MicroStrategy is a brand that is popular in both industries, the stock market and the crypto market. Its Bitcoin Treasury strategy wrote its success story with golden words in history.
MicroStrategy escalated crypto’s mainstream adoption and established Bitcoin as the treasury management asset. By adopting the Bitcoin strategy, the company set an example for the whole industry. The company’s strategic approach to Bitcoin investment draws enormous attention from institutional investors to the crypto space.
MicroStrategy is a popular Software company led by Michael Saylor. It is also known for its aggressive Bitcoin buying. The firm has emerged as a true pioneer and the most aggressive institutional buyer of Bitcoin in the last five years.
The company’s approach to corporate treasury management was unconventional. Since adopting a Bitcoin-centric strategy in 2020, the company has transformed its financial profile and garnered significant media attention.
In 2020, the world witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a global liquidity crisis. The pandemic forced countries to adopt loose monetary policies to stimulate the economy, which devalued currencies and raised inflation concerns.
While the whole world was worried about COVID-19 and the global crisis, Michael Saylor reevaluated Bitcoin’s value. He led the foundation of the Bitcoin strategy for MicroStrategy. He believed that people worldwide needed a hedging asset against the unlimited supply of fiat currency.
Saylor’s Bitcoin strategy was simple and was the biggest reason behind MicroStrategy’s success. The strategy was more successful and aggressive when compared to Bitcoin ETFs launched by companies like BlackRock and others.
The firm aggressively buys BTC via corporate idle funds, share offerings, issuing convertible bonds, and other methods. As the company rapidly bought BTC over the last five years, its price has averaged over time.
MicroStrategy certainly takes the crypto game one level ahead. How? Let’s dig into its Bitcoin strategy, its previous purchases, its rise as the biggest Bitcoin holder firm, and more.
What is MicroStrategy?
MicroStrategy, a business intelligence firm, was founded by Michael J. Saylor and Sanju Bansal in 1989. This Virginia-based company develops software to assist organizations in making data-driven decisions.
The software developed by the firm can handle and analyze vast amounts of data and provide valuable insight to the clients. Besides software services, the firm also provides mobile app development and cloud-based services.
The dot-com crash badly damaged the company and its stock price in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the company bounced back, and in 2020, it started its Bitcoin strategy, which helped the company’s stock price recover from previous losses.
Moreover, the company and its founder Michael J. Saylor are more popular for their Bitcoin acquisition than its services. The firm and its founder always remain in the headlines for its bitcoin strategy and acquisition.
MicroStrategy was the first firm which adopt the Bitcoin treasury strategy and become the largest Bitcoin holder till now. However, it is not alone in this game there are other public companies who adopted the same Bitcoin strategy such as Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, Tesla, HUT8, Coinbase, and some more.
How MicroStrategy Funds Its Bitcoin Purchases
MicroStrategy has purchased a large number of Bitcoins since 2020, raising funds through four avenues. The firm uses corporate cash, senior secured notes, market equity offerings, and the issuance of convertible senior notes for its BTC buying.
- Buying Through Corporate Funds: In the beginning, the firm utilized its corporate funds to acquire Bitcoins. Between August 2020 and December 2020, MicroStrategy invested $475 million to buy 40,770 BTCs.
- Convertible Bonds: The Company utilizes convertible bond issuance to buy more Bitcoins. In simple words, Convertible Senior Notes or Convertible Bonds are the instruments that give investors the power to convert their issued Bonds into company stock. However, these methods have specific terms and conditions.
- Senior Secured Instruments: After convertible bonds, MicroStrategy uses Senior Secured Notes for its bitcoin purchases. The Firm issued about $489 million of Senior Secured Notes, which collateralized in 2028 at a 6.125% interest rate. Senior Secured Notes are bonds with a lower risk rate and provide a fixed interest return.
- Equity Issuances: MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin strategy was successful, and its share price skyrocketed. The firm offered equity to raise more funds without any risk of debt or repayment. The company has At-the-Market (ATM) offering agreements with entities such as Jefferies, Cowen and Company LLC, and BTIG LLC.
“Also, read and know What is a Bitcoin ETF? The Rise of Institutional Crypto Adoption”
MicroStrategy Bitcoin Purchases and History
MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Adoption Journey started in the pandemic 2020, when it made headlines with its initial Bitcoin purchase. Saylors shared his thoughts on how digital assets, especially Bitcoin, are a reliable store of value and a fascinating investment asset with a lot more potential than holding fiat currency.
