(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin rose Thursday after digital asset inventory manager MicroStrategy announced a plan to issue more shares, a move that would allow it to buy even more tokens.
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The digital asset rose 0.32% to $98,747 as of 11:30 am in Singapore, lower than the intraday high of $99,876.70. A broader range of cryptocurrencies made up of smaller tokens including Ether, Solana and meme-coin favorite Dogecoin rose 0.2%, recovering from losses on Wednesday.
“The announcement that MicroStrategy will issue more shares next year to buy more Bitcoin is driving up prices,” said Sean McNulty, trading director at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets. “The market is looking ahead to MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin purchases and that has been the biggest reason for the market’s rise. Watching MicroStrategy news becomes a big part of my day.”
MicroStrategy Inc. is seeking permission to increase the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock and preferred stock, according to a Dec. 23 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Such a move would give more firepower to the company, which has transformed itself from a software maker into a Bitcoin accumulator.
MicroStrategy announced earlier this week that it had purchased another $561 million of the digital token at an average price close to last week’s record high. That was the seventh week in a row with purchases.
Bitcoin is up 135% so far this year, surpassing the returns of traditional investments like global stocks and gold.
Some traders warned that markets could become volatile in the coming day due to the massive expiration of open interest in Bitcoin and Ether derivatives.
A record $43 billion in open interest will expire on Friday, including $13.95 billion in Bitcoin options and $3.77 billion in Ether options on derivatives exchange Deribit.
“Market makers could unwind their hedging and short Bitcoin attacks, which could make for a choppy market on Friday,” said McNulty.
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