Strategy, the publicly traded company holding the largest amount of Bitcoin in the world and formerly known as MicroStrategy, disclosed on Monday that it purchased more than $21 million worth of Bitcoin last week, bringing its total holdings to roughly $70 billion.
The company, led by Bitcoin super-bull Michael Saylor, said the acquisition was funded by selling over 125,000 shares of common stock and using $500,000 in cash. In addition, the company spent about $192 million to repurchase nearly 2 million shares of STRC, a type of preferred stock that pays investors regular dividends.
The latest purchase continues the pace of Strategy's renewed Bitcoin buying, marking its fifth purchase since August. Bitcoin broke out of a months-long sideways trading range in mid-August, rising to about $77,000 for the first time since May. Prices have largely remained above that level since, trading around $82,600 in early Monday trading.
Earlier, Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline, falling from a high of $126,000 last October to a low of $58,000 in June. During that downturn, Strategy, which holds a position equivalent to about 4% of Bitcoin's circulating supply, sold off part of its holdings four times. As Bitcoin prices recovered, Strategy stopped selling and resumed accumulating.
Strategy is not the only major player re-entering the Bitcoin market. Recently, other companies have also begun adding crypto assets to their balance sheets, injecting new momentum into corporate crypto buying. Earlier this month, asset management firm Strive, co-founded by billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, announced the purchase of 2,000 Bitcoins worth $169 million, bringing its total holdings to about $2.4 billion. Crypto trading platform Robinhood, led by Vlad Tenev, also joined the ranks of corporate buyers, recently disclosing a $25 million investment for its own balance sheet. Japanese investment company Metaplanet, the publicly traded company with the second-largest Bitcoin holdings globally, announced this month that it sold 10,000 Bitcoins and bought 11,000 in the third quarter, bringing its total holdings to about 44,000 coins.
As companies re-enter crypto asset buying, Bitcoin's rebound has also boosted market expectations for further gains. Despite recent U.S. interest rate hikes and renewed tensions in the Middle East, Bitcoin has remained resilient.