(Reuters) – Software firm MicroStrategy said on Wednesday it had bought bitcoin worth about $615.7 million in cash, amid growing expectations that the top U.S. markets regulator will soon approve a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF).
The company and its subsidiaries purchased about 14,620 bitcoins at an average price of roughly $42,110 between Nov. 30 and Dec. 26, according to a regulatory filing.
In recent months, a spate of filings, including from traditional finance heavyweights like BlackRock have revived the crypto markets which had been crushed after several high-profile firms such as Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX collapsed.
A spot crypto ETF would track the market price of the underlying crypto asset, giving investors exposure to the token without having to buy the currency.
Shares of the Virginia-based company that have surged more than 300% this year, were up another 3.2% in morning trading.
MicroStrategy, which began buying the cryptocurrency in 2020, said it together with subsidiaries now holds about 189,150 bitcoins bought for about $5.9 billion.
The company has said its bitcoin investments are intended as long-term holdings and that it expects to continue to accumulate the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
