“If you tell them the risks someone is taking and they’re otherwise healthy, you could be accused of breaking the bank or trolling,” said Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, a software company. created a large Bitcoin reserve. “It’s kind of hard to explain theoretically before it happened. But now it’s happened.”
In 2020, Mr. Saylor announced that MicroStrategy will begin stockpiling Bitcoin. because It had “more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash.” According to the SEC, at the end of June, the company had 129,699 Bitcoins purchased for just under $4 billion. filings. (With Bitcoin’s recent decline in value, this stash is worth about $1 billion less than MicroStrategy paid.)
At the height of the crash, MicroStrategy spent $10 million on 480 Bitcoins, even as the price per coin dropped to nearly $20,000. The acquisition is the smallest MicroStrategy has made in over a year. Mr Saylor said the size of the purchase was not an indication of his lack of confidence in the currency; It was the most the company could afford, given the cash on hand, he said.
“I wish we could always get more,” he said. “This is frustrating.”
Saylor and other maxis have sometimes complained that Bitcoin is poorly represented in Washington, which lawmakers endorse. expression growing concern about the environmental impact of cryptocurrency.
Some crypto advocacy work in Washington is funded by companies offering virtual currencies built on an alternative verification system that requires less energy to maintain. In April, billionaire Chris Larsen, co-founder of cryptocurrency company Ripple, announced that he had contributed. 5 million dollars Supporters of a marketing campaign calling for Bitcoin to abandon its energy-consuming mining infrastructure is vital to keeping the network secure and fair.
Now, Bitcoin supporters are building their own political apparatus. This year, David Zell, a Bitcoin advocate, launched the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington pushing a pro-Bitcoin agenda. The institute defended Concerns about Bitcoin’s energy consumption are exaggerated.
