MicroStrategy buys more Bitcoin at average price above $19,400

MicroStrategy Inc. has bought more Bitcoin.

The company paid $50 million for more of the world’s largest cryptocurrency at an average purchase price of $19,427, it said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MicroStrategy now has about 40,824 Bitcoins in total, according to the filing.

Bitcoin on Monday surpassed its December 2017 record high of $19,511. It neared $20,000 but wasn’t able to crack that key level, and after peaking at $19,914 has bounced around mostly in a range between $18,500 to $19,500 since. As of 10:20 a.m. in Hong Kong, it was at $18,746.

MicroStrategy has made waves with its Bitcoin purchases, which Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor told Bloomberg in September are being done because he sees the cryptocurrency as less risky than cash or gold. Crypto-market watchers have cited the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company’s moves, along with those of Square Inc. and positive comments from noted investors such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller, as helping show that the asset class has come of age.

However, Bitcoin can be volatile, and any investment in it isn’t risk-free, as the drop of more than 80% over the next year from its December 2017 peak showed.