Strategy Buys 17,994 BTC for $1.28B, Bitcoin Holdings Reach 738,731

• Strategy purchased 17,994 BTC and raised its Bitcoin holdings to 738,731 BTC, according to the SEC filing.
• Strategy now holds about 3.7% of Bitcoin supply after buying nearly five weeks of newly mined BTC.
• Strategy funded the latest Bitcoin purchase through sales of MSTR and STRC shares.

Strategy, led by chairman Michael Saylor, purchased 17,994 BTC for about $1.28 billion, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company paid an average price of $70,946 for each Bitcoin during the transaction. This purchase increased Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 738,731 BTC.

Strategy accumulated these holdings for a total cost of about $56.04 billion. The company now holds Bitcoin at an average acquisition price of $75,862 per coin. The latest acquisition marks Strategy’s largest Bitcoin purchase since January. During that earlier deal, the company bought 22,305 BTC for roughly $2.13 billion. Strategy paid an average price of $95,284 per coin in that January transaction.

Strategy has now completed eleven consecutive weekly Bitcoin acquisitions. Strategy also increased its holdings while Bitcoin traded below its overall cost basis. However, the company continued to accumulate Bitcoin through another large purchase during this period.

Strategy’s latest acquisition greatly exceeded the pace of new Bitcoin supply entering circulation. Roughly 450 BTC enter the market each day through mining activity. This pace produces about 3,150 new Bitcoin every week.

However, Strategy purchased nearly 18,000 BTC during the same period. Therefore, the company acquired an amount equal to roughly five weeks of newly mined Bitcoin supply.

Strategy’s growing treasury now represents about 3.7% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. Meanwhile, the total circulating supply approaches the 20 million coin level.

The purchase also occurred while Bitcoin traded below Strategy’s cost basis. Data from SaylorTracker shows that Strategy completed five purchases since Feb. 9. These acquisitions added 25,229 BTC to the company’s holdings.

As a result, the company slightly lowered its average purchase price. Strategy’s cost basis declined from $76,052 to $75,862 during the recent buying period.

Strategy financed the latest purchase through equity sales. The company sold 6.3 million MSTR shares and generated $899.5 million in proceeds. It also sold 3.8 million STRC shares and raised another $377.1 million.

Furthermore, the filing shows that this deal produced the largest proceeds from the STRC at-the-market program this year. Historically, Strategy has relied mainly on MSTR share sales to fund Bitcoin acquisitions.

Bitcoin has stabilized after a very volatile start of the month due to geopolitical tensions. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading near $69,207, a 2.73% increase in the past day. The trading activity of the coin is up 58.88% to $45.11 billion, while the market capitalization stands at $1.38 trillion. Analysts at Crypto2Community have warned that BTC may fall below the $60,000 price mark if the geopolitical tensions persist.

At the same time, other companies are expanding their cryptocurrency holdings. Bitmine Immersion Technologies acquired 60,976 ETH during the past week. As a result, Bitmine’s total Ethereum holdings reached 4,534,563 ETH. The company valued these holdings at about $1,965 per token.

The company disclosed that its total holdings are worth about $10.3 billion and it currently holds more than 4.5 million ETH. Moreover, the company has staked just over 3 million ETH to generate staking revenue.