MicroStrategy proposes $600 million convertible note offering following one-day 23% share price surge

Quick Take

  • MicroStrategy, which owns 193,000 bitcoin, had its shares skyrocket by more than 23% on Monday as the price for the cryptocurrency traded above $67,000.
  • The company announced its proposal of a private offering of $600 million in convertible notes immediately after the bell, which it said it would use “to acquire additional bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.”
  • MSTR’s bitcoin holdings exceeded a value of $13 billion.

MicroStrategy, the business intelligence firm best known for its commitment to stockpiling bitcoin, saw its shares leap by more than 23% on Monday as the price of the world's most popular cryptocurrency by market cap passed $67,000. Just after the market close, however, it announced it was going to seek $600 million in financing through convertible notes. 

At market close, MicroStrategy's shares traded at $1,334.01, according to Yahoo Finance, though it immediately tumbled by roughly $100 from that amount just a minute after the bell, when the company announced it was going to propose a private offering of $600 million in convertible notes.  Michael Saylor, the company's co-founder and executive chairman, also posted about it on X at 4:05 p.m. "MicroStrategy intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes to acquire additional bitcoin and for general corporate purposes," the company said in its press release. 

MicroStrategy's massive portfolio of bitcoin is currently worth more than $13 billion. As of 4:05 p.m. ET, bitcoin was up 7.5% in the past 24 hours and trading at a price of $67,624, according to The Block Price Page.

MicroStrategy first began buying bitcoin in earnest in 2020. Since then, with a market cap north of $22 billion, the company's value has experienced a more than tenfold increase. Its total bitcoin holdings reached 193,000 on Feb. 26, after it bought an additional 3,000, worth $155 million at the time. The previous month, the firm purchased 850 BTC for $37.2 million. 

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In 2022, Saylor transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy. The last time share prices reached this level was in 2000, the same year Saylor and two other executives settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of overstating revenue and earnings figures for several years.

 

Updated Mar. 4, 2024 at 22:17 UTC to reflect private offering announcement. 


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RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.

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