MicroStrategy

'Fire in the cauldron’ as Coinbase, Marathon surge over 300% in 2023

The anticipated Bitcoin halving and potential ETF approvals have lit “some serious fire in the cauldron” for crypto, said Zerocap investment chief Jon de Wet.

Publicly traded crypto firms have notched triple-digit percentage returns this year and closed up in green on Dec. 4, as Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new year-high of over $42,000. 

Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) closed the day at just over $141 with a 5.5% gain, up 320% from its price at the start of the year, per Google Finance data.

Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) closed the day with over 8% gains, recording 337% and 345% year-to-date (YTD) gains, respectively.

A visual map of the one-day price of S&P 500 stocks shows mixed results on Dec. 4 Source: Finviz

Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY) posted a daily gain of nearly 12% and is up 155% YTD and MicroStrategy (MSTR) — with the largest Bitcoin holdings of any public company valued at over $6.6 billion — saw a daily gain of over 6.5% and a YTD rise of 288%.

It comes despite the wider North American stock market seeing a mixed bag of gainers and losers on Dec.

Large-cap tech stocks, such as Microsoft, fell 1.43% on Dec.

The crypto-related stocks are well below their all-time highs, however.

IG Australia market analyst Tony Sycamore told Cointelegraph the crypto-related stock rally is “coming off the back of Bitcoin’s spectacular gains in recent months,” which is up nearly 152% YTD and is closing in on $42,000 — it has already hit a 19-month high.

Sycamore said investors see crypto stocks as a way to gain crypto exposure until the United States approves spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

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‘Fire in the cauldron’ as Coinbase, Marathon surge over 300% in 2023

The anticipated Bitcoin halving and potential ETF approvals have lit “some serious fire in the cauldron” for crypto, said Zerocap investment chief Jon de Wet.

Publicly traded crypto firms have notched triple-digit percentage returns in 2023 and closed in the green on Dec. 4, with Bitcoin (BTC) reaching a new year-high of over $42,000.

Crypto exchange Coinbase closed the day at just over $141, a 5.5% gain and a 320% rise from its price at the start of 2023, according to Google Finance data.

Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms closed the day with over 8% gains, recording 337% and 345% year-to-date (YTD) gains, respectively.

A visual map of the one-day price of S&P 500 stocks shows mixed results on Dec. 4 Source: Finviz

Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital Holdings posted a daily gain of nearly 12% and is up 155% YTD.  MicroStrategy — with the largest Bitcoin holdings of any public company valued at over $6.6 billion — saw a daily gain of over 6.5% and a YTD rise of 288%.

It comes despite the broader North American stock market seeing a mixed bag of gainers and losers on Dec.

The crypto-related stocks are well below their all-time highs, however.

IG Australia market analyst Tony Sycamore told Cointelegraph the crypto-related stock rally is “coming off the back of Bitcoin’s spectacular gains in recent months,” which is up nearly 152% YTD and is closing in on $42,000, already hitting a 19-month high.

Sycamore said investors see crypto stocks as a way to gain crypto exposure until the United States approves spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

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Bitcoin for Christmas: MicroStrategy buys another $600M

The firm reported it held 174,530 Bitcoin as of Nov. 29 — worth roughly $6.6 billion at a price of $37,726.

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy purchased 16,130 Bitcoin (BTC) in November, bringing its total holdings to more than $6 billion.

In a Nov. 30 announcement, MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor said the company acquired the BTC for roughly $593.3 million — a price of $36,785 per Bitcoin. 29, MicroStrategy reported it held 174,530 BTC — worth roughly $6.6 billion at the time of publication — at a price of $37,726.

The business intelligence firm has consistently purchased large volumes of Bitcoin since announcing it would adopt the cryptocurrency as its treasury reserve asset in August 2020. Saylor’s last announcement was in September, reporting MicroStrategy bought 5,445 BTC for roughly $147 million.

Related: MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin stash back in profit with BTC price above $30K

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Crypto Biz: EU looks under the hood of Big Tech algorithms, Musk’s TruthGPT and more

This week’s Crypto Biz explores the fast-growing AI market, MicroStrategy’s integration with Bitcoin Lightning Network, and Microsoft’s efforts to power AI development.

