PANews reported on December 18 that according to Protos, Vance Spencer, co-founder of Framework Ventures, posted on the X platform that MicroStrategy (MSTR) may not sell shares through ATMs or issue new convertible bonds in January next year to fund Bitcoin purchases. If Spencer's statement is true, it may worry some long-term MicroStrategy stock investors because they have been expecting the company to buy Bitcoin every week.
The researchers speculate that the alleged prohibition on issuing new convertible bonds is related to insider trading rules. Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not prohibit insiders from trading between the end of earnings season and the release of earnings (assuming all other disclosures are up to date), many companies have self-imposed blackout periods as a Wall Street practice. Blackout periods typically last from two weeks to a month, with most companies re-enabling insider trading within two days of the quarterly earnings announcement. These self-imposed blackout periods help companies avoid suspicion that their employees are using non-public information for their own benefit.
Still others have speculated that the blackout period is not actually related to insider trading rules, but rather to the committee's recommendation following MicroStrategy's inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 on December 23. Regardless, MicroStrategy has regularly scheduled earnings for release between February 3 and 5, 2025. Some believe the blackout period will last throughout January, or for the 30 days leading up to the earnings call; others believe it will begin on January 14, but some doubt there will even be any blackout period at all.
