Cloud software company MicroStrategy today announced another Bitcoin buy—spending this time $10 million on the cryptocurrency—despite the price of the asset dropping below $20,000.
The tech firm has now spent over $3.98 billion on Bitcoin, and owns 129,699 digital coins, according to statements from its CEO Michael Saylor. It is also at a loss of $1.3 billion since the price of the currency has dipped.
MicroStrategy CTO Phong Lee last month told shareholders that if the price of Bitcoin dropped below $21,000, the company would face a margin call on a $205 million loan that it took out in March to buy more BTC. The price of Bitcoin currently stands just under $20,000—70% lower than its November all-time high of nearly $69,000, per CoinMarketCap data.
MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 480 bitcoins for ~$10.0 million at an average price of ~$20,817 per #bitcoin. As of 6/28/22 @MicroStrategy holds ~129,699 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.98 billion at an average price of ~$30,664 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/leQYTXn817
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) June 29, 2022
A margin call is when a margin account (a type of account offered by brokerage firms that allows investors to borrow money to buy other assets) runs low on funds, usually because of a losing trade.
A margin call in MicroStrategy’s case would have potentially meant forced selling of its Bitcoin holdings to prevent further losses to shareholders. But Saylor doesn’t seem worried.
Earlier this month, the MicroStrategy CEO took to Twitter to remind followers (and investors) and the company “anticipated volatility and structured its balance sheet so that it could continue to HODL through adversity.” Saylor had previously addressed margin call concerns in May, assuring shareholders then that even if the price of Bitcoin continued to fall, his company was prepared to “post some other collateral.”
Even as Crypto Winter sets in, the tech CEO appears steadfastly convinced that Bitcoin will go up in value in the long term.
MicroStrategy started its Bitcoin-buying spree back in 2020 when it initially spent $250 million on the asset. Saylor repeatedly touted the biggest and oldest cryptocurrency as a “safe haven” asset and “digital gold.”
But Bitcoin has been closely correlated to the U.S. stock market—tech stocks in particular—more than anything in 2022, and has taken a beating this year, shedding 57% ($521 billion) of its market cap since January.
MicroStrategy stock was today down 5.21%, trading for $176.42 a share.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/104076/microstrategy-buys-more-bitcoin-despite-price-crash-20k
