MicroStrategy is ramping up its Bitcoin (BTC) reserve strategy. On Nov. 11, the company disclosed another large purchase of the cryptocurrency, adding 27,200 BTC to its treasury for about $2.03 billion in cash.
According to the firm, the coins were purchased between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10, with an average cost of $74,463 per BTC, including fees and expenses.
The company remains by far the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, followed only by major mining firms. According to the “Saylor Tracker,” named after the firm’s founder and chairman, Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy now holds 279,420 BTC, worth $24.9 billion as the coin price hovers around $89,000.
Across several purchases over the past few years, the estimated dollar-cost-averaging price per coin has been $42,888.13.
MicroStrategy’s BTC portfolio as of Nov. 14. Source: Sayler Tracker
MicroStrategy has been issuing debt notes to fund its Bitcoin strategy. According to recently disclosed plans, it aims to raise $42 billion in the next three years to stack more BTC. The company’s stock — considered a way to get exposure to BTC — is up 418% in 2024 as of Nov. 14.
Despite its shares’ performance and growing bet on Bitcoin, the company continues to fall short of analysts’ expectations. On Oct. 31, the firm reported $116.1 million in revenue, a 10.3% decline from 2023 and about 5.22% below market predictions.
This week’s Crypto Biz also features Coinbase’s and Kaiko’s recent acquisitions, MARA’s third-quarter earnings, and MoonPay’s new fiat gateway.
Coinbase launches COIN50 Index to track digital assets
Crypto exchange Coinbase has introduced a new benchmark for tracking over 50 digital assets. According to the company, its Coinbase 50 Index (COIN50) offers exposure to crypto market trends, with six cryptocurrencies making up 91% of the benchmark weight: Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP (XRP) and Cardano (ADA). With the move, Coinbase is primarily targeting emerging markets and crypto-friendly jurisdictions, as derivatives products tied to the index exclude major markets like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. In another announcement, the exchange disclosed the acquisition of Utopia Labs in a bid to build out its onchain payments infrastructure.
Kaiko acquires Vinter to secure lead in crypto indexing, analytics
Crypto analytics firm Kaiko has acquired Vinter, a regulated European crypto index provider, expanding its presence in exchange-traded products (ETPs) across Europe. The ETP sector in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland currently holds around $13.64 billion in assets under management. Vinter, registered with the European Securities and Markets Authority, administers benchmarks for ETPs on exchanges such as SIX, Nasdaq, Euronext, and Deutsche Boerse Xetra. This is Kaiko’s third acquisition. In 2022, the company purchased Kesitys, a provider of risk optimization tools, followed by the acquisition of Napoleon Index from CoinShares.
MARA Holdings falls 9% after-hours after Q3 revenue miss
Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings, previously Marathon Digital, fell 9.1% in after-hours trading as its third-quarter earnings missed analyst revenue estimates. MARA’s third-quarter earnings, released Nov. 12, showed a $0.34 per share loss, slightly exceeding Wall Street analyst expectations, and while its revenue jumped 34.5% from the year-ago quarter to $131.6 million, it fell short of the $148.1 million expectation. The mining company saw a $40 million quarterly increase in operational expenses, which contributed to its $124.8 million net loss in Q3.
MoonPay boosts self-custodial crypto spending with new solution
MoonPay has introduced MoonPay Balance, a new payment tool enabling users to store and spend fiat balances in euros and British pounds on MoonPay and use them as an entry point to interact with decentralized finance. The new solution empowers users to spend balances through MoonPay’s direct integration with non-custodial or self-custodial wallets such as MetaMask, Phantom and the Bitcoin.com wallet. At launch, MoonPay Balance will be available in the United Kingdom and most European countries, excluding Germany.
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