Saylor: Strategy’s Bitcoin Holdings Rebounded After 2022 Crash

On June 20, Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, revisited a speech he delivered in October 2022 and described how the company’s position weakened after bitcoin fell below $16,000. At the time of the October speech the company held about 130,000 BTC valued near $2.6 billion and the stock traded around $24 split-adjusted. Weeks later, with bitcoin under $16,000, Saylor recalled that the company’s debt briefly exceeded the combined value of its bitcoin and cash reserves by roughly $300 million and the stock fell into the $13 range by year-end.

After the market low, Strategy raised more than $60 billion in new capital and used the proceeds to buy additional bitcoin. The company added over 716,000 BTC, bringing its total to 846,842 BTC. Strategy’s public dashboard lists the bitcoin reserves at about $53.83 billion, $1.1 billion in U.S. dollar reserves, $6.75 billion in debt and $15.48 billion in preferred equity. At the time Saylor spoke, MSTR traded near $112.53, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $40.1 billion.

Saylor noted the shift in the balance sheet: “Today, our BTC and USD reserves exceed debt by ~$48 billion.” He reiterated that the company raised more than $60 billion of additional capital since the 2022 downturn and invested it in bitcoin purchases.

Strategy began buying bitcoin in August 2020 and financed purchases through a mix of cash on hand, debt issuance and equity offerings. By October 2022 the company had become one of the largest corporate holders of bitcoin with about 130,000 BTC; subsequent capital raises and acquisitions expanded its treasury considerably.

In his June remarks Saylor also presented a framework he calls Digital Capital and listed five layers he says can support financial products: Digital Capital, Digital Credit, Digital Money, Digital Yield and Digital Equity. He described four groups with differing views on bitcoin’s future — Bitcoin Maximalists, Bitcoin Capitalists, Bitcoin Technologists and Bitcoin Fundamentalists — and said that many financial services could be built on layers above bitcoin’s base protocol.

At the time of the 2022 speech the company still operated under the MicroStrategy name; the bitcoin-focused treasury strategy continued through the market swings and into the company’s recent accumulation.