Bitcoin surged past $60,000 per token on Wednesday, marking a 5.5% increase as the day progressed. The rise was fueled in part by record net inflows into recently launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Since the introduction of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs on January 11, the cryptocurrency’s price has soared by approximately 40%, climbing from around $43,000 to over $60,000. This week alone, bitcoin’s price has surged by an impressive 16%, nearing its all-time high of nearly $69,000 set in November 2021.
A significant factor contributing to the spike is a substantial purchase by MicroStrategy, a business intelligence firm and the largest corporate owner of bitcoin. MicroStrategy, headquartered in Tysons Corner, Va., shifted its corporate strategy in 2020 to adopt bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. The company reported holding 190,000 bitcoins as of Feb. 5, valued at $5.93 billion. Since then, MicroStrategy has been actively buying bitcoin, acquiring approximately 31,755 additional bitcoins in the last quarter, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report. As of Feb. 25, the company owns approximately 193,000 bitcoins valued at $6.09 billion, with plans for continued accumulation.
MicroStrategy’s stock has experienced significant gains, rising by 52% year-to-date. In a recent interview, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor expressed his commitment to continuing bitcoin purchases, emphasizing his belief in bitcoin as the “strongest asset class.” Saylor expects capital to continue flowing into bitcoin from other asset classes, such as gold, real estate, and stocks, asserting that there is no reason to sell bitcoin in favor of other assets.
