Michael Saylor Calls US to Ditch Gold for Bitcoin

In a recent appearance on a Yahoo! Finance podcast, Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, made a bold call for investors to sell their gold holdings and invest in Bitcoin (BTC). Saylor escalated his plea by addressing treasury secretaries and central bankers, urging them to adopt Bitcoin as the “world’s reserve capital network.” He criticized the owners of gold in large banks, including sovereign treasury funds and central banks, for failing to recognize the potential of BTC as a store of value.

Saylor even suggested a radical move for the US government: “Dump all of its gold, purposefully crashing its price, and use the proceeds to acquire approximately 5 million BTC.” He further advised the incoming US administration to “buy 20-25% of the BTC network on behalf of the US government” to catalyze the development of the global reserve capital network. Saylor's plan also included encouraging countries like China and Russia to liquidate their other assets and buy BTC, which would, in turn, drive capital flow into the US.

Another $2.1 Billion Bitcoin Buy

Echoing these sentiments, Saylor has led MicroStrategy, the company he founded, to become a massive BTC treasury company, acquiring Bitcoin through debt and leveraged equity products. As of the close of trading Friday, MicroStrategy’s market cap stood at 2.3 times the value of its 402,100 BTC holdings, a multiple referred to by investors as the company’s “NAV premium.” Despite a recent dip in its stock price, MicroStrategy continues to hold a large BTC portfolio, which has contributed significantly to its market cap.

In fact, MicroStrategy recently made headlines for adding another $2.1 billion worth of Bitcoin to its holdings. The firm disclosed that it purchased 21,550 BTC, with an average purchase price of $98,783, during its fifth consecutive week of Bitcoin buys. This brings its total Bitcoin holdings to 423,650 BTC, valued at approximately $42 billion. Since November 11, the company has added 171,430 new Bitcoins to its balance sheet, spending a total of $15.6 billion during that period.

The price of Bitcoin has surged nearly 22% since November 11, when it was trading below $81,000 per coin, now standing at $98,572. Saylor’s firm, once a small software development company, began acquiring Bitcoin during the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, spending $250 million to purchase 20,000 BTC.

Today, MicroStrategy is known as a “Bitcoin Treasury” or “Bitcoin development company,” using debt to secure vast quantities of the cryptocurrency, which investors can access by purchasing shares in the company.

Saylor’s bold advocacy for Bitcoin over gold has not gone unnoticed. His comments align with the 2020 Grayscale ad campaign “Drop Gold,” which encouraged investors to exchange their gold for Bitcoin, promoting BTC’s superior scarcity and utility in today’s world. Though the campaign was controversial and criticized by some, it reinforced the idea that Bitcoin could replace gold as the modern-day store of value.

As both Saylor and MicroStrategy continue to bet heavily on Bitcoin, the question remains: will the US and other countries eventually follow Saylor’s advice and switch from gold to Bitcoin as the cornerstone of their financial systems, or will Bitcoin remain a volatile alternative for investors seeking to diversify their portfolios?