Crypto Daily: Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor leaves MicroStrategy CEO position while BTC extends losses

Aug 03, 2022
05:08
2 min reading

Choise.com team

One of the biggest Bitcoin proponents Michael Saylor has stepped down from the position of MicroStrategy CEO, the business intelligence firm he co-founded in 1989. The announcement came on Tuesday, August 2, as the company reported a second-quarter loss of around $1 billion.

Of these, a $917.8 million loss was in the form of impairment charges due to the decline in the price of Bitcoin. As of June 30, MicroStrategy reported that they were holding 129,699 Bitcoins worth $1.988 billion. The company has been accumulating Bitcoins since the summer of 2020.

However,Saylor will assume the role of an executive chairman, focusing more on the company’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy and other initiatives related to the largest cryptocurrency.

The Bitcoin advocate hashandedover the baton totop executive Phong Le, who has served as the company’s president since July 2020. Le says that he’s “honored” and “excited” to be at the helm of the organization. Saylor believes that splitting the roles of CEO and Chairman will make it possible for the company to pursue its core corporate strategies in a more efficient way. He has been the head of MicroStrategy for more than three decades, going through a series of ups and downs.

In 2000, Saylor famously lost $6 billion in a single day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against his company. His company managed to capture the spotlight after adopting Bitcoin as its reserve asset in a surprise move in August 2020.

MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of the top cryptocurrency. In June, the firm bought $10 million worth of Bitcoin despite facing a reckoning due to falling prices.

Saylor has repeatedly defended the company’s Bitcoin-accumulating strategy after his audacious bet backfired. MicroStrategy’s crypto-related losses topped a whopping $1 billion in June. The shares of the company are down 2% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

As per the Bloombergreport, “a record 51% of MicroStrategy’s available shares are currently sold short, carrying a notional value of $1.35 billion, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners. The all-time high of 4.73 million shares shorted has soared by 1.2 million shares over the past 30 days alone, S3 says”.

However, if the BTC price manages to recover from here, it could also drive the MSTR stock price higher. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $22,865 with a market cap of $436 billion.

Bitcoin price signals decline

Bitcoin price started asteady declinefrom well above the $24,000 resistance zone. The price declined below the $23,500 and $23,250 to move into a short-term bearish zone.

The declined gained pace below the100 hourly simple moving average. It even tested the 50% Fib retracement level of the key increase from the $20,695 swing low to $24,671 high. The price is now struggling below the $23,200 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

There is also a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $23,250 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. However, it seems like the bulls are protecting the $22,680 support zone.

On the upside, bitcoin price is facing resistance near the $23,250 level and the trend line. The next key resistance is near the $23,520 zone and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The main resistance could be near the $24,180 zone. A close above the $24,180 resistance zone could set the pace for a decent increase. In the stated case, the price may perhaps rise towards the $24,650 level. The next major resistance sits near the $25,000 level.

Technical indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bearish zone

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level

Major Support Levels – $22,680, followed by $22,210

Major Resistance Levels – $23,250, $23,520 and $24,180

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