Bitcoin has surged brilliantly over the past month as it noted a rise of nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the month. Its price inching closer to levels not seen since January 2018 could be attributed to the tons of positive developments of late. But one institutional giant’s foray, specifically, has been the talk of the town lately and that is MicroStrategy.
This quarter has been one of the strongest in the last decade for the publicly-traded business intelligence company. As MicroStrategy made Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset, it reaped a profit of $19.8 million, an appreciation from last year’s reported $11.6 million.
For the first time ever, the company added digital assets to its quarterly financial report in the third quarter of this year according to which it sustained a $14.2 million net loss in income from its business operations. In addition, the company intended to buy or sell more BTC depending on the Treasury Reserve Policy in the future.
CEO of MicroStrategy, Michael J. Saylor, who turned into a vocal proponent of Bitcoin just recently, stated
“MicroStrategy delivered one of its stronger quarters in years, with meaningful growth in both product licenses and deferred subscription services revenues and a significant improvement in non-GAAP operating margin. We believe our performance demonstrates growing customer demand for scalable, flexible enterprise-grade solutions that enable better business performance through data-driven decisions”
The exec further went on to say their recent decision to make Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset is the latest example of MicroStrategy’s “embrace of virtual technologies”. He added,
“The purchase of $425 million of bitcoin during the quarter offers the possibility of greater return potential for investors than holding such balances in cash and has increased the overall visibility of MicroStrategy in the market. We believe our proactive management of our balance sheet, together with our improved revenue and profitability performance, can serve as catalysts to generate substantial long-term value for our shareholders”
Saylor was not always bullish on Bitcoin. The tweet below depicted his previous views on the cryptocurrency.
#Bitcoin days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.
— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) December 19, 2013
Besides, MicroStrategy reportedly earned more from its Bitcoin investment than it did through its actual business for the last three years, from the first quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of this year. This was notified by prominent Crypto Researcher Kevin Rooke who went on to reveal that the company’s 38,250 BTC holdings were worth approximately $425 million at the time of purchase in August and September. Its value surged over $525 million during the recent price rise.
Microstrategy has earned $78 million in the last 3.5 years from their business operations.
Microstrategy has earned $100 million in the last 2 months from their Bitcoin purchases.
— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) October 27, 2020