Strategy CEO Mike Saylor Talks Buying Bitcoin

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Talks – “Strategy CEO Mike Saylor Talks Buying Bitcoin”

Date: September 29, 2025
Guest: Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)
Hosts: Bloomberg Team

---

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder), exploring the evolution of Bitcoin-backed credit instruments, the company's strategic positioning, and the broader adoption of digital assets. Saylor delves into Strategy’s role in pioneering a new financial paradigm, how traditional concepts like premium and leverage apply in the digital era, and the future of digital currencies versus stores of value.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Strategy’s Bitcoin Premium and Business Model (00:29 – 02:34)

• Host sets the stage: MicroStrategy (now Strategy) shares have been trading at a premium over their underlying Bitcoin holdings (the “M Nav”), historically up to 2x but now closer to 1.4x.
• Saylor explains the dynamic:
  • The market is “still working to digest a new business model.” Strategy and similar Bitcoin treasury companies are a new phenomenon, only recently appearing as analogues to gold-backed credit institutions of the past.
  • Key Quote:

    “We’ve discovered the killer app in the bitcoin world is bitcoin backed credit. I’ll call it digital credit... Digital credit is a new creature and bitcoin treasury companies exist to issue digital credit.”
    — Michael Saylor (01:36)

  • Unlike ETFs, treasury companies can create digital credit instruments, an “extraordinary new asset class.”
• The premium, Saylor argues, exists because of this novel capacity—issuing Bitcoin-backed credit, not just holding coins.

2. Premium Fluctuations, Leverage, and Equity Value (02:34 – 04:06)

• Host inquires about the current premium contraction.
• Saylor elaborates:
  • Premium expands with higher leverage and volatility; contracts when those fall.
  • Crucially, Strategy’s business model is robust regardless of where equity trades vs. Bitcoin.
    Key Quote:

    “Our business model works fine whether or not the equity trades at a premium or a discount to the underlying Bitcoin. The equity will have value because people understand the value of the credit instruments.”
    — Michael Saylor (03:29)

  • The company has launched four credit instruments representing $4 billion in product lines so far this year—“a lot for the world to digest since they didn’t see a new class of credit for a hundred years before us.”

3. On Competition and Differentiation (04:06 – 05:16)

• Co-Host asks about the influx of new digital asset treasury companies.
• Saylor sees this as positive:
  • 250+ treasury companies now; tens of billions in capital entering.
  • Strategy was the first to create treasury preferred stock and Bitcoin-backed credit instruments (“Stretch,” “Stride,” “Strife,” “Strike”).
  • Differentiation will be based on “quality of credit instruments,” amount of collateralization, liquidity, risk, and strong branding. Key Quote:

    “Because we’re the largest player in the space, we can offer the most liquidity, the most collateral, the strongest brand and the deepest markets in those instruments.”
    — Michael Saylor (05:02)

4. Concerns About Liquidations or Market Impact (05:16 – 05:52)

• Host raises concerns about possible sales of Bitcoin holdings.
• Saylor dismisses the risk:
  • Strategy is “way over collateralized.”
  • $74 billion in Bitcoin, $6 billion in preferred credit outstanding; dividend coverage requires just 1–2% annual equity issuance.
  • Key Quote:

    “We’re so way over collateralized, it’s hardly a concern.”
    — Michael Saylor (05:28)

5. Bitcoin: Store of Value vs. Medium of Exchange (05:52 – 07:30)

• Host references Tim Draper’s prediction of Bitcoin as a major currency and contrasts 'store of value' vs. 'currency' roles.
• Saylor’s perspective:
  • The winning digital currency is “the tokenized dollar”—stablecoins like Tether and Circle, comprising a $250 billion asset class.
  • Bitcoin’s role is as “digital capital”—a long-term, scarce, decentralized asset for collateral and investment.
    • Memorable Comparison:

      “If you ask them what do you give to your granddaughter? They’re going to say, give them a bitcoin.”
      — Michael Saylor (07:23)

  • People use stablecoins for payments, Bitcoin for saving and investment. Key Quote:

    “The killer application of bitcoin is digital credit issued against digital capital, whereas the killer application for medium of exchange is a digital currency in the form of a stablecoin.”
    — Michael Saylor (06:48)

6. Future Financing and New Instruments (07:30 – 08:43)

• Host asks about new debt or financing vehicles.
• Saylor outlines future plans:
  • Existing “preferreds” like Stretch are leveraged but not debt (principal doesn’t come due).
    • Analogy:

      “Stretch, I think, represents Kerosene—it’s like extracting jet fuel from a barrel of crude oil.”
      — Michael Saylor (07:53)

  • Potential to launch Stretch-type instruments in other currencies (euro, yen, CAD, GBP).
  • Vision of a 10%+ yield for everyone worldwide, outperforming traditional money markets.
    • Key Quote:

