Podcast Summary: Phong Le – Inside Strategy’s 2026 Roadmap, USD Reserve, MSCI Inclusion, and STRC’s 10.75% for Everyday Savers

Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Date: December 23, 2025
Guest: Phong Le, CEO of Strategy

Main Theme

This episode delves into the future of money, highlighting how Bitcoin and innovative financial products like Strategy’s preferred securities (particularly STRC/Stretch) offer solutions to problems in the current monetary system. Natalie and Phong Le discuss the evolution of banking toward Bitcoin integration, the pursuit of high-yield, inflation-beating products for ordinary savers, the strategic creation of a USD reserve, regulatory hurdles (like MSCI index inclusion debates), and the vital role of immigrant ambition in the American dream and the Bitcoin narrative.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Sentiment and Bitcoin’s Fundamentals

• Bullish vs. Bearish Views: Despite bearish sentiment and lackluster price action, Phong Le emphasizes long-term fundamentals and the bullish macro-picture ([00:36–02:55]).

  "The fundamentals of the market this year for bitcoin couldn't be better...Tradfi is getting on board, and that's extremely bullish." – Phong Le (02:55)

• Shift in Traditional Finance: U.S. government and banks are more supportive than ever, as evidenced by Strategy’s conversations with large banks who now take digital assets seriously ([02:55–05:01]).

2. Traditional Banks and Bitcoin Integration

• Strategy’s Banking Outreach: Le and Michael Saylor meet with banks to guide them in offering custody, exchange, lending, yield products, and even Bitcoin-backed instruments ([03:11–05:01]).

  "They're all trying to catch up...so they don't take the money off-platform...Cash and savings accounts for Bitcoin, Bitcoin lending, even digital money." – Phong Le (03:11)

• Banks’ Learning Curve: Three years ago, only a token “head of digital assets” existed; now, senior leadership and product teams engage directly, reflecting rapid maturation ([06:46–07:59]).

3. Innovating for Everyday Savers – The STRC ("Stretch") Security

• Mass Adoption via Familiar Platforms: Access through brokerage accounts like Schwab, Robinhood:

  "If somebody's making $40,000 a year...wants to access bitcoin through their Chase account...If we find a way for ordinary citizens...to onboard to bitcoin...it's great for the country and individuals." – Phong Le (08:12)

• How STRC Works:
  • NASDAQ-listed, 4-letter ticker (STRC), designed for price stability and low volatility ([10:32–13:47]).
  • Offers 10.75% annual returns, paid monthly in cash, with targeted zero or near-zero volatility—combining security of a money market with superior yields.
• Incentivizing Saving Over Spending:

  "If you get zero and inflation is 3%, you spend the money. If you get 10.75%, you are more likely to save money...especially in a low-income bracket." – Phong Le (13:47)

• Distribution Challenge:
  • Distribution and marketing via traditional banking platforms is crucial for mass adoption ([14:31]).

4. Analogy: Financial System vs. Food System

• Farm-to-Table Money:

  "Bitcoin is farm-to-table money...Just like you don’t know what’s in a supermarket cucumber, most people don’t know where their money goes. Bitcoin solves that." – Phong Le (16:15)

• Contrast with Opaque Modern Finance: Current system layers intermediaries, fees, and complexity, eroding transparency and returns.

5. Tax Advantages of STRC/Stretch

• Return of Capital Structure:
  • Dividends are tax-deferred because they're structured as a return of capital; not taxed until the instrument is sold ([18:04–21:19]).

  "Because our company has negative earnings and profits, the dividend...is paid as a return of capital...cost basis decreases and you're not taxed until you sell." – Phong Le (18:04)

• Innovation Often Unplanned: Many product features and advantages, such as the tax benefit, evolved through experimentation ([18:04]).

6. Building the USD Reserve

• Purpose:
  • Strategy amassed a USD reserve ($1.4B+) to ensure multi-year dividend payments on preferreds, even in a Bitcoin bear market ([21:19–24:48]).
  • Improves credit quality and helps attain higher credit ratings.

  "By putting together a US dollar reserve...we increase the quality of the preferreds...and it addresses FUD about needing to sell Bitcoin to pay dividends." – Phong Le (21:51)

• Shareholder Responsibility: While selling BTC is “last resort,” company duty is first to shareholders:

  "Our responsibility is to our shareholders...if we need to sell Bitcoin, we will. But we don't expect to have to." – Phong Le (24:48)

7. Adaptability & Corporate Evolution

• Embracing Change:

  "You have to adapt. Adapt or die, right? ... That's a sign of strength in leadership—willingness to admit you have to adapt and change." – Phong Le (28:20)

• Pivoting as Market Demands: Actions like building the reserve and issuing preferreds are pragmatic responses, not betrayals of a core BTC HODL philosophy.

