Source: What Bitcoin Did

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Recently, Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Strategy, appeared on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, engaging in an in-depth conversation with host Danny Knowles.

During the interview, Saylor pointed out that Bitcoin's true victory lies not in short-term price movements but in historic breakthroughs in fundamentals, from restoring insurance and adopting fair value accounting to the comprehensive acceptance of the banking credit system. He also shared Strategy's grand vision of building "digital credit" and responded to external doubts about DAT. Below are the highlights.

Multiple Breakthroughs in Fundamentals, Institutional Adoption is the Biggest Progress

Danny: Bitcoin is now 17 years old, and last year was somewhat disappointing for Bitcoin, not what I expected, and it was the same for companies issuing Bitcoin products, especially the second half of the year was really tough. Did you anticipate 2025 would be like this?

Saylor: I don't think it was a disappointing year. The only disappointing aspect was the price at the end of the year. In fact, in the first week of the last quarter (October), Bitcoin set a new all-time high. The memory of the entire community is quite short, mainly discussing what happened in the last five days. In 2024, about 30 to 60 companies will hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, and by the end of 2025, that number will reach around 200. So, from my perspective, the fundamentals look quite good. Bitcoin set a new high, with 100 new companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

If we list everything that happens in 2025, we will find that we have reached historic highs.

First, insurance was restored in 2025. When we bought Bitcoin in 2020, insurance companies terminated our coverage. We lost insurance protection. For four whole years, I had to insure the company myself. The company once had assets of $20 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion, yet could not buy a $40 million policy. If I hadn't used my personal assets to insure the company, this strategy wouldn't exist at all.

In 2025, profitability was restored. We adopted fair value accounting, and now the company can finally make money. We have always faced the issue of corporate alternative minimum tax. Do publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin need to pay unrealized capital gains tax? This issue received positive guidance from the government in 2025 and was resolved. Therefore, we were not impacted by unrealized capital gains tax.

Then, in 2025, Bitcoin was officially recognized by the government as a major and the largest digital commodity globally. After that, Bitcoin's price reached an all-time high. At the beginning of the year, using $1 billion worth of Bitcoin as collateral could barely secure a loan of five cents. But by the end of the year, most major banks in the U.S. began issuing credit against IBIT as collateral, with about a quarter of the banks announcing plans to start issuing credit against BTC. By early 2026, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were discussing buying, selling, and handling Bitcoin.

The Treasury also provided positive guidance on including crypto assets on bank balance sheets. The chairs of the U.S. CFTC and SEC also supported Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Additionally, we witnessed the commercialization of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin derivatives market. You also saw the creation and redemption mechanism for physical assets, where you could exchange $1 million worth of Bitcoin for $1 million of IBIT, and vice versa. Exchanging $1 million of IBIT for $1 million of Bitcoin incurs no tax.

So, if I list all the fundamental elements required for the commercialization, globalization, and institutionalization of assets, then in 2025, everything you want has been achieved. Moreover, you even witnessed an all-time high, just not on the last day of the year.

Predicting Short-Term Prices is Meaningless, the Industry is Moving in the Right Direction

Danny: **What you mentioned from a fundamental perspective are all positive factors for Bitcoin. I completely agree. However, the current price is lower than last year. I don't know if this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as people believe the four-year cycle is real, which leads to selling Bitcoin. I think the four-year cycle has ended. *What do you think will happen in* 2026?**

Saylor: I think trying to predict market movements in 100 days is futile. As I just said, Bitcoin set a new high just 95 days ago, and yet you are complaining about Bitcoin's price fluctuations. Being fixated on short-term events is wrong; the core idea of Bitcoin is that you should have a lower time preference.

Looking back at the history of all ideological movements over the past ten thousand years. Those who are considered dedicated to doing something often take ten years to achieve their goals. By the way, many people in the world have spent ten years doing something but still haven't succeeded, and they spend another ten or twenty years before finally succeeding. If your goal is to commercialize Bitcoin, then you shouldn't analyze or evaluate your success on a frequency of ten weeks or even ten months. What is the point of assessing price movements in 2026?

If you evaluate Bitcoin's performance using a four-year moving average, you will find it shows a quite bullish trend. I believe 2026 will be a significant year for Bitcoin, but you shouldn't try to predict the price 90 days or 180 days from now. The industry is moving in the right direction. The network is also moving in the right direction, and the past 90 days have simply been an opportunity for those with keen vision to buy more Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is Universal Capital in the Digital Age, Treasury Companies are Far from Saturated

Danny: I am also very optimistic about Bitcoin's development in 2026. What surprised me in 2025 was the emergence of so many treasury companies. How do you view those companies that still use the simple strategy of "sell stocks, buy Bitcoin"?

Saylor: **People all over the world can consider Bitcoin as part of their investment, but not everyone can own as much Bitcoin as I do. However, I have no doubt about anyone buying Bitcoin. *Every household and every company can buy Bitcoin. Loss-making companies may improve their balance sheets by holding Bitcoin; profitable companies can amplify returns.* Suppose a company operates at a loss of $10 million a year, holds $100 million worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and has gained $30 million in capital gains on its balance sheet, then the question is, what exactly do you want to criticize this company for?

