Michael Saylor wants to turn MicroStrategy into a Bitcoin bank

That Michael Saylor is campaigning as a missionary for the biggest cryptocurrency isn't new.

Michael Saylor’s crusade as the evangelist for the largest crypto isn’t new. MicroStrategy has also been touting Bitcoin as a corporate reserve currency for quite a while. Now the company plans to push this marketing even further. A new position, “Bitcoin Advocacy Manager,” will be hired, according to a recently published job listing. How could this impact BTC adoption, and what does it mean that Michael Saylor sees the company’s future as a “Bitcoin bank”?

MicroStrategy stock hits new all-time high The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs should have given MicroStrategy’s stock a substantial lift. Institutional investors no longer need to own the software company’s assets to ride Bitcoin’s price moves. They can directly invest in one of the BTC funds instead.

But that expectation has so far fallen short. Even after regulated products from BlackRock and peers rolled out, the stock hit a new record. It jumped nearly 66% just in the last month. By comparison, BTC rose about 10% in the same period. Four years after adopting the Bitcoin standard, MicroStrategy has outperformed all companies in the S&P 500 so far. Even NVIDIA can’t keep up.

MicroStrategy is more than just a Bitcoin investor The NAV premium, also known as the premium attached to MicroStrategy stock relative to its Bitcoin holdings, has risen again and is back at late-March levels. Investors are valuing the company far higher than the Bitcoin holdings alone would justify.

This apparent overvaluation has some analysts asking questions. In addition to the Bitcoin the company owns and the software business, qualitative factors are also considered in the valuation. The practical knowledge Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy have gathered in this niche, especially in combination with their current operations, is hard to value. How the company will be able and willing to use these capabilities to boost corporate value in the future is hard to predict — but with rising BTC adoption and price, these aspects are certainly important.

Saylor even believes the MSTR premium could double in the future. The company intends to lean on its Bitcoin pioneering expertise even more in the coming years to help other firms adopt BTC. The newly created “Bitcoin Advocacy Manager” will bring this new asset class to the attention of corporate treasuries and foster interaction between firms and the Bitcoin community through new initiatives.

New position as a key role in Bitcoin initiatives

The newly created role will be crucial for continuing MicroStrategy’s awareness efforts around Bitcoin and its adoption as a reserve currency. The person in this role will be responsible for planning and executing the annual conference “Bitcoin for Corporations.” The Japanese company Metaplanet got excited about Bitcoin and has already accumulated 748 BTC. In addition to providing external training for companies on BTC adoption, the new manager will lead internal training programs.

Additionally, he will collaborate with industry leaders, influential figures, and regulatory and policy bodies. Under his leadership, a Bitcoin hub will be set up in Washington, D.C. This location will serve as a shared co-working space and a meeting point for Bitcoin developers. He will also help promote BTC knowledge at universities.

MicroStrategy as a “Bitcoin bank” The company now holds 252,220 BTC, purchased at an average price of $39,266 per Bitcoin. That amounts to a total investment of $9.9 billion. The current value of the company’s BTC holdings is around $16.6 billion, roughly 1.2% of the total 21 million Bitcoins that will ever exist.

Saylor sees MicroStrategy as a “Bitcoin bank.” Instead of lending out BTC, the company will tap both equity and debt market instruments to invest more in the premier cryptocurrency. Right now Bitcoin makes up about 0.1% of global financial capital. The tech entrepreneur predicts that share will rise to seven percent — which would imply a price of $13 million per BTC by 2045.

Saylor calls the company’s debt strategy “infinitely scalable.” The 59-year-old adds: “I’m not opposed to seeing us raise another $100 billion, then $200 billion in capital. It’s an asset class valued at around one trillion today, that will grow to 10 trillion and then 100 trillion.” His takeaway on MicroStrategy’s bold all-in strategy: “The risk is simple — it’s Bitcoin. Either you believe in what Bitcoin is, or you believe it isn’t.”