Introduction

MicroStrategy, the Virginia-based business intelligence firm led by Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor has transformed itself into a corporate Bitcoin whale. Over the past five years, the company aggressively accumulated Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, making headlines with each new purchase. By early 2025, MicroStrategy holds more Bitcoin than any other public company, a bold strategy that has attracted both admiration and scrutiny in the financial world. This article provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings, including the exact amount of BTC they own, their purchase costs and strategy since 2020, recent portfolio updates, and how they compare to other institutional Bitcoin holders.

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Holdings by the Numbers (2025)

As of April 2025, MicroStrategy holds approximately 528,185 bitcoins on its balance sheet, an astonishing figure that equates to about 2.5% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist (21 million maximum supply). This stash was acquired at an aggregate purchase cost of about $35.63 billion, which puts the company’s average cost per Bitcoin at roughly $67,458​. In other words, MicroStrategy has spent years buying BTC at various prices, with $67k being the blended average price per coin. (For context, Bitcoin was trading around $75,000–$80,000 in early April 2025.) These eye-popping numbers underscore how dramatically MicroStrategy’s bet on Bitcoin has grown. What began as a $250 million investment in 2020 has morphed into a crypto treasure chest worth tens of billions. Notably, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin position is now many times larger than the company’s own annual revenues, effectively turning the firm into a hybrid of a software company and a Bitcoin holding vehicle.

Timeline of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Purchases (2020–2025)

MicroStrategy’s journey into Bitcoin began in mid 2020 and accelerated through the years that followed. The company took advantage of both bull markets and bear markets to accumulate more BTC, often using corporate cash flows, debt offerings, and equity sales to fund its purchases. Below is a historical overview of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy, broken down by year:

2020: The Bold Beginning (70,470 BTC)

MicroStrategy made its first foray into Bitcoin in August 2020, shocking the financial world with an initial purchase of 21,454 BTC for $250 million​. At the time, Bitcoin was trading around $11,600, and this move represented a radical treasury strategy shift, using cash reserves to buy a then controversial asset. Over the remainder of 2020, MicroStrategy doubled down and acquired an additional 48,000 BTC through a series of follow-on purchases​. By December 2020, the company’s holdings totaled 70,470 BTC, at an average cost of roughly $15,964 per coin (about $1.125 billion spent in total).

What drove this bold bet? CEO Michael Saylor was increasingly convinced that cash was a “melting ice cube” losing value to inflation, and that Bitcoin would serve as a superior store of value​. He viewed Bitcoin as digital gold, an asset with a finite supply that could protect the company’s treasury from currency debasement. This conviction set the stage for MicroStrategy’s ongoing Bitcoin strategy. The initial 70,470 BTC purchase put MicroStrategy on the map as a major Bitcoin holder and emboldened Saylor to continue buying aggressively.
Source: webopedia.com

2021: Doubling Down in a Bull Market (+53,921 BTC)

If 2020 was the appetizer, 2021 was the main course for MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin accumulation. With crypto markets surging, MicroStrategy continued buying BTC in large tranches. Notably, in February 2021 the company purchased 19,452 BTC in one go using proceeds from a $1.05 billion convertible bond issuance). This was timed with Bitcoin’s price spike to new all time highs (above $50k), illustrating Saylor’s willingness to buy even as prices climbed.

Throughout 2021, MicroStrategy made several additional buys, often announcing them via press releases or Twitter. By the end of 2021, the company had added approximately 53,921 BTC during the year​, bringing its total holdings to about 124,391 BTC. The total acquisition cost by this point was around $3.75 billion, implying an average cost in the low $30,000s per BTC. Despite some critics warning that MicroStrategy was overexposed to a volatile asset, Saylor remained unwavering in his optimism. He famously tweeted that “Bitcoin is Hope,” reinforcing his view that BTC would empower businesses and individuals financially. ​ MicroStrategy’s stock price began to closely track Bitcoin’s fortunes and Saylor became a high-profile advocate for corporate Bitcoin adoption, often describing BTC as a “technological phoenix” rising as a new monetary standard.
Source: webopedia.com

2022: Steady Accumulation Amid a Crypto Winter (+8,109 BTC)

The year 2022 brought a harsh bear market in crypto. Bitcoin’s price fell over 70% from its peak, testing the conviction of even staunch believers. In 2022 the company added another 8,109 BTC to its holdings​, albeit at a slower pace than previous years. These purchases were strategic: MicroStrategy viewed the price dips as an opportunity to buy Bitcoin at a discount and lower its average cost basis. Indeed, some of its 2022 buys were around $18k–$20k. One notable development was that in August 2022, Michael Saylor stepped down as CEO of MicroStrategy to assume the role of Executive Chairman, explicitly to focus more on the company’s Bitcoin strategy. ​This move underscored Saylor’s commitment to BTC, he handed over day-to-day software business duties to devote his energy to Bitcoin acquisition and advocacy. Despite the brutal market, MicroStrategy only sold Bitcoin once: in December 2022 it sold 704 BTC (out of over 130,000) to harvest a tax loss, and immediately bought 810 BTC back a few days later​. In short, they HODLed through the crypto winter, ending 2022 with roughly 132,500 BTC on the books​.
Source: webopedia.com

2023: Crossing New Milestones (+56,650 BTC)

