Software analytics firm MicroStrategy posted a paper loss of more than $1 billion on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings in 2022, but says it has no plans to stop trading the digital asset.
MicroStrategy Released its Year-End and Q4 2022 Report Profits on February 2, showing the impairment charges recorded on its BTC holdings, net of proceeds from the sale, was nearly $1.3 billion for the full year of 2022.
Despite losses on paper, in earnings on February 2 call MicroStrategy CFO Andrew Kang said:
“We may consider seeking additional transactions that may take advantage of volatility in Bitcoin prices or other market dislocations that are consistent with our long-term Bitcoin strategy.”
On the call, MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor said the company measures its stock performance against “a number of different benchmarks” saying that “the most important benchmark is the performance of Bitcoin.”
Saylor added that since MicroStrategy first announced it would buy Bitcoin in August 2020, it “has been able to outperform Bitcoin as an index” during that time.
He said that the company’s shares are up 117% since August 2020 compared to Bitcoin’s gain of 98%, adding:
“The only real safe haven for an institutional investor is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the only universally recognized digital commodity, and therefore if you are an investor, Bitcoin is your safe haven in this regard.”
Kang claimed that MicroStrategy held a total of 132,500 BTC worth $1.84 billion as of December 31, 2022. 14,890 BTC were held directly by the company and the rest by its subsidiary MacroStrategy LLC.
Related: US institutions account for 85% of Bitcoin purchases in “very positive sign” — Matrixport
Late last year, the company sold a portion of its Bitcoin holdings for the first time. Speaking of the sale, Kang said that the 704 BTC were sold to reap a tax loss of around $34 million.
He added that even with the sale, the company “increased our net holdings by 2,500 Bitcoin during the quarter.”
MicroStrategy’s overall revenue for the fourth quarter was $132.6 billion, which reportedly beat Wall Street expectations. Its loss per share in the fourth quarter was $21.93.
At the time of writing this report, MicroStrategy’s share price had fallen more than 4% in after-hours trading. according to Yahoo Finance data.