After the first purchase, MicroStrategy never stops and consistently acquires Bitcoins through various purchases. After exploring MicroStrategy, it’s time to look at its Bitcoin investments.
- 2020 The Beginning: MicroStrategy started its crypto journey on 11 August 2020 with its initial purchase of 21,454 BTC for $250 Million as a treasury reserve asset. At the time, this move was considered too risky by many mainstream financial experts.
After this, the company made three more purchases and added 49,016 Bitcoin to its stack for $875 million. By the end of the year, the company’s total holding reached 70,470 BTC.
- 2021: In 2021, the firm aggressively increased its holdings, notable purchases including 19,452 BTC in February for $1.026 billion and 13,005 BTC in June for around $489 Million. At the end of the year, the company accumulated over 42,848 BTC across several transactions, bringing its total holding to 124,391 BTC.
- 2022: In 2022 the company didn’t acquire that much bitcoin as compared to 2021 due to volatility. In this year the firm purchased a total of 7,853 BTC for $262.65 Million bringing it total holding to 132,50 Bitcoins.
- 2023: In 2023, the firm made some major purchases, including 6,455 BTC in March for $150 million, 12,333 BTC for $347 million, 16,130 BTC in November for $593.3 million, and 16,130 BTC for $615.7 million. At the end of the year, the company’s total holdings reached 189,150 Bitcoins.
- 2024: In 2024, MicroStrategy again showcased its aggressiveness in acquiring the king of digital assets. They’ve consistently added to their Bitcoin reserves and made headlines with some of their biggest purchases. In the whole year, the company acquired 90,079 Bitcoins for $6 Billion.
At the end of the year, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings stand at 446,400 BTC, purchased for an aggregate purchase price of $27.19 billion. This year solidified the company’s position as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally.
The company showing a similar commitment in 2025. In the first 15 days it acquired about 3600 Bitcoin for approximately $343 million and currently, it holds about 450,000 Bitcoins.
The Mind Behind MicroStrategy?
Michael Saylor is the mind behind MicroStrategy and its famous Bitcoin strategy. Saylor served as CEO until early August 2022, after that he transitioned to the role of chairman.
Saylor is the biggest Bitcoin advocate and built most of his fortune through his investments in Bitcoin. Currently, his net worth is around $4.8 Billion. Not only this he is also among the top individuals with the largest Bitcoin Holdings. He holds over 17,732 BTC.
Saylor always has a bullish outlook on Bitcoin, which is reflected in his aggressive investment strategy. In the past, he made various price forecasts for Bitcoin, suggesting it may reach a new high when it becomes more mainstream. He also predicted it might reach the $1 million mark in the future.
Impact of Bitcoin On MicroStrategy’s Net Worth
There was a time when MicroStrategy’s net worth and share price were influenced by its core business operations, but after adopting the Bitcoin strategy it was increasingly influenced by its Bitcoin holdings. The MicroStrategy’s market valuation is now correlated with the Bitcoin price.
In the last five years, MicroStrategy’s stock (MSTR) has showcased outstanding growth: It has grown by almost 2,713.36%. Moreover, the stock skyrocketed in 2024 and also hit an all-time high.
The data indicates how the company’s aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy impacts MSTR’s stock price. This strategy also increased investors’ confidence in the company’s stock and business.
Saylor’s Vision Behind Bitcoin Strategy
Michael Saylor has a solid belief that Bitcoin represents a superior monetary network. He argues that unlike fiat currencies which can be indefinitely printed by governments and use Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation as it has a limited supply of 21 Billion BTCs.
The main aspects of Saylor’s vision are the hedge against inflation, storing as a value, and exploring more use cases of Bitcoin. Salor views Bitcoin as the best asset against the rising inflammation,
Moreover, the company’s financial statement also reflects Saylor’s conviction. While traditional companies might view crypto as a high-risk asset, they view it as a great store of value compared to cash. He argues that BTC’s decentralized feature makes it a perfect option for storing wealth.
Besides all this, he also believes that as technology evolves, the world will witness more use cases of Bitcoin.
Final Thoughts
MicroStrategy’s aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy led by Michael Saylor has positioned the company as a pioneering and influential player in the crypto space.
The company took Bitcoin’s potential to another level and inspired the whole financial industry. The firm also made the crypto space and Bitcoin more mainstream and gathered the attention of institutional investors in this market.
As the crypto market becomes more mainstream and its adoption increases, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin strategy and purchase history will become a case study for the financial world.