Whether the intelligence can provide truthful answers will have to be seen, but the move would undoubtedly strengthen Musk’s business portfolio, which already includes SpaceX and Twitter, both companies sharing Musk’s curiosity about the universe and his approach to truth.

Speaking of facts, European authorities are strengthening regulations on AI projects by launching a new research hub to investigate Big Tech algorithms. A team of multidisciplinary experts will be in charge of looking “under the hood” of large search engines and online platforms to examine how those algorithms contribute to the spread of illegal and harmful content.

This week’s Crypto Biz looks at the latest developments in the fast-growing AI market, MicroStrategy integration with the Bitcoin Lightning Network, and Microsoft’s efforts to power AI development.

Artificial intelligence (AI) might soon answer a profound philosophical question. Finding what the truth is will be the focus of Elon Musk’s new endeavor TruthGPT, an AI dedicated to finding the fundamental nature of the universe and addressing an alleged “left-wing” bias in the industry. 

Microsoft is developing its own AI chip to power ChatGPT

Since 2019, Microsoft has been developing its own artificial intelligence chips to cut down growing costs for both its own and OpenAI projects, reducing its reliance on Nvidia’s GPUs. The move reflects a chip shortage that affected many industries worldwide during the pandemic. One of the most popular GPUs for training machine learning systems, the Nvidia H100 can be purchased for $40,000 on reseller services such as eBay amid increasing market scarcity.

MicroStrategy’s Saylor fuses work email address with Bitcoin Lightning

MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor disclosed the integration of email addresses with the Bitcoin Lightning Network, allowing transactions using emails instead of wallet addresses. In a screenshot, Saylor showed a few transactions sent to his corporate email account in the form of satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin (BTC). It’s unclear if the solution is available for other MicroStrategy email addresses. The Lightning Network is a popular Bitcoin scaling solution capable of processing 1 million transactions per second at the cost of 1 satoshi per transaction.

Elon Musk to launch truth-seeking artificial intelligence platform TruthGPT

Elon Musk is developing a ChatGPT rival known as “TruthGPT,” a large language model that will be trained to explore the “nature of the universe.” During an interview with American cable network Fox News, Musk said that the truth-seeking AI would also push back against what he perceives as “left-wing” bias in the industry. ChatGPT “is programmed by left-wing experts, which train the chatbots to lie,” according to Musk. That is not the first time Musk has attacked ChatGPT; he recently spearheaded a letter calling for the halt of advanced AI development claiming societal concerns.

Before you go: OpenAI has until April 30 to comply with EU laws, ‘next to impossible’ say experts

OpenAI faces its biggest regulatory challenge as Italian authorities insist the company has until April 30 to comply with local and European data protection and privacy laws. Under the EU’s laws, tech outfits must solicit user consent to train with personal data. Companies operating in Europe must also allow Europeans to opt out of data collection and sharing. According to experts, this will be difficult for OpenAI since its models are trained on massive data troves, which are scraped from the internet and conflated into training sets.

Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse of the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

MicroStrategy’s stock price more than doubles in 2023 in lockstep with Bitcoin

Bank of America and Fidelity have increased their MicroStrategy exposure in what appears to be a passive Bitcoin investment.

MicroStrategy’s bold Bitcoin (BTC) investment strategy is playing out profitably so far into 2023.

Today, MicroStrategy’s stock, MSTR, is up roughly 140% year-to-date (YTD) to $350 per share, its highest level since September last year. It mirrored Bitcoin’s 90% YTD gains, maintaining a strong positive correlation with the top cryptocurrency.

MSTR daily price chart featuring its daily correlation with BTC. Source: TradingView

Proxy Bitcoin investment boom

To recap, MicroStrategy is essentially a proxy for direct BTC investment without a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. It holds 140,000 BTC worth $4.26 billion, the most by a publicly traded company as a part of its treasury strategy.

MSTR investors typically get their buying or selling cues from the same catalysts that drive Bitcoin market trends.

As a result, the stock has mirrored the BTC price uptrend so far in 2023, led by rush-to-safety trades amid the U.S. banking crisis and anticipation that the Federal Reserve would stop hiking rates.

