Best known for his bets against the British pound and the Thai baht and for having a wide array of conspiracy theories linked to his name, the billionaire and Holocaust survivor George Soros has had multiple run-ins with cryptocurrencies – and Bitcoin (BTC) in particular – in recent years.
As recently as the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, the Hungarian-born investor had substantial exposure to BTC through MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR). Specifically, Soros had approximately $250 million worth of MSTR assets, most likely stemming from the company’s two offerings in March.
While it is difficult to gauge the exact investment mechanisms used – particularly due to the put and call options present in the final trimester of 2023 – it is almost guaranteed that the billionaire was in the green on the overall bet thanks to MSTR stock’s remarkable rally at the start of 2024, and that he missed out on even greater gains by selling sometime in Q2 of 2024.
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George Soros could have doubled his investment by ‘hodling’ MSTR stock
Specifically, MicroStrategy shares are 408.79% in the green year-to-date (YTD) and boast a November 12 pre-market price of $348.60. On March 28, the latest stock market session that George Soros is guaranteed to have had exposure to the stock, MSTR was priced at $170.40 – or $1,704 if the August stock split is not accounted for.
The current prices of MicroStrategy shares are also remarkable as they ensured that Michael Saylor’s company recorded its first new all-time high (ATH) in 24 years in 2024 —the previous one stood at $313 and was reached on March 10, 2000.
In total, this means that the Hungarian-American investor could have effectively made twice as much money as he did, depending on the exact amount he spent compared to the latest known listed value of the assets.
While the reasons behind Soros’ clearing of his MSTR stock position cannot be known for sure – and indeed, it is unknown, at press time, whether he rebuilt exposure to Bitcoin during Q3 as the 13-f filing has yet to be published – it is possible it was an example of ‘playing it safe.’
In the initial months of 2024, many investors were concerned that the January approval of spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would render MicroStrategy’s role as a vehicle to invest in Bitcoin without directly engaging with the cryptocurrency market redundant and severely limit the company’s stock price.
The remarkable rise of MSTR stock and Bitcoin price
Despite the fears, the exact opposite happened, and MSTR shares remained a major player in the extended digital assets sector, even outperforming BTC with its YTD performance,
This feat is all the more impressive considering that Bitcoin is up 97.78% in 2024 and boasts a press-time price of $87,425.
The most recent – and arguably impressive – surge occurred after Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It led to BTC breaching several successive new ATHs and climbing 15.16% within just one week.
Featured image via Shutterstock
