MicroStrategy to continue buying bitcoin despite market tumble, CFO says

livemint.com:

MicroStrategy Inc. plans to continue investing in bitcoin despite recent declines in the value of the cryptocurrency asset and a call by U.S. securities regulators to revise its disclosure in future filings.

The Tysons Corner, Va.-based software company is one of a handful of companies with bitcoin holdings, alongside auto maker Tesla Inc. and payment company Square, which recently renamed itself Block Inc.

“Our strategy with bitcoin has been to buy and hold, so to the extent we have excess cash flows or we find other ways to raise money, we continue to put it into bitcoin," Chief Financial Officer Phong Le said.

The company held $2.41 billion of the cryptocurrency as of Sept. 30, up from $1.05 billion at the end of 2020. MicroStrategy also said it purchased bitcoins for $2.04 billion in cash for the first nine months of 2021, up from $425 million in the prior-year period.

The company is scheduled to release its fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 1.

Bitcoin fell to $36,800 late Monday—down nearly half from its record high of $68,990.90 in November—after hitting a seven-month low in the morning. Market volatility is among the top reasons many CFOs are avoiding putting corporate cash into crypto assets. The lack of defined accounting standards has also spooked them.

MicroStrategy will continue buying bitcoin this year, Mr. Le said, though it is unclear if it would buy more than it did last year; the company has no plans to sell the asset. MicroStrategy is also considering buying bitcoin-backed bonds if the market becomes more liquid, possibly in the next year or two, he said. “We’re constantly looking at other ways to be additive to our shareholders as it relates to bitcoin," he said.

MicroStrategy’s own stock has declined