BTC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

For instance, CNN data shows Bank of America’s entities owns 86,147 MSTR shares. Similarly, Fidelity purchased 97,199 MSTR shares throughout 2022, suggesting growing institutional interest in proxy Bitcoin investments.

Coinbase’s COIN, another stock offering indirect crypto exposure, has doubled in value this year as well.

MicroStrategy’s core business is unhealthy

MicroStrategy is essentially an enterprise software solution company and generates its revenue from software licensing and subscription services.

The firm realized a net loss of $193.7 million during Q4 2022, up from $137.5 million a year ago, led by a Bitcoin impairment loss of $197.6 million. Furthermore, its operating cash flow was $18.2 million compared to a positive cash flow of $3.2 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Of course, MicroStrategy could sell its Bitcoin holdings to boost its balance sheet reserves. But the company said it would not alter its BTC buying strategy under financial stress. Instead, it employs strategies like share dilutions and debt offerings to raise capital to buy BTC.

“The risk here will come from its inability to buy Bitcoin with positive cash flows in future quarters as per its strategy,” said Pacifica Yield, a financial blogger at Seeking Alpha, adding:

“Dilution to buy assets that you lose money on if Bitcoin returns to its near-term lows would not be a shareholder-friendly strategy.”

 20% correction for MSTR stock in Q2?

From a technical standpoint, MSTR has a high probability of a 20% price correction in Q2.

Related: MicroStrategy’s Saylor fuses work email address with Bitcoin Lightning

The stock’s yearly rally has landed its price near a resistance range — between $320 and $340 — notorious for capping breakout attempts. Suppose a pullback occurs, the price could drop toward its 50-3D exponential moving average (50-3D EMA; the red wave) below $260 by June.

MSTR 3-day price chart. Source: TradingView

MicroStrategy is expected to release its Q1 earnings report by May 2.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

MicroStrategy Bitcoin bet turns green as BTC price climbs to 10-month high

Michael Saylor, the co-founder of the Fortune 500 company, had maintained throughout the bear market that they would continue to invest in Bitcoin as they are confident in its fundamentals.

Business intelligence and Fortune 500 company MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment has turned green again as BTC broke past the critical resistance of around $29,000 to record a new 10-month high of $30,163.

MicroStrategy started investing in Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2020 when the BTC price was trading around $10,000. Since then, the business intelligence firm had made a series of BTC purchases over the period of two years. The firm has accumulated a total of 140,000 Bitcoin, acquired for nearly $4.17 billion at an average price of $29,803 per BTC.

MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor introduced the Bitcoin strategy as a treasury hedging asset over the United States dollars. Apart from holding BTC personally and on the company’s balance sheet, Saylor also convinced several public companies to accumulate BTC on their balance sheets, including the likes of Tesla, SpaceX and a dozen others.

The Bitcoin bet made by the Fortune 500 company looked lucrative throughout the bull market in 2021. However, a prolonged crypto winter in 2022 fueled by multiple crypto contagions brought upon by the collapse of leading crypto unicorns, crashed BTC price by over 70%. The same Bitcoin bet that looked lucrative in 2021 attracted a lot of flak from crypto critics as MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment was at a 50% loss at the peak bear market in 2022.

However, Saylor always maintained that MicroStrategy had full confidence in Bitcoin’s underlying fundamentals and would continue to invest in the top cryptocurrency. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Saylor said that a Bitcoin investment should be judged from a four-year price cycle rather than based on one bear or bull market.

Related: MicroStrategy adds another 1,045 Bitcoin to its growing crypto treasury

After a disastrous 2022, BTC price has shown strength throughout 2023, with the price seeing over a 55% increase in the first quarter of this year. Bitcoin price has closed above the previous month’s high three months in a row, a sign considered to be a bullish market indicator and an indication of another bull run on the horizon.

Bitcoin price history. Source: Bitcoin Archives

Bitcoin has outperformed most traditional stocks and bonds this year and has eclipsed the losses incurred from the crypto contagions caused by FTX and Terra-Luna saga.

