Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy keeps stacking Bitcoin (BTC) amid growing anticipation of the potential approval of a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.
MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries purchased another 14,620 BTC for $615.7 million in cash between Nov. 20, 2023, and Dec. 26, 2023, the firm officially announced in its 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The latest Bitcoin stash cost MicroStrategy roughly $42,110 per BTC, including fees and other expenses, according to the filing notes.
The purchase brings MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries’ aggregate Bitcoin holdings to 189,150 BTC, putting them at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $5.9 billion and an average purchase price per BTC of roughly $31,168.
MicroStrategy’s latest BTC purchase follows another massive purchase of 16,130 Bitcoin in November 2023, which the firm acquired at the price of $36,785 per Bitcoin. The company previously bought 6,067 BTC in September and October 2023 and 12,333 BTC in June.
The acquisition is more evidence of MicroStrategy’s commitment to Bitcoin investment, coming in line with the vision of its co-founder and major Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor. The announcement comes just a few weeks before Jan. 10 — the day when the community is widely anticipating to see a spot Bitcoin ETF or several such ETFs approved by the SEC.
According to Saylor, a spot Bitcoin ETF may be the “biggest development on Wall Street in 30 years” because such a product would open the door to mainstream retail and institutional investors that previously hadn’t been able to access BTC.
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Not everyone is optimistic about the implications of a spot Bitcoin ETF coming to the market in the United States.
According to Trezor Bitcoin analyst Josef Tětek, a spot Bitcoin ETF may take people further from self-custody and potentially create “millions of unbacked Bitcoin.” Among other risks, spot Bitcoin ETFs could “completely destroy” Bitcoin if they are too successful, according to skeptics like BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes.
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