MicroStrategy buys 10,600 BTC: Why doesn't the price go up?

MicroStrategy's recent purchase of more than 10,600 BTC, a nearly $1 billion deal, brought its total holdings above 660,000 coins.

However, what has sparked widespread debate in the crypto community, originating in a post by Andrew Tate, is why a purchase of such magnitude has not produced a visible reaction on Bitcoin's price.

In the days since the announcement, the cryptocurrency has been stuck between $88,000 and $92,000, before breaking the doldrums only today.

I'm a big fan of BTC, but MicroStrategy buys 10,000 BTC in a single day and the price doesn't move. Explain this to me, has said Tate on X.

The Crucial Role of the Over-The-Counter (OTC) Market

The confusion among retail traders highlights a misunderstanding of the market structure of Bitcoin. Many experts were quick to clarify that large institutional acquisitions are rarely executed through the spot order books of public exchanges.

Instead, they are routed through Over-The-Counter (OTC) desks, specialised platforms that directly match buyers and sellers off exchanges.

These private transactions allow institutional investors to absorb significant volumes without causing slippage (deviation between expected and actual price) or leaving immediate traces on charts or price indices.

This mechanism allows a billion-dollar purchase to be completed silently, drawing liquidity from miners, historical portfolios, market makers and distressed sellers. The lack of immediate reaction reflects the depth of Bitcoin's liquidity in these private channels.

Size and Mode of Execution

Market analysts point out that the price impact of Bitcoin depends less on the size of the purchase and more on its execution path.

When this quantity is obtained through block trades instead of public market orders, the effect becomes almost zero in the short term. This explains how corporate accumulation can continue even during sideways phases without small investors noticing it before the trade has been settled.

Despite the effectiveness of the OTC channel, some critics argue that MicroStrategy's strategy is aimed more at perception and generating bullish sentiment through announcements, rather than a direct impact on price.

The breakout from stagnation, which occurred only today, was in fact attributed to a combination of different factors: accumulation by the whale, liquidations of short positions and regulatory developments, and not directly to MicroStrategy's buying.

The contrast reiterates a key concept: the price movement visible in the spot market is often the end effect of the order flow, not the original trade itself.