      “We have shown that you can extract that sort of instrument from raw Bitcoin if you have enough bitcoin.”
      — Michael Saylor (08:19)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We’ve discovered the killer app in the bitcoin world is bitcoin backed credit. I’ll call it digital credit.” (Michael Saylor, 01:38)
• “Our business model works fine whether or not the equity trades at a premium or a discount to the underlying Bitcoin.” (Michael Saylor, 03:29)
• “Because we’re the largest player… the most liquidity, the most collateral, the strongest brand...” (Michael Saylor, 05:02)
• “We’re so way over collateralized, it’s hardly a concern.” (Michael Saylor, 05:28)
• “The killer application of bitcoin is digital credit issued against digital capital, whereas the killer application for medium of exchange is a digital currency in the form of a stablecoin.” (Michael Saylor, 06:48)
• “Stretch… is like extracting jet fuel from a barrel of crude oil.” (Michael Saylor, 07:53)
• “We have shown that you can extract that sort of instrument from raw Bitcoin if you have enough bitcoin.” (Michael Saylor, 08:19)
• “If you ask them what do you give to your granddaughter? They’re going to say, give them a bitcoin.” (Michael Saylor, 07:23)

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:29 — Opening discussion on Bitcoin premium and new credit instruments
• 01:36 — Saylor introduces the concept of Bitcoin-backed digital credit
• 03:29 — Saylor discusses premium contraction and business model resilience
• 05:02 — Saylor on market differentiation and Strategy's advantages
• 05:28 — On overcollateralization and market impact
• 06:48 — Store of value vs. medium of exchange (stablecoins vs Bitcoin)
• 07:53 — Stretch instrument analogy; global financial innovation
• 08:19 — Vision for future Stretch products and yield instruments

---

Tone and Language

Michael Saylor stays confident, assured, and future-focused throughout, often explaining complex financial innovations in vivid metaphors (“extracting jet fuel from a barrel of crude oil”). He positions Strategy not just as a major player, but as an industry pioneer, highlighting a strong belief in the durability and scalability of the Bitcoin-backed credit model.

---

For Listeners Who Missed The Episode

This episode offers a masterclass in the institutional adoption of Bitcoin and digital credit instruments, directly from one of the leading figures in the space. Saylor’s explanations will appeal to both finance professionals and crypto enthusiasts, providing both technical substance and market perspective on why Strategy continues to innovate with Bitcoin at its core.

Transcript

[Indiana University Narrator]

Indiana University is shaping the future of healthcare. Advancing discoveries that become treatments for Alzheimer's, obesity, cancer and rare diseases. And training the providers trusted to deliver them from the lab to the clinic. IU powers medical breakthroughs and the talent behind them. See how IU solves what's next iu Edu Impact.

[Bloomberg Announcer]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, Radio.

[Bloomberg Host]

News But let's talk about bitcoin because gold, it's outpacing bitcoin so far this year with, as we discussed, the US Treasury's gold reserves reaching a staggering $1 trillion during that record run. But of course, that hasn't stopped strategy, the world's largest corporate holder of bitcoin from going full steam ahead into derivatives products such as bitcoin backed digital credit instruments, including the first treasury preferred bitcoin backed stock. And joining us now, I'm pleased to say we have strategy Executive Chairman M. Michael Saylor. Michael, great to have you with us. This is Bloomberg Television. So we're going to go into all of the financing strategies, but let's talk a little bit first about MicroStrategy's premium to its underlying Bitcoin holdings, the M Nav, if you will. So it's interesting if you take a look at the past few months, MicroStrategy or Strategy Shares have actually been underperforming Bitcoin. That has taken your premium down to about 1.4 times. And I would love to hear your perspective on why that dynamic exists. Is it something about the market? Is it the fact that you have all these digital asset treasury companies coming to the fore or is it something else?

[Michael Saylor]

You know, the market's still working to digest a new business model. The Bitcoin treasury company is an idea that's only come to the forefront in the past year so. For 300 years or so, the world revolved around gold backed credit instruments. People issued bonds and credit based on gold. We've discovered the killer app in the bitcoin world is bitcoin backed credit. I'll call it digital credit. You know, in the 20th century, we had bank credit, we had mortgage credit, we've got commercial corporate credit, you've got sovereign credit. Well, digital credit is a new creature and bitcoin treasury companies exist to issue digital credit. So the reason there's a premium in the equity is because we can create digital credit instruments. If we were just an etf, we wouldn't be able to create credit instruments. The credit itself is an extraordinary new asset class.

[Bloomberg Host]

Well, when we talk about the premium and it's been at lower Levels. But you think about the premium coming down. I think it was closer to two a couple of months ago. Is that something that concerns you as you look at these different types of financing vehicles that you have?

