Institutional investor interest in Bitcoin is gaining momentum. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the US-based Bitcoin treasury company, and The Blockchain Group, Europe's first Bitcoin treasury company, announced a total of hundreds of millions of dollars in BTC purchases.
Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 582,000
Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, bought 1,045 BTC between June 2 and June 8. According to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the purchase cost approximately $110.2 million, at an average price of $105,426 per unit. The company's total Bitcoin holdings reached 582,000 BTC, reaching a market capitalization of about $62 billion.
Saylor revealed that the company has so far purchased about $40.8 billion worth of BTC at an average cost of $70,086. This is equivalent to 2.8% of Bitcoin's total supply of 21 million. The company's earnings on paper are around $21 billion.
These latest purchases were funded by the proceeds from the sale of the company's perpetual preferred shares, STRK and STRF. STRK is a convertible preferred stock offering an 8% fixed dividend, while STRF offers a 10% fixed dividend but is non-convertible. Last week, Strategy also launched a $1 billion sale of STRD, a new stock with a 10% fixed dividend.
300 million euro plan from Blockchain Group
On the other hand, on the European front, France-based The Blockchain Group announced the launch of a new 300 million euro (approximately $342.5 million) in-market capital raising program for Bitcoin purchases. The program allows new shares to be issued after the close of each trading day under an agreement with French asset manager TOBAM. The shares will be priced at the higher of that day's closing price or the volume-weighted average price and will be limited to 21% of trading volume.
Last week, the company announced the purchase of 624 BTC for approximately $68.7 million. With this new purchase, the total amount of Bitcoin held by The Blockchain Group reached 1,471 BTC.
This strategy, modeled after at-the-market (ATM) programs in the US, is quite similar to the model Strategy has implemented. However, TOBAM plans to remain a shareholder by holding shares, not just selling them. This suggests that the European model is more strategic and long-term than the US version.
These two big moves show that institutional investors' appetite for Bitcoin is not waning, but rather growing. Metaplanet's $5.4 billion capital raising plan announced last week and the fact that companies like GameStop and Trump Media are also turning to the Bitcoin model show that the “Bitcoin treasury” trend started by Saylor is growing on a global scale.
