MicroStrategy to buy more bitcoin after $1 billion purchase

MicroStrategy said it will continue buying Bitcoin using “excess cash” and may issue more debt to finance the purchases. Shares of MicroStrategy jumped as high as 13%.

Bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes (REUTERS)

MicroStrategy Inc., the enterprise software firm that has embraced Bitcoin investing, said it paid an average $52,765 for nearly 20,000 tokens last week after issuing $1.05 billion in convertible bonds.

The company's latest foray into the cryptocurrency market pushed its total holdings past 90,000 coins at a cost of $2.17 billion, it said in a statement Wednesday.

Bitcoin rebounded from a two-day rout, rising 3.5% to $49,625 as of 11:27 a.m. in New York. MicroStrategy has paid an average price of almost $24,000 for its coins, giving it a gain of about 100%.

Buying Bitcoin doesn't come without its risks. The tokens can be subject to impairment losses that occur when the price dips below the carrying value at any time since the acquisition.

MicroStrategy reported $70.7 million in cumulative impairment losses as of the end of last year that the company attributed to Bitcoin's price fluctuations, according to its 10K filing. 

If MicroStrategy bought its most recent Bitcoin before prices hit a low of $45,000 Tuesday, they could be looking at as much as an $151 million loss based on their average purchase price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company first announced Bitcoin buys last summer, saying it used corporate cash reserves. MicroStrategy has since issued two rounds of convertible bonds to make additional purchases.

MicroStrategy share have surged more than 400% in the past year.