely on the rise and fall of Bitcoin.
Stock price surged by 40%
Last December, Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy, pointed out when discussing cryptocurrencies, "One thing we can expect is that Bitcoin will continue to move forward in 2024, and the strategies built around Bitcoin are usually quite secure for institutions."
Although the long-term security of Bitcoin may still be controversial, Ceylor's strategy has proven to be profitable, especially based on this week's performance.
On Wednesday, February 28th Eastern Time, MicroStrategy's stock price closed up 10%, with an overall increase of 40% in the first three days of the week.
As the largest investor in MicroStrategy, Seiler holds a 12% stake in the company, and in addition, he disclosed his personal holdings of 17732 Bitcoins in 2020. Overall, Ceylor's net worth increased by approximately $700 million this week, rising from $2.27 billion at the beginning of the week to $2.96 billion on Wednesday.
The biggest catalyst for the rise in MicroStrategy's stock price and Ceylor's value is Bitcoin. So far, the company and its subsidiaries hold a total of approximately 193000 Bitcoins, valued at nearly $12 billion, accounting for nearly 1% of the circulating Bitcoin quantity.
Bitcoin rose to its highest level since November 2021 on Wednesday, rising from $51500 earlier this Monday to approximately $64000 on Wednesday.
However, late Wednesday, due to a malfunction in the application of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, many users had zero account balances and the price of Bitcoin fell to around $61000.
Firmly implement the Bitcoin purchase strategy
MicroStrategy first disclosed its Bitcoin investment plan during a mid 2020 earnings conference call, when the company announced that it would invest $250 million in "one or more alternative assets" over the next 12 months, which could include digital currencies such as Bitcoin. The company's initial market value was approximately $1.1 billion, but today its market value exceeds $16 billion.
At the latest earnings conference call on February 7th, MicroStrategy CFO Andrew Kang emphasized that the company is the world's largest Bitcoin enterprise holder and stated, "We have always been committed to the Bitcoin acquisition strategy with the highest conviction."
Between February 15th and February 25th, the company acquired 3000 Bitcoins for $155 million.