Behind MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet: Investors Who Usually Play It Safe

Michael Saylor and his company MicroStrategy are making a massive bet on bitcoin. It funded those purchases partly by selling convertible bonds—debt that can eventually be converted into shares, if the stock price rises to a specified level. Last year alone, MicroStrategy issued $6.2 billion of convertible debt—the most ever issued by a single company in a calendar year, according to Bank of America.