How Strategy is like Apple and how to pray to the crypto gods: 4 questions for Michael Saylor
According to Strategy's founder, the main catalysts for bitcoin's growth are support from regulators and adoption by banks / Photo: michael.com
Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world, reported a quarterly loss of more than $12 billion on February 5. The publication of the results coincided with the worst day for bitcoin in several years - it collapsed to almost $60,000. The same evening, Strategy held a conference call with crypto analysts and stock market experts. Oninvest selected questions about bitcoin and the crypto market, which were asked by analysts, and Strategy founder Michael Saylor's answers. The questions and answers are given in abbreviated form.
"Looking at the rest of this year, do you see any key milestones that could accelerate bitcoin's adoption and support its value growth?"
"The fundamental catalyst for bitcoin's growth is regulatory support. We now have the most constructive regulators in history. The Fed leadership, the Treasury Secretary, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the chairman of the SEC, and the White House, which has a special curator of digital assets, are all positive. The second catalyst will be the acceptance of bitcoin by banks. As big banks and companies like Schwab begin to allow customers to trade, store and lend against bitcoin, they will legitimize the asset and reduce its volatility. The actions of major banks and financial regulators are the base. If you decided to put a candle and pray to the crypto gods, you would ask them for regulators and banks to support digital assets and for financial innovation in digital assets. The industry will move forward with enlightened regulation, an engaged banking system and innovative financial products. That's exactly what we are doing."
"The nomination of Kevin Warsh as a candidate to head the Fed last week increased volatility across a range of assets, including bitcoin. The good news for us is that Warsh has publicly referred to bitcoin as the new gold. I want to ask how Strategy's capital allocation structure could change if the next Fed Chair is perceived to be less independent. In the short term, this could boost the price of bitcoin, but over the long term it could lead to increased rate volatility, which would create difficulties in terms of funding"
"We try to be very reactive to market signals. For example, when our shares are trading weakly, we don't sell them. And to set and even interpret financial policy is, you know, beyond our competence. Sometimes the macroeconomy shows some numbers and it looks like they're positive for bitcoin, but in reality it's negative. Other times you think, "Well, if they do this, it will be good for us," but the opposite happens. The beauty of our business is that we have the opportunity to do nothing at all. If we take the base case scenario of bitcoin growing by only 10% or 20% a year, we are fine with doing nothing and growing at the same rate as bitcoin"
"Over the past year, we have seen many new companies accumulating bitcoins or other crypto-tokens as treasury assets. How will this industry evolve? Will there be a market sweep and, if so, will consolidation follow?"
"My opinion is that thousands of companies will emerge. Many will not succeed, some will be created with one business model but then evolve into something else. Look at our company - we have evolved. Moreover, the most successful companies go through two, three, four stages in their life cycle. Apple didn't start out as a phone manufacturer. I think Elon Musk will end up owning a robotics company, not a car company if we're talking about Tesla. Leaders will evolve and find their niche. The rest of the companies that don't evolve and just hold bitcoin and do nothing with it - yes, they may get swallowed up, and it will be good for them to have something that someone will want to pay for. We're going to see different stories. The industry is in the embryo stage right now. In 50 years, we'll be arguing about who's the best bitcoin-backed insurance company. But in the next 20, 30, 40 years, that company probably won't even be born yet."
"Michael, you said earlier that on days like today, when we're seeing the bitcoin collapse, people are looking for insight and role models. What are new investors and big capital telling you?"
"We are receiving a shaft of invitations to conferences and investor meetings. Interest in this topic is growing exponentially. And when volatility goes off the charts, engagement also goes off the charts. I have been telling everyone roughly the same thing for a long time: bitcoin is a capital investment, and your investment horizon should be at least four years"
Context
Strategy started buying bitcoin in 2020 and has become the largest corporate holder of this cryptocurrency. At the same time, it is traded on Nasdaq with a capitalization of about $37 billion and is included in the Nasdaq 100 index.
Strategy reported a net loss of $12.4 billion, or $42.93 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2025. This is twice as much as analysts expected. By comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the loss was only $670.8 million or $3.03 per share.
Despite this, Strategy's shares jumped 16% in trading on February 6. The growth was driven by bitcoin's rebound: after falling to its lowest levels since 2024, the cryptocurrency is trading above $68,000 again.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
