Bitcoin rose on Thursday after the digital asset’s stockpiler MicroStrategy announced a plan to issue more shares, a move that would allow it to buy even more tokens.
The digital asset was up 0.32% at US$98,747 ($134,104) as of 11:30 am in Singapore, off its intraday high of US$99,876.70. A broader gauge of cryptocurrencies comprising smaller tokens including Ether, Solana and meme-coin favorite Dogecoin was up 0.2%, recovering from losses on Wednesday.
“The announcement that MicroStrategy will issue more shares next year to buy more Bitcoin is pushing up the prices,” said Sean McNulty, director of trading at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets. “The market is being forward looking about MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin buys and that’s been the single biggest reason for market to go up. Watching MicroStrategy news is becoming a big part of my day.”
MicroStrategy Inc is seeking permission to increase the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock and preferred stock, according to a Dec. 23 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Such a move would provide the company, which has transformed itself from a software maker into a Bitcoin accumulator, more firepower.
MicroStrategy announced earlier this week it had purchased an additional US$561 million of the digital token at an average price near last week’s record high. That marked the seventh week in a row of purchases.
Bitcoin has risen 135% so far this year, exceeding returns from traditional investments such as global stocks and gold.
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Some traders cautioned that markets could turn volatile in the coming day on massive expiries of open interest in Bitcoin and Ether derivatives.
On Friday, a record US$43 billion of open interest including US$13.95 billion in Bitcoin options and US$3.77 billion in Ether options will expire on derivatives exchange Deribit.
“Market makers could unwind their hedges and short Bitcoin strikes which might make it a choppy market on Friday,” McNulty said.
