MicroStrategy Goes a Week Without Buying Bitcoin. Saylor Has Advice for Crypto Traders. — Barrons.com
By Mackenzie TatananniMicroStrategy revealed Monday that it had declined to purchase Bitcoin for the first time since the end of March.The company, which does business as Strategy, didn't acquire any Bitcoin during the period between June 30 and July 6. Its total holdings currently stand at 597,325 tokens purchased for roughly $70,982 each, or around $42.4 billion in total.The last dry spell occurred during the period between March 31 and April 6, or the week of so-called Liberation Day, when President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of tariffs on key U.S. trading partners.Strategy previously said that it recorded an unrealized loss of nearly $6 billion on its cryptocurrency assets during the first quarter of the year.The second quarter was a different story. During the period ended June 30, the company said it achieved an unrealized gain on digital assets of $14.05 billion. As a result, the company also incurred an associated deferred tax expense of $4.04 billion.As of the end of the quarter, Strategy's digital asset carrying value was $64.36 billion, with a related deferred tax liability of $6.31 billion.The disclosure Monday coincided with an announcement that Strategy had entered into an agreement to issue and sell shares of its STRD preferred stock for up to $4.2 billion. The proceeds will be used for "general corporate purposes" including future Bitcoin acquisitions, the company said.It's difficult to discern Strategy's motive for pausing its Bitcoin purchases, but history indicates the company avoids buying cryptocurrency near the end of the quarter. Strategy may simply be taking time to reassess its position.While the company steers clear of sharing insights into its methodology, co-founder and Chairman Michael Saylor's X profile has become a place to look for signs of an impending transaction."Some weeks you just need to HODL," Saylor wrote on Sunday, an initialism meaning "hold on for dear life." The term has been popularized among crypto enthusiasts, and serves as a reminder to hold onto one's digital assets for the long term.The price of Bitcoin has whipsawed violently this year. In February, the price sank more than 17% amid a broader selloff as tariff fears wracked the market. Conversely, the price jumped more than 14% in April. The following month, it crossed $100,000 for first time since February, and reached new heights at the end of May when it surged above $109,000.Since then, the price has come down some from its record highs. Bitcoin has fallen 0.4% to $108,180 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk, following a downturn in the broader market. Strategy stock was down 0.5% at $401.80 on Monday.Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.