MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor cites spot Bitcoin ETF applications, upcoming halving as bullish signals

Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, discussed his company’s Bitcoin investments during an interview with CNBC on Nov. 2.

Saylor first commented on his company’s total holdings of 158,400 BTC, stating: “You can never have too much Bitcoin … we’re big bitcoin bulls.”

He next discussed the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF and whether this could affect investor appetite for MicroStrategy stock (MSTR). Saylor said:

“I think it’s going to help. It’s going to accelerate adoption and it’s also going to accelerate institutional awareness and education efforts of Wall Street to teach the 99% of investors that don’t know about Bitcoin what it’s all about.”

He described MicroStrategy as a “differentiated offering,” noting that his company does not charge a fee and uses intelligent leverage to generate a tax-deferred Bitcoin premium for its investors. He called this a “pretty attractive” alternative to a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Finally, Saylor discussed Bitcoin’s upcoming halving, which will reduce miner block rewards by 50% in 2024. Saylor noted that this event will likely see the amount of Bitcoin that miners sell into the market fall from $12 billion to $6 billion, thereby increasing demand for existing Bitcoin. He said that, combined with demand caused by ETFs, the halving is why he and many others are “fairly bullish over the next twelve months.”

Bitcoin can increase tenfold with “adult supervision”

CNBC also raised various recent crypto controversies, including the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried and Israel’s restriction of Binance accounts tied to Hamas.

Though he did not comment on those issues specifically, Saylor said that the crypto industry must “migrate to adult supervision,” with large banks serving as crypto custodians and Wall Street taking a role. He also insisted on a shift from altcoins to Bitcoin, calling it the one universally recognized crypto commodity. He said:

“When the industry takes its eyes away from the shiny little tokens that have distracted and demolished shareholder value, I think the industry moves to the next level and we 10X from here.”

Saylor conducted the interview just one day after MicroStrategy published its quarterly earnings report. There, the company said that it has purchased $167 million of Bitcoin since the end of Q2 2023 and now holds more than $4 billion of Bitcoin in total.

MicroStrategy first started to buy Bitcoin in 2020. It is by far the publicly traded company with the most Bitcoin, surpassing other buyers such as Marathon and Tesla.