MicroStrategy Says It Bought More Bitcoin During December’s Dip

(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc. added to its Bitcoin cache, purchasing more than $94 million worth of the cryptocurrency in December as the coin retreated from its all-time high reached a month earlier.

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The enterprise-software company that’s become well-known for its bullish crypto bets said it bought about 1,914 Bitcoins in total, according to a regulatory filing that specified the purchase period as Dec. 9 to Dec. 29. As of Wednesday, the firm held more than 124,000 of the digital coins, which were acquired at an aggregate price of $3.75 billion, it said.

MicroStrategy, which is run by famed Bitcoin fan Michael Saylor, has been adding to its Bitcoin hoard all year. This week’s filing showed that the company’s average purchase price was about $30,159 per Bitcoin. The digital asset is trading at around $47,500 currently and despite its recent decline is up more than 60% this year.

When Saylor first started scooping up the cryptocurrency, he heralded it as a good alternative investment. Few other companies have followed MicroStrategy’s lead, though, and the tactic remains controversial among experts given Bitcoin’s famous volatility.

Indeed, trading has been choppy for Bitcoin all month, including a brief weekend “flash crash” in early December that sent the coin down as much as 20%. Bitcoin climbed to a record of almost $69,000 last month but has since lost ground and is on pace for its second consecutive monthly decline and worst performance since May.

MicroStrategy shares rose Thursday, climbing 2.8% to $571.79 as of 1 p.m. in New York. The stock has gained 47% this year.