| By Nik Hoffman
In the midst of massive quantitative easing, a global pandemic and uncertainty for the future of the U.S. dollar, a whopping 21,454 BTC was just swiped off the market by intelligence and mobile software company MicroStrategy.
Bitcoin Twitter picked up on the news yesterday when Matt Walsh and Nic Carter shared the story, but it became public knowledge in a MicroStrategy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A MicroStrategy press release indicates that the firm had been planning the move as part of a capital allocation strategy that it had announced in its Q2 2020 financial results release on July 28.
The news that an otherwise institutional business intelligence company had just invested $250 million (nearly 25 percent of its full value) to buy 0.1 percent of the total BTC supply quickly spread across multiple Bitcoin-focused social media platforms and news outlets. There was no shortage of expressions of joy among those who shared their thoughts and opinions about this massive institutional purchase.
In the press release, the CEO of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, shared his reasoning for wanting to hold bitcoin as the company’s primary treasury reserve asset in a way that shows he’s really done his research. Not only did Saylor comment on how he thinks bitcoin is “digital gold” and is “smarter than any money that has preceded it,” but he also recognizes some of the other positives that Bitcoin can bring.
“We find the global acceptance, brand recognition, ecosystem vitality, network structure, architectural resilience, technical utility, and community ethos of Bitcoin to be persuasive evidence of its superiority as an asset class for those seeking long-term store of value,” Saylor said, per the release.
MicroStrategy is based in Tysons Corner, VA, and evidently plans to use bitcoin to maximize long-term value for its shareholders, as explained in its strategic plan to allocate new capital. As mentioned above, worries stemming from unprecedented action in financial markets are starting to drive people to BTC, which is seen as a safe haven asset because of its inherent separation from the legacy financial system. This company realized faster than others that finding safety in sats is a powerful way to combat fear of the uncertainty of the U.S. dollar.
“The investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash,” Saylor said, per the release.
MicroStrategy’s decision to make bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset is a big statement that sends a message not only to the Bitcoin space, but to all other companies around the world, especially its direct competitors. As companies are always looking for ways to get ahead of the field, bitcoin definitely offers an edge in this race to the top. The sooner a company gets exposure and accumulates more than others, the more likely it is that the allocation proves to be a fantastic investment that could pay off in more ways than initially thought.
There are only 21 million BTC that will ever exist, and for a company to buy up approximately 0.1 percent of the total supply shows that there is more institutional interest in this asset than some may have thought. This scarcity is important and is a key answer to the question to “why Bitcoin?” because it protects against hyperinflation, unlike the U.S. dollar, which seems to be heading toward its inevitable fate. | 