Magazine: Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ mental health

MicroStrategy adds another 1,045 Bitcoin to its growing crypto treasury

MicroStrategy buys another 1,045 Bitcoin for $29.3 million, taking its total holdings to 140,000 BTC worth over $12.6 billion.

MicroStrategy, an American business intelligence firm, has just announced its latest acquisition of an additional 1,045 Bitcoin (BTC) for approximately $29.3 million at an average price of $28,016 per BTC. This news was announced in a tweet by MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor on April 5.

As of April 5, 2023, MicroStrategy holds a total of 140,000 BTC, which was acquired for approximately $4.17 billion at an average price of $29,803 per BTC. This news comes as a significant milestone for the company as it continues to invest in Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Number 14 on Cointelegraph’s Top 100 in crypto, Saylor has been an outspoken advocate for Bitcoin and has been leading the charge for corporations to adopt the largest cryptocurrency as a strategic asset. Saylor has repeatedly stated that Bitcoin is the securest and most reliable store of value that exists in the market today and that it offers a unique opportunity for businesses to protect their assets from inflation.

Saylor’s MicroStrategy recently repaid its Silvergate loan and bought 6,500 BTC at the end of March. The company’s Bitcoin strategy appears to be dollar-cost averaging but with vast amounts of money. 

Related: Michael Saylor is still on the hook for alleged tax evasion, says MicroStrategy filing

MicroStrategy made its first Bitcoin purchase in August 2020, and since then, the company has been consistently adding to its holdings. The latest purchase brings the total amount of Bitcoin owned by MicroStrategy to over $12.6 billion, which is a testament to the company’s confidence in the long-term potential of the cryptocurrency.

Magazine: Bitcoin in Senegal: Why is this African country using BTC?

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy repays Silvergate loan and buys 6.5K BTC

MicroStrategy has increased its total Bitcoin holdings to 138,955 BTC, purchased for $4.1 billion at an average of $29,817 per coin.

MicroStrategy, a business intelligence firm and major Bitcoin (BTC) investor, is acquiring more BTC amid the recent cryptocurrency market recovery.

MicroStrategy co-founder and former CEO Michael Saylor took to Twitter on March 27 to announce that the firm has repaid its $205 million loan to Silvergate.

Citing a form 8-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Saylor stressed that MicroStrategy repaid the Silvergate loan at a 22% discount.

The company also acquired a significant stash of Bitcoin, purchasing 6,455 BTC for $150 million, or at an average price of $23,238 per coin as of March 23, the former CEO said. According to the filing, MicroStrategy acquired its latest batch of Bitcoin between Feb. 16, 2023 and March 23, 2023.

With the purchase, MicroStrategy has increased its total Bitcoins holdings to 138,955 BTC, bought for $4.1 billion at an average of $29,817 per coin, Saylor said.

As previously announced, MicroStrategy’s subsidiary MacroStrategy received a $205 million term loan from Silvergate Bank under its Silvergate Exchange Network Leverage program in March 2022. The loan was collateralized by certain Bitcoin owned by MacroStrategy and had a scheduled maturity date of March 23, 2025.

Under the terms of the credit agreement, MacroStrategy was required to maintain a loan to collateral value ratio of less than 50%. On March 24, 2023, MacroStrategy and Silvergate entered into a prepayment, waiver and payoff to credit and security agreement, with MacroStrategy voluntarily prepaying Silvergate around $161 million in full repayment.

“Upon Silvergate’s receipt of the payoff amount, the credit agreement was terminated, and Silvergate released its security interest in all of MacroStrategy’s assets collateralizing the loan, including the Bitcoin that was serving as collateral,” the filing reads.

Related: Cathie Wood’s ARK loading up on Coinbase shares again, buying $18M

In the filing, MicroStrategy also mentioned that the company entered into an agreement with two companies — Cowen and Company and BTIG — to sell its aggregated class A common stock worth $500,000,000. According to the latest updates, MicroStrategy issued and sold an aggregate of 1,348,855 shares under the sales agreement for aggregate net proceeds to MicroStrategy of roughly $339 million.

The latest Bitcoin acquisition by MicroStrategy is apparently the first such transaction so far in 2023. The previous purchase took place in late December 2023, with MicroStrategy buying 2,395 BTC at an average price of $17,181 for a total of $42.8 million between Nov. 1 and Dec. 21.

