MicroStrategy Defended at BTIG; Saylor Not Expecting Imminent Margin Call

The rout in the price of bitcoin (BTC) has led to renewed questions about whether MicroStrategy (MSTR) may have to part with or pledge as collateral more of its 129,218 coin stack.

• “We don’t expect to receive a margin call, and the company has plenty of additional collateral should we need to post more,” Saylor told the Wall Street Journal overnight.
• Saylor and Microstrategy have previously detailed their holdings of 129,218 bitcoins, with roughly 95,000 of that amount unencumbered. A bitcoin price of about $21,000 could theoretically have the company’s lenders demanding more bitcoin be pledged as collateral. The MicroStrategy chief has further noted that it would take a bitcoin price of about $3,500 before the company might run out of bitcoin collateral.
• “When MicroStrategy adopted a Bitcoin Strategy, it anticipated volatility and structured its balance sheet so that it could continue to #HODL (sic) through adversity,” Saylor tweeted this morning.
• BTIG equity research analyst Mark Palmer ran the numbers himself and came to a similar conclusion. “The reality is that 95,643 of the 129,218 bitcoins held by MSTR are unencumbered and available to the company to post as additional collateral to avoid or address a margin call,” he wrote.
• He describes as “clearly incorrect” the rumors that MicroStrategy might be selling any of its bitcoin.
• MSTR is up 5.7% today alongside a modest bounce in bitcoin and equity markets.