MicroStrategy’s CEO reveals the company’s surprising Bitcoin buying strategy

Such an effort shows dedication to the asset class for the long term.
Such an effort shows dedication to the asset class for the long term.

Mainstream business intelligence behemoth MicroStrategy has made a number of headlines in recent days for its initial $250 million Bitcoin (BTC) investment. The company later poured a subsequent $175 million into the asset — a lengthy endeavor totaling almost 100 hours of work. 

"To acquire 16,796 BTC (disclosed 9/14/20), we traded continuously 74 hours, executing 88,617 trades ~0.19 BTC each 3 seconds," MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said in a tweet Friday.

Approximately "$39,414 in BTC per minute, but at all times we were ready to purchase $30-50 million in a few seconds if we got lucky with a 1-2% downward spike," he said, referencing the firm's willingness to buy BTC at a cheaper price, if the opportunity presented itself.

MicroStrategy stands as one of the latest mainstream giants entering the crypto space. The company took a leap of faith into Bitcoin, picking up 21,454 BTC, worth $250 million at the time, putting the coin in place as a reserve asset for the entity, according to an Aug. 11 announcement.

Following the initial investment, the entity bought an additional 16,796 Bitcoin, which took a bit of time and effort, as seen in Saylor's tweet.

While showing mainstream interest in the asset, the mass-scale Bitcoin pickup also proved the coin can scale effectively as a store of value — a doubt in people's minds since 2017, when the network slowed dramatically while also requiring high transaction fees.