Group One acquires 13.5% options position in MicroStrategy

Group One – a proprietary trading firm – has purchased options to buy 1.3 million shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR) worth $240 million, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ).

• As reported per Bloomberg on Tuesday, the purchase would represent a 13.5% stake in MicroStrategy, whose executive chairman is Bitcoin booster Michael Saylor.
• Group One is a market maker and liquidity provider for US equity options and other securities.
• MicroStrategy is an enterprise software company famous for being one of the largest BTC holders in the world. The company possesses over 131,000 pieces, while Saylor personally owns another 17,000.
• Given its massive exposure to the asset, MSTR has become a proxy for US investors seeking exposure to Bitcoin. The United States currently does not have a Bitcoin spot ETF, which means formal opportunities to gain direct exposure are limited for US investors.
• As such, MSTR was also a victim of Bitcoin’s tumultuous 2022, down 74% on the year.
• MicroStrategy suffered a $1 billion writedown on its Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2022. Michael Saylor stepped down as CEO around this time, but the company remained committed to its Bitcoin strategy.
• The company conducted its very first Bitcoin to sell at the end of last year for 704 BTC, but only to generate a tax benefit by redeeming these coins a few days later. Nevertheless, this technically constitutes a broken promise by Michael Saylor that MicroStrategy would never sell its parts.