Michael Saylor 's MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 5,050 bitcoins for about $243 million.- The business enterprise software maker's total
bitcoin holdings were valued at $5.1 billion as of Monday's session. - Bitcoin traded around $44,500 on Monday, a pullback after reclaiming the $50,000 level in August.
MicroStrategy has made another big purchase of bitcoin, bringing the value of its holdings of the most traded cryptocurrency to about $5.1 billion.
The company bought 5,050 for about $242.9 million in cash, representing an average price of $48,099 per coin, said CEO Michael Saylor in a message Monday on Twitter. Saylor and MicroStrategy, in a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the company now holds 114,042 bitcoins purchased for $3.16 billion at an average price of about $27,713 per bitcoin.
Bitcoin traded around $44,500 during Monday's session, valuing the company's bitcoin holdings at $5.1 billion.
Saylor has been a vocal backer of bitcoin and his enthusiasm about the cryptocurrency was highlighted by the August 2020 conversion by Saylor of virtually all of MicroStrategy's cash into bitcoin. Saylor's obsession with bitcoin appears to have come out of the blue, several people who have worked with him told Insider.
Bitcoin's price has pulled back from the $50,000 level it had reclaimed in late August. The cryptocurrency had traded above that price in mid-May, bolstered by increased interest among financial institutions and other companies but concerns about regulatory moves in China and US spurred a selloff.
Bitcoin's recent retaking of $50,000 was made alongside a broader advance among other digital tokens including ether and so-called alt coins such as cardano on a mix of news in the sector including technical upgrades and further corporate exposure to digital currencies. Crypto exchange Coinbase in August said it would add cryptocurrencies worth $500 million to its balance sheet and invest 10% of future profits into digital assets.