• MicroStrategy bought 2,395 BTC for $42.8 million in cash between Nov. 1 and Dec. 21, 2022.
• It then sold 704 BTC at a loss on Dec. 22 to offset previous capital gains. MicroStrategy then bought 810 BTC on Dec. 24.
• Ultimately, the transactions resulted in an increase of MicroStrategy’s bitcoin holdings by 2,500 BTC, now totaling 132,500 BTC.
Software analytics company MicroStrategy came out with a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 22, 2022, detailing its first sale of bitcoin since it began adding the digital currency to its treasury in 2020. The sale was done in order to generate a net tax benefit, as the losses incurred by the sale would be able to offset any previous capital gains, per the filing.
The sale involved 704 bitcoin, at a price of $16,776 each. Two days later, the company bought 810 bitcoin, at a higher price of $16,845 each. A larger purchase preceded the sale, when MicroStrategy bought 2,395 bitcoin between November 1 and December 21, 2022, which cost approximately $42.8 million, and worked out to an average price of $17,871 per bitcoin inclusive of fees and expenses.
In total, the transactions resulted in an increase of MicroStrategy’s bitcoin holdings by 2,500 BTC, and the company now holds 132,500 BTC, acquired for about $4.03 billion at an average price of $30,397 per bitcoin. As a result, the Virginia-based firm currently faces an unrealized loss of over $1.8 billion.
The move by MicroStrategy is yet another example of an institutional investor taking a long-term and strategic approach to the bitcoin market. The company’s CEO, Michael Saylor, has been a vocal proponent of the asset in recent months, speaking out about its potential in terms of its long-term value. With this latest purchase, it appears that MicroStrategy is taking a well-calculated risk, hoping to capitalize on the appreciation of bitcoin over time.