Chicago-based Group One Trading disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday the ownership of nearly 1.3 million shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR), which amounts to 13.5% of the company, or a dollar value of about $237 million at MSTR’s current price of $188 a share.
The owner of more roughly 132,500 bitcoin (BTC), MicroStrategy is sometimes considered a bitcoin proxy, allowing traders – who for regulatory or other reasons cannot or don’t want to own it – to place bets on the crypto’s direction. MSTR suffered along with bitcoin in 2022, its stock plunging more than 70% as bitcoin slumped from about $48,000 in late March to close the year out at $16,500.
Alongside a modest gain for bitcoin so far in 2023, MicroStrategy shares are up 30% year to date, including a 7.7% rise in Tuesday trade.