By George Glover

MicroStrategy stock was sliding Tuesday as cryptocurrencies' tough recent run continued. The business software company's latest Bitcoin purchase will send mixed signals to digital-asset investors.

Shares in the company, which said in February it would be changing its name to Strategy, slid 2.4% ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 index were down 0.3%.

The stock was moving in line with Bitcoin, which slid 2.2% to $82,620. The two assets tend to move in tandem because MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of the large-cap token.

MicroStrategy went on a Bitcoin buying spree between mid-November and early February but has scaled back its purchases since.

The company said last week it would sell stock to raise up to $21 billion so it could continue betting on the token, and on Monday revealed it had spent $11 million acquiring 130 Bitcoin, at an average cost of $82,981 -- the first buys it has reported since Feb. 24.

It's tough to know what to make of the news. While a MicroStrategy buy would typically be a bullish signal for Bitcoin, the purchase is its smallest in nearly a year. That suggests the company remains cautious, amid worries that investors could avoid riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies while the market frets about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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March 18, 2025 08:17 ET (12:17 GMT)

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