Why Bitcoin, BTC ETFs are not the same in Michael Saylor’s books

Journalist

Posted: February 21, 2024

Michael Saylor, co-founder and chair of MicroStrategy, has expressed skepticism regarding the recent approval of Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs.

He warned that ETFs could potentially undermine the decentralized nature of the crypto space in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the 20th of February.

The co-founder also admitted that though spot ETFs have paved the way for institutional capital to enter the Bitcoin ecosystem, its demand surpassed the present supply.

Saylor said, 

“The spot ETFs are driving the digitalization of capital, with hundreds of millions of dollars transitioning from the traditional analog ecosystem to the digital economy daily.”

Should the SEC be blamed?

Despite the approval of Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chair Gary Gensler emphasized to CNBC that these approvals do not signify an endorsement of the digital asset, noting,

“This was not in any way an approval of Bitcoin that existed—it’s just how to trade it in these Exchange Traded products.”

Despite facing increased losses, MicroStrategy persisted in its BTC acquisitions throughout last year. In January, Saylor sold $216 million worth of personal MicroStrategy stock options to buy even more Bitcoin.

The entrepreneur remarked,

“Bitcoin is the exit strategy, it is the strongest asset, that would emerge as a trillion-dollar asset class. And it’s alongside names like Apple, Google and Microsoft.”

Will Bitcoin outpace gold?

According to Saylor, Bitcoin is now in competition with gold.

But at the same time, it is also in competition with the S&P index and the real estate market, which are worth over $100 trillion as a store of value. He mused, 

“There’s just no reason to sell the winner to buy the losers.”

All in all, Bitcoin is technically superior to these asset classes. Additionally, with time and tide, capital will keep moving out of these traditional assets and into Bitcoin.