Today more so than ever before, Bitcoin is currently the talk of the world of finance thanks to Coinbase going public. But it was actually another publicly-traded company that kicked off the bull market in cryptocurrencies.

That effort was led by Michael Saylor and the courageous board members of MicroStrategy, Inc. Here’s a look back at the milestone moments from the Nasdaq-listed company, along with a breakdown – by the numbers – of exactly how much they’ve made on their BTC investment thus far.

How The Once Bearish Michael Saylor Began The Bitcoin Bull Run

December 18, 2013, four years before Bitcoin became a household name, Michael Saylor tweeted that the top cryptocurrency’s “days were numbered” and would fall to the same fate as “online gambling.”

#Bitcoin days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.

— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) December 19, 2013

Seven years later in 2020, Saylor’s tune changed significantly, and instead he found himself taking a gamble with his company’s cash reserves and converted them into BTC.

The move caused other corporate CEOs to pay attention to the scarce cryptocurrency and its use as a hedge against inflation. The asset’s digital gold narrative initially caught the eye of hedge funds, but eventually, anyone with capital at risk of dollar value loss was soon looking to BTC as a store of value.

Related Reading | Buying Bitcoin Couldn’t Save MicroStrategy Shares From 50% Crash

Saylor’s bold move kicked off several other companies following suit, from the likes of Square Inc. to Tesla, and many more are on the way due to a seminar the self-proclaimed bull held earlier in the year.

The MicroStrategy CEO shared his playbook with other executives and the fruits of that labor could soon be clear. But why might other companies want to follow suit? The numbers speak for themself.

MicroStrategy buying BTC is what set off the bull run | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

MicroStrategy Banks $3B In Profit, Almost 5x 15 Years Of Net Income

MicroStrategy shares have also performed well during the crypto market bull run due to spillover effect and the fact that traditional investors feel more comfortable investing in companies with exposure to crypto – rather than crypto itself.

Big banks like JP Morgan have responded with a “crypto exposure basket” to serve such demand, but what’s the point when MicroStrategy has shown how profitable Bitcoin itself can be?

Related Reading | Bank Begins Blocking Shares Of Companies Who Buy Bitcoin

According to nothing but numbers, MicroStrategy is up $3,578,716,599 combined on their position in BTC. Over the last fifteen years, according to an industry commentator, they’ve generated $747 million in net income. This means that in less than one year after buying Bitcoin, they’ve generated 4.79 times their previous total net income.

The number of Bitcoin mentions in company earning reports has gone parabolic. Coinbase is listing publicly today. And it all started with Saylor switching from bear to bull on Bitcoin.

Featured image from Deposit Photos, Charts from TradingView.com