MicroStrategy Bitcoin Bet Backfires, Holding Losses Near $1 Billion – What Now?

Michael Saylor, founder and CEO of MicroStrategy, placed a large wager on Bitcoin that did not appear to pay off, since the company’s Bitcoin holdings have reached over $1 billion.

As BTC sank to its lowest level in 18 months in the face of an increasing selloff in risk assets and after a crypto lender froze withdrawals from its platform, cryptocurrency-related companies took another heavy blow early on Tuesday.

Over the past two years, the software developer, spearheaded by Bitcoin proponent Saylor, has spent about $4 billion and accumulated approximately 130,000 BTCs.

MicroStrategy's BTC assets are now worth nearly $3 billion as of Tuesday morning, when Bitcoin lost as much as 17 percent of its value to a pitiful $22,603.. Image: Coingape.

MicroStrategy’s average buy price for Bitcoin has rapidly increased with each new acquisition since 2020, reaching $30,700 as of March 31, according to its most recent quarterly SEC filing.

Previously, MicroStrategy’s Chief Financial Officer Phone Le warned that if the business received a margin call, it would be required to provide additional security for the loan or sell part of its cryptocurrency assets.

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MicroStrategy Bitcoin Bet Goes Awry

MicroStrategy’s BTC holdings are now worth almost $3 billion after Bitcoin lost as much as 17 percent of its value to a paltry $22,603 Tuesday morning when crypto lender Celsius Network halted withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on its platform. This amounts to approximately $1 billion in Bitcoin-related losses for the enterprise.

The entire cryptocurrency market has lost more than $400 billion over the last seven days, bringing it to a valuation of less than $1 trillion. Bitcoin’s price has fallen by more than half from its all-time high in November of last year.

BTC total market cap at $421 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Saylor-Led Software Firm Is Not Alone

Other crypto stocks, such as Riot Blockchain, Coinbase Global, and Marathon Digital Holdings, also registered double-digit drops.

Tesla, an American electric car manufacturer, and El Salvador, the first nation to use Bitcoin as legal cash, have both seen a significant portion of the value of their BTC holdings evaporate as a result of the ongoing market pandemonium.

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As a result of its exposure to Bitcoin, Microstrategy’s stock price has declined in unison with the cryptocurrency. On Monday, the share price of MSTR fell by a quarter to $152.77, its lowest point since November 2020.

Since Saylor began adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet in August 2020 as a hedge against economic volatility as opposed to holding cash in the corporate treasury, the correlation between the company’s stock price and Bitcoin has increased significantly.

Featured image from TechnoPixel, chart from TradingView.com