Shares of MicroStrategy were up more than 5% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the enterprise software company announced intentions to buy more bitcoin.
In a press release, MicroStrategy said it plans to offer $ 600 million in senior convertible bonds and use the net proceeds to purchase bitcoin.
The company already owns nearly 72,000 bitcoin units since a legal filing on Feb. 2. That’s worth nearly $ 3.6 billion based on Tuesday’s price of the virtual currency.
It is the second time that MicroStrategy has raised money to fund a cryptocurrency purchase. In December, the Virginia-based company took out a $ 650 million senior convertible bond.
Convertible bonds are debt, but they can be converted into stocks, cash, or a combination of both at a later date.
Led by Chairman and CEO Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy became an early adopter of companies buying bitcoin as an investment. The company announced its first purchase of the cryptocurrency in August, acquiring 21,454 bitcoins using existing cash on its balance sheet.
Saylor is advocating for other companies to do the same by hosting a virtual conference called “Bitcoin for Corporations” earlier this month. Saylor publicly encouraged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to follow his “playbook” in a Twitter conversation in December. Just over a month later, Tesla announced it was purchasing $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and had plans to eventually accept the digital coin as payment for its products.
Bitcoin’s price hit $ 50,000 per coin for the first time on Tuesday morning and continued its rally in recent days as a number of established financial firms such as BNY Mellon and Mastercard announced moves in the crypto space.
MicroStrategy stocks have been in a tear since August as some investors have looked to the stock as a way to gain exposure to bitcoin. Shares are up more than 660% since August 11, the date the company unveiled its first bitcoin purchase.
The stock reached a 52-week high of $ 1,315 on February 9.