[Michael Saylor]

No, I'm not really concerned. What happens is the premium will expand as our leverage increases and as the volatility and bitcoin increases. When the volatility falls and our leverage falls, sometimes the premium contracts. But the real key key here is the digital credit we're issuing like Stretch, that represents us stripping away the volatility and the risk from a commodity, from Bitcoin, the digital capital instrument, and then distilling out a particular currency USD, a particular yield, say 10% on stretch and then a certain duration for that yield. And we offer those to the credit market. So we don't really need a premium issue. Digital credit, our business model works fine whether or not the equity trades at a premium or a discount to the underlying Bitcoin. The, the equity will have value because people understand the value of the credit instruments. And we've launched four credit instruments this year, $4 billion product lines, and the year is not even over yet. So that's a lot for the world to digest since they didn't see a new class of credit for 100 years before us.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

Are you concerned at all, Michael, though, about some of the newer entrants into this space and whether that maybe not necessarily usurps what you're doing, but I guess augments it in a way that your next fundraising and your next and your next efforts might not get the same attention and buy in as you did in the past?

[Michael Saylor]

No, I see it as a positive thing. There's been an explosion of Bitcoin treasury companies and digital asset treasury companies in general. I think we were the first, there's 250 now. There are tens of billions of dollars of capital flowing into space. We're the first company to show that we could create treasury preferred stock like Stretch. We were the first ones to issue any kind of Bitcoin backed credit like Stride or Strife or Strike. We're going to be differentiated based upon the quality of the credit instruments we bring to the market, the degree of collateralization, the degree of liquidity and, and, and of course the risk. And because we're the largest player in the space, we can offer the most liquidity, the most collateral, the strongest brand and the deepest markets in those instruments.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

How do you respond to some of the concerns out there, if not just direct criticism about the potential sales of any of your holdings and what that could do to the market.

[Michael Saylor]

We're so way over collateralized, it's hardly a concern. I think we've got $74 billion of Bitcoin. We've got $6 billion of, of this, these preferred credit instruments outstanding right now that I'm income due. I think it takes 1 or 2% of our annual equity issuance to cover our dividends. So not a big concern.

[Bloomberg Host]

Not a big concern. It's interesting, I mean, you think about the position that you hold when it comes to bitcoin, which is basically never sell, you hold forever. And then I was listening to a conversation this morning with Tim Draper on BTV with Matt Miller who was saying that bitcoin is the currency of the future. You're going to have a day where you have US Retailers using bitcoin instead of US Currency and it falls into basically the store of value versus currency debate. And I wonder, Michael, whether those two viewpoints can coexist together or is it going to be one or the other?

[Michael Saylor]

No, I think that the digital asset economy is exploding and the winning digital currency is the tokenized dollar in the form of tether and circle. And that entire asset class has exploded to about $250 billion. I mean, so if people want a circulating medium of exchange on crypto rails, they're using stable coins in the form of tokenized dollars. Bitcoin is emerged as digital capital. What you want is a commodity that's also scarce and decentralized as a long term capital asset. So the killer application of bitcoin is digital credit issued against digital capital, whereas the killer application for medium of exchange is a digital currency in the form of a stablecoin. I think the crypto industry understands this and I think the people of the world understand it. If you, if you talk to anybody and ask them how are they going to pay for their cup of coffee, they're going to send a stablecoin from their mobile phone app. And if you ask them what do you give to your granddaughter? They're going to say, give them a bitcoin.

[Bloomberg Host]

There you go. Michael, before we let you go, we talked about some of the different types of financing that you have when it comes to herds, when it comes to convertible debt, and of course when it comes to common stock. Are you considering any new type of debt or are you happy with the categories that you have right now?

[Michael Saylor]

Well, if we look at these preferreds, first of all, they're leveraged, but they're not debt because the principal never comes due. Stretch, I think, represents Kerosene it's like extracting jet fuel from a barrel of crude oil. And so we're very excited about that. And we think that there's an opportunity to create stretch type instruments in euros or yen or Canadian currency or pounds. In essence, everybody in the world would love to have a high yield bank account that yielded 10% or more, or they'd love to have a money market that gave them double or triple their normal money market. We have shown that you can extract that sort of instrument from raw Bitcoin if you have enough bitcoin. So I think that we will continue to grow the aum of stretch and then we'll look at opportunities to transform it into different currencies around the world.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

All right, Michael, really appreciate it. Michael Saylor there, executive chairman over at Strategy. We should point out bitcoin after two straight weeks of declines, getting its mojo back over the last couple of sessions. Microstrategy right now on its strongest two day run going back to the beginning of July.

[Bloomberg Announcer]

Every business starts with an idea. How can you go from daydreamer to industry leader? Amazon Business accelerates your journey with smart business buying. Get everything you need to grow in one familiar place. From office supplies to it essentials and maintenance tools. Amazon Business takes the buying experience you know and love from Amazon plus tools that help you save costs and make insights based decisions ready to bring your visions to life. Learn [e-mail].