MicroStrategy Can't Get Enough Bitcoin, Boosting Latest Raise to $700 Million

MicroStrategy just can’t get enough Bitcoin. 

One day after announcing that it planned to issue $500 million worth of unsecured senior convertible notes to buy up more BTC and further increase its record holding, the firm upsized that offering today to $700 million. 

The company said in an announcement Friday morning that it may now raise as much as $786 million from the offering to spend on BTC and general corporate purposes, if initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes.  

MicroStrategy, the American software firm co-founded by noted Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, is already far and away the largest institutional holder of the world’s top cryptocurrency.

Prior to this week’s announcements, the company held 214,400 BTC—a sum worth some $14.3 billion at writing. MicroStrategy handily controls more than 1% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply, which is capped at 21 million BTC. Currently, there’s just over 19.7 million BTC in circulation.

The notes will bear 2.25% annual interest, payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15, beginning this December. They will mature in June 2032, unless previously repurchased, redeemed, or converted.

Since tripling down on Bitcoin, MicroStrategy has found its fortunes increasingly tied to the crypto token. When BTC’s price began to slip in late 2021 after hitting an all-time high, MicroStrategy stock (MSTR) fell with it. 

On a single day in June 2022, as an onsetting crypto winter ravaged Bitcoin’s price, MSTR stock fell a stunning 25%, to $152.15. The action was so severe that MicroStrategy nearly faced a margin call. 

As BTC has rallied in recent months, however, MicroStrategy has reaped the benefits. The company’s stock has more than quintupled in value in the last year; it hit an all-time high price of nearly $2,000 in late March, shortly after Bitcoin hit its own all-time record price above $73,700.

Edited by Andrew Hayward