December 17, 2024
According to recent SEC filings, Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms purchased 667 bitcoins worth $69 million. The acquisition was made at an average price of $101,135 per bitcoin.
With this purchase, Riot's total Bitcoin holdings increased to 17,429 BTC, which is worth approximately $2 billion at today's price.
Riot closely follows MicroStrategy's Bitcoin buying strategy
Riot initially shifted its focus to Bitcoin mining in 2018, operating out of its facility in Oklahoma. Since then, the company has expanded its strategy, emulating MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor’s approach of buying Bitcoin and initiating share buybacks to increase cryptocurrency reserves.
Following the announcement, Riot’s stock price rose by about 8% today. The company’s joint mining operations and strategic Bitcoin acquisitions have significantly boosted its Bitcoin revenue.
Riot also reported a 36.7% Q4-to-date Bitcoin return and a 37.2% YTD return. This metric highlights the growth in Bitcoin holdings relative to equity dilution.
The approach of raising capital through equity rights to buy Bitcoin remains a topic of debate. However, major miners such as Riot and Marathon Digital (MARA) have continued the practice.
Last week, MARA acquired 11,774 bitcoins for $1.1 billion, using funds from a zero-coupon convertible bond offering.
Meanwhile, MicroStrategy also announced its latest Bitcoin purchase today. The company acquired 15,350 Bitcoin for $1.5 billion at an average price of $100,386 per Bitcoin.
With this purchase, MicroStrategy now owns $27.1 billion worth of Bitcoin. The company reported a 46.4% Q4 Bitcoin return and a 72.4% YTD return, reflecting its aggressive Bitcoin buying strategy.
MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock has surged in a way that mirrors Bitcoin’s strong performance this year, rising nearly 500% year-to-date. That growth puts Michael Saylor’s company among the top 100 publicly traded companies in the United States.
Saylor has long encouraged public companies to add Bitcoin to their wallets. Despite his many proposals, Microsoft shareholders recently rejected a proposal to include Bitcoin in its treasury.
However, shareholders of its rival, Amazon, took a different stance. They proposed allocating a portion of Amazon’s $88 billion in reserves to Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.
