Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy Inc., recently made headlines for an unexpected reason: he sold a large amount of business shares just before the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved Bitcoin ETFs.
In the two weeks beginning January 2 and ending January 10, which happened to be the same dates as the SEC’s notice of Bitcoin ETFs, Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy, sold 2,882 to 5,000 shares. According to reports, Saylor’s portfolio gained more than $20 million as a result of this surprising action. .
According to Bloomberg, this is Saylor’s first stock sale in about twelve years. According to a representative from MicroStrategy, who talked with the media source, the transaction is unrelated to the recent ETF approvals and is instead part of a previously stated plan from last year.
The plan stated that from January 2nd to April 26th, a maximum of 5,000 shares would be sold daily in an effort to liquidate up to 400,000 shares.
A 23% drop in MicroStrategy shares since the beginning of the year happened at the same time as Saylor’s relocation.
Some believe that the launch of Bitcoin ETFs could reduce investor interest in the company’s stock, which might explain the fall. Because of its large Bitcoin holdings on the books, the corporation has been seen as a stand-in for Bitcoin for quite some time.
In 2020, MicroStrategy began investing in Bitcoin, stating that they needed to diversify their assets and protect their wealth from inflation.
However, the firm’s Bitcoin holdings caused it to take substantial write-offs during the last cryptocurrency market crash.
A significant paper gain of roughly 40% has resulted in MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin assets being valued at around $8.3 billion at present.
The cryptocurrency industry is seeing a boom as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin launch. The value of Bitcoin has risen by about 3% this year and momentarily touched $49,000, a level not seen since December 2021.
Also Read: Cryptocurrency’s Gains Could Force Vanguard to Reevaluate Bitcoin Position January 14, 2024
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