MicroStrategy did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated with new information as it becomes available.

Magazine: Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ mental health

Michael Saylor is still on the hook for alleged tax evasion, says MicroStrategy filing

A D.C. court denied a motion to dismiss claims that Michael Saylor failed to pay personal income taxes, with a status conference on the matter scheduled for March.

The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in the United States is moving forward on a lawsuit against business intelligence firm MicroStrategy executive chair Michael Saylor related to tax evasion.

According to a Feb. 28 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, MicroStrategy said the court had not dismissed a claim against Saylor for failing “to pay personal income taxes, interest and penalties due” following an October 2022 motion from the firm. However, the court granted a motion dismissing allegations that Saylor — on his own and acting in concert with MicroStrategy — violated the District of Columbia’s False Claims Act.

Former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit against Saylor and MicroStrategy in August 2022, alleging the co-founder “never paid any DC income taxes” and the company “conspired” to assist him in tax evasion. At the time, authorities said Saylor owed more than $25 million in taxes for income earned while he was a D.C. resident, but penalties from both the former CEO and MicroStrategy could total more than $100 million.

Racine left the Attorney General’s office in January after announcing he would not seek reelection. According to the MicroStrategy filing, there will be a “status conference” on the lawsuit on March 10.

“The final outcome of this matter is not presently determinable,” said the filing.

Related: OECD releases framework to combat international tax evasion using digital assets

According to the Attorney General’s complaint, MicroStrategy had “detailed information” on Saylor’s residency in Washington, D.C., but the company collaborated with the former CEO to “facilitate his tax evasion” rather than reporting it to authorities. Saylor stepped down as the CEO of MicroStrategy in August 2022, succeeded by then company president Phong Le.

Crypto needs ‘adult supervision’ and turmoil to ‘grow up’ — MicroStrategy co-founder

The bankruptcies of once high-profile crypto players are “painful” but helpful, according to Michael Saylor, but industry oversight is still needed.

High-profile crypto bankruptcies and a hearty price crash are necessary evils to help the industry grow, while greater regulation is a must, according to MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor.

In a Feb. 3 interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Saylor opined on potential incoming United States crypto regulation after the bankruptcy of FTX, saying:

“The crypto meltdown was painful in the short term, but it’s necessary over the long term for the industry to grow up.”

He added the industry “has some good ideas” — implying one was Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network — but added some in the space “implemented those good ideas in an irresponsible fashion.”

Saylor said the crypto space needs direction from entities long-involved in the traditional financial markets and input from regulators — in particular the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“What [the industry] needs is adult supervision. It needs the Goldman Sachs and the Morgan Stanleys and the BlackRocks to come into the industry. It needs clear guidelines from Congress. It needs clear rules of the road from the SEC.”

This “meltdown,” according to Saylor, educated many on crypto while simultaneously revealing that it’s “time for the world to provide a constructive, transparent framework for digital assets” so the financial system can move “into the 21st century.”

Saylor on Munger’s crypto criticism

Saylor also responded to criticisms leveled by Charlie Munger, the vice chair of insurance and investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, saying the 99-year-old investment veteran should take time to study Bitcoin.

On Feb. 1, Munger opined that crypto is “not a currency, not a commodity and not a security” instead calling it “gambling” and arguing that the U.S. should “obviously” bring in laws to ban crypto.

Related: Film review: ‘Human B’ shows a personal journey with Bitcoin

Saylor agreed Munger’s crypto-criticism wasn’t “totally off” but there are “10,000 crypto tokens which aren’t gambling,” adding:

“Charlie and the other critics, they’re members of the Western elite and they’re continually prodded for an opinion on Bitcoin and they haven’t had the time to study it.”

He added if Munger “spent 100 hours studying” Bitcoin then “he would be more bullish on Bitcoin than I am.”

Saylor pointed to emerging markets such as Lebanon, Argentina and Nigeria which have high crypto-use rates and use cases spanning from inflation hedging to remittances.

“I’ve never really met someone […] that spent some time to think about it that wasn’t enthusiastic about Bitcoin.”