The Michael Saylor-led software company MicroStrategy has upsized its planned convertible senior notes offering from $500 million to $525 million.

The company intends to use the proceeds to acquire more Bitcoin, as per their recent press release, following a strategy it has pursued since 2020.

MicroStrategy announced it had priced the 0.875% convertible senior notes due 2031 in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers. The notes will be sold at 100% of the principal amount with an annual interest rate of 0.875%, payable semiannually. 

After March 2028, the company can redeem the notes in cash at 100% of the principal plus accrued interest if certain conditions are met. Holders can require MicroStrategy to repurchase the notes at 100% of the principal amount plus interest on September 15, 2028, or upon certain events constituting a fundamental change.

The notes will be convertible into cash, shares of MicroStrategy’s class A common stock, or a combination of both at the company’s discretion.

MicroStrategy estimates the net proceeds of the offering will be approximately $515 million after fees and expenses. 

Led by founder and CEO Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy has been aggressive in its bitcoin accumulation strategy. The company now holds more than 200,000 bitcoins worth over $13 billion at press time.

Saylor has said he aims to position MicroStrategy as the world’s first “Bitcoin development company,” though details on the proposal have been scant. 

In the past, MicroStrategy has released alpha applications, such as a tool for allowing businesses to reward employees using Bitcoin lightning payments.

As a publicly traded company using its balance sheet to acquire bitcoin at scale, MicroStrategy’s plans illustrate growing corporate interest in Bitcoin as an emerging asset class and treasury asset, one that can hedge against debasement and inflation.

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MicroStrategy® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR) has revealed plans to raise $500 million to buy more bitcoin through a private offering of convertible senior notes due 2031. The offering, subject to market conditions, targets qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933.

BREAKING: MicroStrategy to raise $500 million to buy more #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/EU19xmKB2x

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 13, 2024

The notes, unsecured and senior obligations of MicroStrategy, will bear semi-annual interest payable on March 15 and September 15, commencing September 15, 2024. Set to mature on March 15, 2031, the notes may be redeemed by MicroStrategy on or after March 22, 2028, subject to certain conditions.

Investors will have the option to convert the notes into cash, shares of MicroStrategy’s class A common stock, or a combination thereof. Conversion before September 15, 2030, will occur based on specific events and periods, while after that date, conversion will be unrestricted until two days before the maturity date.

Proceeds from the offering will primarily fund the acquisition of additional bitcoin and support general corporate purposes, the announcement stated. The sale will be restricted to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A, with no registration under the Securities Act or other jurisdictional securities laws.

Just last week it was announced that MicroStrategy was raising more money to buy more bitcoin. Following that announcement, MicroStrategy acquired 12,000 BTC for $821.7 million this past Monday.

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Pioneering bitcoin wallet company Oyl has secured a $3 million pre-seed investment from a variety of investors, including UTXO Management and Domo, the creator of the BRC-20 token standard.

The investment marks a noteworthy shift in cryptocurrency investment trends, with several Ethereum NFT funds making their first foray into a bitcoin-centric business. Arca, which led the round, is a venture firm with a history of investments in Ethereum NFTs and alternative blockchains. Now, the company is extending its portfolio into the bitcoin sphere through Ordinals. Other investors include Foresight Ventures, Taproot Wizards CEO Udi Wertheimer, and distinguished NFT funds Kanosei and FlamingoDAO.

“The speed of development on Bitcoin is primarily constrained by lack of infrastructure — we’re in a race to see who can create the most usable backend tooling for developers to build on,” said BRC-20 creator Domo.

Based in Brooklyn, NY, Oyl is set to launch in coming weeks, aiming to become the first bitcoin wallet to incorporate “in-wallet” trading of bitcoin and Ordinals. The app is designed to support market aggregation for BRC-20s and facilitate swap integrations with the “bitcoin DeFi” protocol Omnisat.io.

“We want to support the new surge of development on Bitcoin — starting with builder tools like RPCs, all the way to consumer platforms like the Wallet,” Alec Taggart, Oyl CEO, said in a statement.

Arthur Hayes, whose family office Maelstrom also participated in the funding, noted the growing recognition of the untapped potential within the bitcoin DeFi sector.

“Funds that have historically been focused on other chains are now seeing what’s possible on Bitcoin with Ordinals,” said Arthur Hayes. “The infra winners in ‘Bitcoin Defi’ are yet to be determined — it’s a huge opportunity.”

In addition to being on the verge of launching its wallet, Oyl has introduced Sandshrew, a product that offers developer tools such as Bitcoin Core, Esplora, and Ordinals endpoints.

Disclaimer: UTXO Management’s parent company, BTC Inc., is also the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine. UTXO Management operates separately and independently from Bitcoin Magazine.

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Brave, a privacy-focused web browser with over 60 million users, has rolled out an update to its desktop version (1.63) that introduces support for Native SegWit Bitcoin wallets within its built-in Brave Wallet. Additionally, Brave Wallet now enables users to send and receive from all types of Bitcoin addresses, including Legacy, Nested SegWit, Native SegWit, and Taproot, ensuring compatibility with third-party wallets.

#Bitcoin is now available in Brave Wallet on desktop!

Just make sure you’re on the latest version of Brave (v1.63) and you’ll see the option in the “Accounts” section of Brave Wallet.

Details are in today’s blog post https://t.co/bSM1UFzu0p pic.twitter.com/3blrfIKSlV

— Brave Software (@brave) February 27, 2024

The move comes amidst the backdrop of growing institutional adoption of Bitcoin, particularly following the recent approval of several Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Bitcoin, which continues to assert itself as a resilient asset class, is expanding its use cases beyond peer-to-peer payments to encompass store-of-value functions and serve as a foundation for innovation in areas like NFTs and DeFi, Brave stated in the announcement.

“Our aim with Brave Wallet is to offer the most secure and privacy-considerate software wallet for everyday use,” said James Mudgett, VP Web3 Products at Brave. “As the Bitcoin ecosystem expands with new apps and services, Brave Wallet will be there to put security and privacy first, to help keep users’ assets safe.”

Looking ahead, Brave says it has plans to introduce more features to enhance privacy within Brave Wallet. Moreover, the company intends to enable users to store BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals within Brave Wallet, with these features expected to be available across all desktop and mobile versions of the browser later this year.

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