MicroStrategy Shares Slide After Sale of 32 BTC

MicroStrategy disclosed on Monday that it sold 32 bitcoins, about $2.5 million, its first Bitcoin sale since 2022. The company’s shares fell more than 9% on Tuesday to close at $136.08.

CEO Michael Saylor had previously signaled the transaction and its size. The 32 BTC represented a small portion of MicroStrategy’s holdings, which the company has said are worth more than $56 billion.

The stock has declined nearly 15% over the past five trading days and more than 23% for the month. It is trading more than 70% below its 52-week high of $457.22.

Bitcoin opened Tuesday near $71,305, slid to a low of $66,948 and settled around $67,287, its lowest level since April and about 46% below the all-time high of $126,080.

Traders cited rising inflation pressures, a Federal Reserve that has not cut interest rates and heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran as pressures on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

TD Cowen maintained a $400 price target for MicroStrategy on Monday, implying roughly 200% upside from Tuesday’s close, citing the company’s long-term bitcoin exposure and the historical correlation between MicroStrategy shares and the price of Bitcoin.

Other publicly traded crypto-related companies also fell. Coinbase shares declined about 4.5% to $173.99. BitMine Immersion Technologies and Sharplink fell about 4.6% and 6.1%, closing at $17.98 and $5.81 respectively. Miner CleanSpark dropped about 6.5% to $17.58, and BTC services firm Fold slipped 8.4% to $0.87.

MicroStrategy began buying Bitcoin in 2020 for its corporate treasury. The recent sale is the company’s first disposition of BTC since 2022 and coincided with a broader pullback in cryptocurrency prices.