Strategy Scales Back Bitcoin Buys as BTC Dips

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has snapped up 245 Bitcoin worth roughly $24.8 million at current prices, its second smallest BTC purchase this year, according to a company disclosure filed on Monday. 

The Virginia-based software firm bought the tokens for an average price of $105,856 per Bitcoin between June 16 and 22. The purchase brings its total holdings to 592,345 tokens worth roughly $60 billion based on BTC’s current price as listed on crypto data provider CoinGecko.

Strategy’s latest reported buy is second only to the company’s purchase of 130 Bitcoin between March 10 and 16, Saylor Tracker data shows.  

The relatively modest acquisition comes amid a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East—a development that is driving investors from risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies to safe-haven investments such as gold. 

At the center of the geopolitical turmoil is a longstanding military showdown between Iran  and Israel, which accelerated last week as the two countries traded missile fire. On Sunday, the U.S. bombed sites suspected as being key in Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

The attacks jolted global oil markets as well as digital assets, although gold’s price rose. 

Bitcoin is trading at $101,640, down 5.6% over the past week, according to CoinGecko. BTC fell below $100,000 on Sunday, its first time below that threshold since early May

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization plunged about 6% to $3.2 trillion during the past seven days, data shows. 

Conversely, gold futures opened at $3,400.70 per ounce Monday, a 1% increase from their closing price on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance. Oil futures were also trading higher after a spate of bombings last week, jumping more than 4%. 

Despite widespread macroeconomic  uncertainty, Strategy has reported buying Bitcoin for eleven weeks straight, spending more than $6 billion on the digital asset since mid-April. 

Other companies have also signaled their continued commitment to Bitcoin, with Tokyo-listed Metaplanet buying 1,111 Bitcoin worth $118 million on Monday. The purchase brings its total holdings to exactly 11,111 BTC as it races toward an ambitious target of acquiring 100,000 Bitcoin by the end of 2026.

And Brazil-listed technology company Méliuz S.A. unveiled its latest $28.61 million dollar Bitcoin purchase on Monday.

Edited by James Rubin