Crypto markets began recovering in 2023, and MicroStrategy accelerated its accumulation. The company purchased over 56,000 BTC in 2023​, significantly boosting its treasury. Early in the year, as Bitcoin rebounded above $30k, MicroStrategy used additional stock sales to raise cash for BTC buys, for example, it added 6,455 BTC in March 2023 and another 1,045 BTC in April 2023 when prices were in the high $20ks​. Later in the year, as sentiment improved, MicroStrategy made even larger purchases: 16,130 BTC in November 2023 and 14,620 BTC in December 2023, coinciding with Bitcoin’s price rising to $40k. ​By the end of 2023, MicroStrategy’s total holdings had reached approximately 189,150 BTC​.
Source: webopedia.com

2024: An Unprecedented Buying Spree (+234,509 BTC)

In 2024, MicroStrategy went all-in like never before. The company acquired a jaw dropping 234,509 BTC in a single year​, doubling its holdings. Several factors converged to make this possible. Bitcoin entered a strong new bull market, breaking its previous price records. This drove up MicroStrategy’s own stock price, enabling the company to raise more capital (through at-the-market stock offerings and even a new preferred stock issuance) to buy additional Bitcoin. Major catalyst came in late 2024: following the U.S. presidential election which resulted in President Trump’s victory, MicroStrategy executed a series of massive purchases. In November 2024 alone, it bought 27,200 BTC on Nov. 10 ($74k each), 51,780 BTC on Nov. 17, and 55,500 BTC on Nov. 24 ($97k each)​. These were by far the largest weekly purchases in the company’s history, taking advantage of surging market momentum. During 2024, Bitcoin’s price rocketed to almost $100,000, and MicroStrategy kept buying even at these high levels – a testament to its ultra-bullish outlook. By December 2024, MicroStrategy’s cache had grown to about 423,000–439,000 BTC. Michael Saylor publicly reported that as of Dec 15, 2024, the firm held 439,000 BTC acquired for $27.1 billion (avg ~$61,725 per BTC).
Source: webopedia.com,cointelegraph.com, coindesk.com, x.com

Early 2025: Topping Half a Million BTC

MicroStrategy’s buying spree continued into early 2025, finally pushing its holdings above the half-million mark. In Q1 2025, the company added roughly 89,000 more BTC on top of its 2024 pile. Notably, in late March 2025 alone MicroStrategy purchased about 22,000 BTC in one week, its single largest weekly addition as Bitcoin traded in the mid-$80k range​. SEC Form 8-K filing in April 2025 confirmed that as of April 6, 2025, MicroStrategy holds 528,185 bitcoins acquired for a total of $35.63 billion (averaging $67,458 per BTC). At the time of that disclosure, the market price of Bitcoin was around $76,000, valuing the stash at about $40 billion​. By achieving over 528K BTC, MicroStrategy has put itself in a league of its own. No other operating company comes close to this level of Bitcoin ownership. To put MicroStrategy’s 528,000 BTC in perspective, this single company holds more Bitcoin than the estimated holdings of Satoshi Nakamoto (the creator of Bitcoin, who is believed to have ~1 million BTC but has never moved it), and more than 2.5% of the total 21 million supply cap of Bitcoin.
Source: bitcointreasuries.net, binance.com

How To Buy and Trade Bitcoin on Gate.io Exchange

For individual traders and investors inspired by MicroStrategy’s conviction in Bitcoin, the question becomes how to buy and trade BTC efficiently. Whether you are accumulating Bitcoin for the long term or actively trading price movements, choosing a reliable exchange platform is crucial. Gate.io is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges and an excellent choice for trading Bitcoin, both in the spot market and via futures contracts. Gate.io has grown into a robust platform serving over 22 million users globally and consistently ranks among the top exchanges by volume and liquidity​.

Gate.io BTC Spot Trading

Gate.io offers a rich suite of features for spot trading Bitcoin, i.e., buying or selling actual BTC for other currencies (like USDT) with immediate settlement. On Gate.io’s BTC/USDT spot market, traders have access to deep liquidity and tight trading spreads, which means you can execute large Bitcoin trades with minimal slippage. In fact, BTC/USDT is one of the most active pairs on Gate.io with daily volumes often in the hundreds of millions of dollars​

Image source: BTC Spot Trading Page

Gate.io BTC Futures Trading

In addition to spot trading, Gate.io provides a powerful platform for trading Bitcoin futures, allowing users to speculate on BTC’s price movements with leverage and even profit from price declines. On Gate.io’s BTC/USDT futures platform, you can trade perpetual futures contracts on Bitcoin. Perpetual contracts have no expiration date and closely track the underlying BTC price through a funding rate mechanism, making them popular for traders who want to hold long or short positions without time limit​.

Image source: BTC Futures Trading Page

Conclusion

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin saga underscores the increasing synergy between traditional finance and the crypto world. The company’s huge bet on BTC has so far been vindicated by market trends, turning it into the poster child of institutional Bitcoin adoption. As the crypto market continues to evolve, traders and investors can take inspiration from MicroStrategy’s vision, while also learning the importance of doing so prudently. Platforms like Gate.io empower everyone from beginners to seasoned traders to engage with Bitcoin, the asset that has captured MicroStrategy’s confidence. Just as MicroStrategy carefully strategized its Bitcoin purchases, individuals should approach Bitcoin trading with education, sound tools, and a reliable exchange partner. With the right approach, one can navigate the exciting Bitcoin market, whether to accumulate a personal stash or to capitalize on price fluctuations in the footsteps of the pioneers, but tailored to one’s own goals and risk tolerance.