MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin war chest now tops $62 billion — here’s how it got there
MicroStrategy, the software firm that reinvented itself as one of Bitcoin’s biggest corporate treasuries, has spent more than five years quietly (and sometimes loudly) buying BTC. What began as a shareholder-value play has morphed into a market-shaping strategy that helped normalize public companies holding crypto. Today MicroStrategy controls 815,061 BTC — nearly 3.9% of the fixed 21 million supply — a hoard worth roughly $62 billion at Bitcoin’s recent price above $75,000.
Co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has famously vowed to keep “buying the top forever,” a philosophy that pushed MicroStrategy’s average entry above $75,500 per coin — more than seven times the price of the company’s first BTC purchase. Below are MicroStrategy’s seven largest BTC buys to date, with the amounts, costs and the immediate market reactions after Saylor announced each acquisition.
1) Nov. 25, 2024 — 55,500 BTC
- Average price: ~$97,862 | Total spend: ~$5.4 billion
- MicroStrategy’s biggest purchase by both BTC and dollars. After Saylor’s announcement, Bitcoin slipped roughly $4,000 to under $94,000 — about a 4% drop from MicroStrategy’s purchase price.
2) Mid-November 2024 (one week earlier than the buy above) — size that brought holdings to 331,200 BTC
- Average price: ~$88,627 | Total spend: ~$4.6 billion
- Bitcoin dipped shortly after the announcement, then rebounded to a daily high of $92,653 and set a new all-time high above $94,000 the next day.
3) April 20, 2026 — 34,200 BTC
- Average price: ~$74,395 | Total spend: ~$2.54 billion
- Funded by MicroStrategy’s preferred share vehicle, Stretch (STRC), this buy pushed the firm’s holdings past 815,000 BTC. Unlike many prior purchases, Bitcoin rose more than 1% after the announcement and traded around $75,907 on April 21, giving MicroStrategy a small unrealized gain.
4) Dec. 2020 — 29,645 BTC
- Average price: ~$21,925 | Total spend: ~$650 million
- At the time the company’s largest purchase, the market barely moved: Bitcoin opened Dec. 21 around $23,518 and closed Dec. 22 at $23,795, a negligible change.
5) Nov. 11, 2024 (purchase window Oct. 31–Nov. 10) — 27,200 BTC
- Average price: ~$74,463 | Total spend: ~$2.03 billion
- Announced less than a week after the 2024 U.S. election, the news coincided with a violent rally: Bitcoin closed the announcement day at $88,637 — more than a 10% jump and a new all-time high.
6) Late Q1 2026 — 22,337 BTC
- Average price: ~$70,194 | Total spend: ~$1.57 billion
- Funded in part by continuing sales of Stretch (STRC). Bitcoin initially traded above MicroStrategy’s purchase mark and breached $75,000 the same day, though prices later retreated below $70,000.
7) Jan. 20, 2026 — 22,305 BTC
- Average price: ~$95,284 | Total spend: ~$2.1 billion
- Announced amid macro and geopolitical jitters, Bitcoin sold off in the following days — falling to around $90,000 and dipping as low as $87,650, more than 8% below MicroStrategy’s average price for this tranche.
Why it matters
MicroStrategy’s steady accumulation — often funded through convertible notes and its dividend-paying preferred stock STRC — has made it a bellwether for corporate crypto adoption. Its large, high-profile purchases sometimes move markets in the short term, but the company’s persistent strategy has also helped normalize corporate Bitcoin treasury holdings and tied a slice of institutional capital permanently to the asset.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published Nov. 19, 2024, and updated with new details through April 21, 2026.
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