MicroStrategy, largest corporate holder of bitcoin, drops as much as 18% as cryptocurrency falls

MicroStrategy’s shares fell on Tuesday, along with the price of bitcoin, after the company increased its investment in the cryptocurrency.

The stock was last down 5.67%. Previously, it dropped as much as 18%.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, MicroStrategy acquired an additional 9,245 bitcoins for approximately $623 million. The company made the transaction with the net proceeds of a recent private issuance of convertible senior notes and excess cash totaling $592.3 million.

MicroStrategy took a similar move last week, purchasing 12,000 bitcoins for over $822 million after a debt sale as bitcoin reached all-time highs. The corporation currently has 214,246 bitcoins, it said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, bitcoin plummeted on Tuesday, dropping below $63,000 at one point, or approximately $10,000 below last week’s record high. MicroStrategy typically trades in tandem with the cryptocurrency.

Key catalysts, such as spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the approaching “halving” event in April, which reduces the bitcoin mining payout in half to control production, have boosted the flagship cryptocurrency and the equities that are linked to it.

MicroStrategy was founded as an enterprise software supplier, but began an aggressive bitcoin-buying campaign in 2020 and has primarily traded as a proxy for the cryptocurrency’s price since then. In February, the company announced that it would transfer its corporate focus and brand to bitcoin development.

MicroStrategy’s stock is up 124% this year, compared to bitcoin’s 50% gain. Both began declining last week as investors grabbed profits.