'Whale' MicroStrategy Increases Reserve to 450,000 Bitcoin

The world's largest Bitcoin holding company MicroStrategy has been buying for 10 consecutive weeks to increase its total inventory to 450,000 BTC, equivalent to more than 42.5 billion USD

MicroStrategy (MSTR) increased its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings for the 10th consecutive week. The company purchased 2,530 BTC for $243 million in the week ending January 12, bringing its total holdings to 450,000 units. The average price of its latest Bitcoin purchase was $95,972. The company’s overall average purchase price for its cryptocurrency holdings was $62,691.

Thus, based on the closing price on January 13, MicroStrategy is holding more than 42.5 billion USD in digital assets.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor recommended that businesses invest in Bitcoin instead of bonds at a conference of US CEOs . He said that bonds are a "toxic" investment channel. According to the billionaire, BTC has increased significantly since 2020, when MicroStrategy used it as its main treasury reserve asset. On the other hand, bonds have decreased during this period.

Michael Saylor - Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, Photo: Bloomberg

MicroStrategy, founded 35 years ago and still in the software business for most of its life, saw its stock surge 337% last year, making it the best performer among U.S. companies valued at $5 billion or more, even outpacing Nvidia and Meta, thanks to its Bitcoin-holding strategy.

The company started buying BTC in mid-2020, betting that the cryptocurrency would help it survive in a period of fierce competition. Today, more than 90% of the company's value is tied to its Bitcoin holdings.

However, the close connection with BTC leads to the company's stock price fluctuating strongly with the cryptocurrency market . MicroStrategy's code fell nearly 5% when the market broke the $90,000 mark last night.

After reclaiming the $100,000 price range at the beginning of the year, Bitcoin has begun to correct to a lower region. For about a week, this cryptocurrency has been trading around $92,000-95,000. Last night, BTC fell to $89,260 per unit, down nearly 18% from its peak on December 17.

The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization excluding stablecoins, memecoins and exchange tokens — fell more than 3%. Popular coins such as XRP, ADA and DOGE posted even steeper losses.

Data released late last week showed the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% and average hourly earnings were slightly lower than expected at 0.3% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year. That prompted Goldman Sachs to push its case for the next Federal Reserve rate cut to June instead of March as previously forecast.

"Our economists now expect the Fed to cut just twice in 2025, in June and December, compared to March, June and December previously," Goldman said in a note to clients.

While Goldman and JPMorgan still expect rate cuts, Bank of America (BofA) is concerned that the move will be paused for a long time, with the risk tilted toward a rate hike or re-tightening. They note that the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, which is sensitive to interest rates, economic growth and inflation expectations, has risen 100 basis points since the September 2024 cut.