Bitcoin (BTC/USD) inched higher on Wednesday on prospects of Square’s $700 million investment into the cryptocurrency in the previous session. And now, ahead of the New York opening bell, another firm has doubled down its exposure into the digital asset space.
MicroStrategy, one of the world’s largest public-traded business intelligence companies, announced that it had purchased approximately 19,452 BTC worth $1.06 billion at an average rate of $52,765 per unit. The company was already holding more than 71,000 BTC in its reserves. Its latest purchase pushed its collection to roughly 90,531 BTC, worth over $4.5 billion at current exchange rates.
“We will continue to pursue our strategy of acquiring bitcoin with excess cash, and we may, from time to time, subject to market conditions, issue debt or equity securities in capital raising transactions to use the proceeds to purchase additional bitcoin.”
said Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy.
The announcement further attested to Bitcoin’s growing prominence as a store-of-value asset among corporates and financial institutions. Many firms jumped into the cryptocurrency sector, believing the narrative that Bitcoin’s underlying scarcity could make it an ideal hedge against inflation and fiat devaluation.
For instance, Square’s latest investment came in addition to its $50 million worth of bitcoin purchase last year. In another example, US carmaker Tesla revealed that it had bought $1.5 billion in BTC in January.
Bitcoin Bull Setup
The high-profile investments assisted Bitcoin in surging by almost 100 percent in 2021. At its peak, it was up more than 1,200 percent from its mid-March nadir of $3,858.
Bitcoin’s parabolic rise also boosted profit-taking sentiment in the previous two sessions. The cryptocurrency declined by as much as 23 percent from its record high above $58,000, ending only after Square’s announcement.
BTC/USD surged by up to 14.54 percent to hit an intraday high of $51,415.
MicroStrategy’s investments mean that it is taking more bitcoin liquidity out of the supply. Meanwhile, With the cryptocurrency’s retail and institutional demand rising, its price expects to grow higher in the coming sessions.
“It is fun to watch Square and MicroStrategy convert portions of their balance sheet to bitcoin,” said Anthony Pompliano, the co-founder of Morgan Creek. “But the real fun won’t start until we become desensitized to every corporation announcing a similar decision.”
