Bitcoin whale MicroStrategy buys additional 271 BTC

MicroStrategy, the Virginia-based business intelligence firm, has added another 271 Bitcoin (BTC) to its strategic reserves, underscoring CEO Michael Saylor’s growing conviction in the digital asset. 

The purchases were made through May 13 for an average price of $55,387, Saylor disclosed on Thursday. MicroStrategy now has 91,850 BTC on its books for an average purchase price of $24,403.

MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 271 bitcoins for $15.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$55,387 per #bitcoin. As of 5/13/2021, we #hodl ~91,850 bitcoins acquired for ~$2.241 billion at an average price of ~24,403 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/EwZnRkAt6k

— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) May 13, 2021

MicroStrategy also disclosed the purchase to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, through a Form 8-K filing that was submitted on Thursday.

Although MicroStrategy’s purchase appears to have coincided with the latest correction in Bitcoin’s price, spurred on by Elon Musk’s sudden decision to stop accepting BTC payments on Tesla vehicles, the business intelligence firm isn’t timing the market. Saylor indicated in February that he doesn’t intend to slow the rate of his company’s BTC purchase as he snatched up another $1 billion worth of the digital asset.

MicroStrategy sits atop of the Bitcoin corporate treasuries list, accounting for 0.437% of the asset’s circulating supply.

MicroStrategy is acquiring Bitcoin on the premise that the digital asset is a dependable store of value in the face of systemic dollar debasement. It has gone as far as issuing debt to expand its Bitcoin portfolio.

The United States’ M2 money supply has exploded since the 2008 financial crisis and, more recently, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since February 2020, the money supply has expanded nearly 30% to $19.896 trillion, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. To put that in perspective, the year-over-year increase in the M2 money supply had never exceeded 15% until 2020.