Key Takeaways:
- Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s chairman, is selling 315,000 company shares to personally acquire Bitcoin.
- The company plans to sell $215 million in Saylor’s stock options, offering 5,000 shares per trading day between January 2 and April 26, as per an SEC filing.
- MicroStrategy, with $8.5 billion in BTC reserves, recognized cryptocurrency as an inflation hedge in 2020, steadily acquiring it since.
Bitcoin maximalist and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, is preparing to sell $216 million worth of his shares in the software company he co-founded, according to a regulatory filing made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.
Saylor was granted 400,000 $MSTR shares as a stock option back in 2014. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, the billionaire said he was planning to sell the shares as they would expire in April 2024 if he did not exercise the option before the deadline.
Michael Saylor Plans to Sell $216 Million Worth of MicroStrategy Shares to Buy More Bitcoin Personally
The former CEO of the business intelligence firm has decided to sell his 315,000 $MSTR through April 26.
The plan to sell 5,000 shares per trading day over the next four months was disclosed in MicroStrategy’s 10-Q filing last quarter. However, the sale is subject to a minimum price condition.
Saylor explained during the meeting with other company executives that exercising the option would allow him to “address personal obligations” and acquire more Bitcoin personally.
He also added that his equity stake in MicroStrategy will remain “very significant” even after the sale.
MicroStrategy is the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin in the world. The company’s treasury accounts for 189,000 BTC, worth around $8.5 billion at current prices. Last month, the company purchased an additional 14,620 BTC for $615 million.
The enterprise software maker’s shares have surged by 372% in the past year, closing at just over $685 on January 2, its highest level since December 2021.
As per data procured by TradingView, Bitcoin has enjoyed an impressive 170% rally since last year, which has gravely benefited the company’s valuation.
On Tuesday, $MSTR shares gained 8.5% in value, defying a market-wide slum of cryptocurrency-focused stocks.
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BTC Rallies to $45,000 in Anticipation of an SEC Approval For Bitcoin Spot ETFs
BTC has also seen its price surge over recent months after Wall Street giants like BlackRock and Fidelity announced they plan on launching Bitcoin-focused spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US.
The world’s leading cryptocurrency crossed $45,000 for the first time since April 2022 on Monday as the market expects the SEC to approve the Bitcoin-focused funds by the end of next week.
The securities regulator has a deadline of January 10 to decide on the first batch of ETF applications.
Saylor says the Bitcoin-focused product may well be the biggest development on Wall Street in three decades.
He also added that his company will remain an attractive option to investors seeking Bitcoin exposure even if the US government approves spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Market experts believe that a spot Bitcoin ETF would significantly increase the potential exposure of retail and institutional investors to the crypto asset.
Currently, 14 asset managers are awaiting the SEC’s approval to list their Bitcoin ETFs for trade in the US spot markets, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, ARK Invest, Invesco, and Hasdex among others.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $45,292. The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has risen by nearly 7% over the past week.