Criticizing a company that buys Bitcoin is misguided. The focus of criticism should not be on buying Bitcoin but on their ongoing losses. Why not direct your critical energy towards those loss-making companies that do not hold Bitcoin?

Danny: I don't mean to criticize any company; I just doubt whether the market can accommodate over 200 companies buying Bitcoin.

Saylor: **I don't understand why you would say that; it's like saying I doubt the market can accommodate 200 people buying Bitcoin. There are 400 million companies in the world. Do you think only 10 can buy Bitcoin? Why can't all 400 million companies buy Bitcoin? Don't they do other things? I think it's a bit silly to want to criticize a company that makes rational decisions. What do you want them to buy instead of Bitcoin? What do you want to promote instead of Bitcoin? *Companies holding Bitcoin are like factories holding power infrastructure; it is a productivity tool, not merely a speculative item. Electricity is universal capital that can drive any machine; Bitcoin is universal capital in the digital age.*

Danny: What I worry about is that some companies may see this as a money-making opportunity rather than genuinely wanting to develop something interesting.

Saylor: This is also a common dissatisfaction I have with the Bitcoin community: they would rather cannibalize each other and criticize those who buy or support Bitcoin differently than they do. They spend so much time criticizing other Bitcoin holders and Bitcoin companies, but the fact is that 99% of the views of those who like Bitcoin align with yours, with only 1% differing.

So, rather than criticizing those rational companies, it would be better to reflect on oneself. The issue is not whether companies buy Bitcoin, but how many companies can buy? How large is the market space? I would rather ask how much scale the market can bear for these purely financial companies, especially in a context where the question itself is offensive. The problem lies here: you define them as purely financial companies, but they are not. Danny, what offends me is that you use this statement to define who I am now and who I will always be in the future. Your stance really makes me feel offended. Well, let me rephrase. How many companies are there on Earth? 400 million. How much space is there on Earth to accommodate companies? 400 million. So why worry about having 200?

Danny: Okay, let's skip this topic because I really didn't mean to offend. Now many companies have mNAV below 1, and clearly, Strategy also experienced a similar downturn in 2022. Do you think they can easily achieve a positive market-to-net asset ratio again? Or will they always face some resistance?

Saylor: **I think this is a shortsighted statement; *the purpose of a company’s existence is to create value, so the value of a company should be based on its operational situation.* If I have a company in Japan, I can sell a credit instrument with a yield of 6%, while other credit markets only yield 2%. So how much is that company worth? Isn't it the most valuable company in Japan? So my point is that regardless of what a company does, its value depends on its own value. The key is how they will perform. We choose to create digital credit.

Do you know how large the development space for digital credit is? Do you know how many companies issue preferred credit? Do you know how many companies issue corporate credit? Do you think we will saturate the market? Absolutely not. If you create a derivatives business backed by Bitcoin, theoretically, you can do much better than traditional derivatives businesses. If you create an exchange backed by Bitcoin, you can do better than ordinary exchanges, and you can also create an insurance company. How many insurance companies on Earth use Bitcoin as collateral or capital? Not a single one. This industry is enormous.

There is also an important legal point to note. If you have an operating company, the value of your equity depends not only on what you are currently doing with your capital but also on what you might do. Just because I haven't done it doesn't mean I can't.

Strategy is Digital Credit, Enhancing Company Credibility with Dollar Reserves

Danny: You just mentioned that you would never be interested in becoming a bank, or that you might not be interested. Many people are speculating about your strategic direction. Why not?

Saylor: Because our business can theoretically scale almost infinitely. We have a product called STRC deferred digital credit line. What is the perfect product? A publicly traded product with a dividend yield of 10% and a V value of 1 or 2. If we can capture 10% of the government bond credit market, that would be $10 trillion. So the total potential market size for my product is $10 trillion. Who wants it? Everyone wants it. Who wants a bank account that can pay bills? What if it drops to zero?

We believe our business concept is simple. **Bitcoin is digital capital, and *Strategy* is digital credit.** Moreover, the reason for not becoming a bank is to avoid distractions; we want to create the best digital credit product in the world. If you truly have a vision to transform the global monetary system, banking system, and credit market, then don’t get distracted. At the same time, competing with your customers is the dumbest thing to do.

Danny: You started hoarding dollars and Bitcoin. Is this to become a liquidity pool for digital currency, or to alleviate some concerns about interest payments when investing in preferred stock?

Saylor: The reason for building dollar reserves is to enhance the company's credibility and image in the eyes of credit investors. The reason people buy credit is that they believe Bitcoin and stocks are too volatile.

If you are a stock investor, you want more Bitcoin and higher volatility. But if you are a credit investor, what you want is the most credible asset. So, if you want to become the largest participant in the digital credit space, how do you enhance the company's credibility? Holding dollar reserves can improve credibility and make the product more attractive.

Related article: Will Bitcoin dropping to $80,000 break the Strategy model?

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