Bitcoin
Bitcoin-Proxy MicroStrategy Added to MSCI World Stock Index
(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc., the company best known for amassing a trove of about $13 billion in Bitcoin, will be included in a major global stock index after a rally in the company’s shares outpaced the digital asset.
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The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based enterprise software maker is one of the three largest additions to the MSCI World Index based on market capitalization, said MSCI Inc. Index providers regularly review their gauges and the latest changes come into play. effective at the end of the month.
The move is an indication of how exposure to cryptocurrencies may increasingly infiltrate traditional portfolios, given that many billions of dollars track or are benchmarked against MSCI’s global indicator. Other avenues include new US and Hong Kong exchange-traded funds that directly hold digital assets and which, over time, may attract interest from products such as multi-asset funds.
MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor is a prominent Bitcoin advocate. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, he decided to invest part of the company’s cash in the original cryptocurrency. The company held 214,400 Bitcoins as of April 26.
MicroStrategy shares have more than quadrupled in the past year, outpacing a nearly 130% rise in Bitcoin amid a crypto rally following a 2022 rout. The company is seen as a proxy for exposure to the token, but that role has been asked following the January debut of US Bitcoin ETFs. Shares rose about 6% to $1,377 on Wednesday.
In March, Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC said it was selling shares short as it was riding out the rise in the digital asset’s price. MicroStrategy has four buy ratings from analysts with an average 12-month price target of $1,678.75 — nearly 30% above the stock’s current level, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
(Adds stock price in second-to-last paragraph.)
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