8. MSCI Index Inclusion and Market Perceptions

• MSCI Memo Backlash:
  • Market overreacted to news about potential index removals for digital asset treasury companies like Strategy ([30:10–35:23]).
  • Actual impact much smaller than headlines suggested.
• Singling Out Crypto:

  "Why single out digital assets...when it's an early time for innovation?...Let things play out for five years before picking winners and losers." – Phong Le (35:55)

• Strategy Is Not a Fund:
  • Despite misconception, it's an operating company with robust software revenues.

9. Dual Business Arms: Software + Bitcoin

• Software Business Value: Active since 1989, serving 4,000+ clients, including half the S&P 500, with robust cash flow supporting BTC acquisitions ([38:10–41:00]).
• Synergy:

  "A $2–3B software business attached to a $60B company is still valuable...Having both allowed us to move quickly and innovate with Bitcoin.” – Phong Le (38:10)

10. Treasury Company Landscape & International Expansion

• Competitive Advantages: Incumbency, scale, regulatory relationships—same success factors as in tech, AI, EVs, etc. ([41:27–43:04])
• Global Reach: Intending to launch preferreds in Europe, Canada, Japan, Middle East.

  "People who mainly operate in the US...don't realize how amazing our capital markets here are. But we're working through the barriers abroad." – Phong Le (43:45)

11. Regulatory Landscape & Political Risks

• Bitcoin as Bipartisan & Universal:

  "Bitcoin is not partisan. Bitcoin is for everybody. Bitcoin is freedom. Bitcoin is hope." – Phong Le (48:09)

• Planning for Hostile Regimes: Anchoring on U.S. values of freedom, equality of opportunity, and the inevitability of Bitcoin adoption ([48:09–50:19]).

12. Immigrant Story and Bitcoin’s Relevance

• Personal History: Born in postwar Vietnam, escaped as refugees to the U.S. after family lost everything due to currency nationalization ([50:45–54:20]).

  “When regimes take over, first thing they do is nationalize the currency...all the wealth generations had earned went to $10.”

• Why Bitcoin Matters:
  • Bitcoin prevents confiscation and currency debasement.
  • Anecdotes on paying remittances with 30% loss in fees; Bitcoin solves that.
• Resilience & The American Dream:
  • Hard work led to academic and corporate success.
  • Loss of “hope” in current U.S. generations is more monetary than cultural ([57:32–61:24]).

13. Wealth, Incentives, and the American Dream

• Broken Incentives:
  • Inflation undermines savings and erodes faith in hard work as a path to prosperity ([61:24–62:40]).
• On “Tax the Rich” Mentality, Capitalism’s Value:

  “If you want to demonize the rich, realize we worked hard...We created wealth for the next generation...Capitalism is not just for you, it’s for the next hundred, thousand years. Capitalism works—but you have to buy into it.” – Phong Le (62:40)

• Final Reflection: Collapsing monetary systems "equalize" poverty; Bitcoin and true capitalism can enable fair opportunity without oppression.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democratizing High Yield:

  “Everybody, no matter how rich or poor, should have a good return for the money that they save. Good is not zero percent. Good is not the rate of inflation. Good is above the rate of inflation. So if it’s 10 and 3/4 percent, so be it. Right? Like everybody should have access to that.”
  – Phong Le ([00:00], echoed at [48:09])

• On Bitcoin’s Transparency:

  "Bitcoin is farm-to-table money...the best thing you had before that was gold."
  – Phong Le ([16:15])

• Adapting in Business:

  “Adapt or die...That’s a sign of strength in leadership."
  – Phong Le ([28:20])

• On Immigrant Perspective and Bitcoin:

  "If bitcoin had existed, this never would have happened [to my family]...These are third-world problems that bitcoin solves."
  – Phong Le ([54:20])

• The American Dream and Hope:

  "If you work hard and save money, you will improve the outcomes for the future. I think bitcoin and its principles will help."
  – Phong Le ([61:24])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction & Market Sentiment: [00:00–02:55]
• Traditional Banks and Bitcoin: [03:11–07:59]
• Demystifying STRC/Stretch for Savers: [10:04–14:31]
• Farm-to-Table Money Analogy: [16:15]
• Return of Capital Tax Advantage: [18:04–21:19]
• USD Reserve – Motivation and Impact: [21:19–24:48]
• Adapting to Market Demands: [28:00–29:27]
• MSCI Inclusion Debate: [30:10–35:55]
• Strategy’s Software and Bitcoin Arms: [38:10–41:00]
• International Expansion Strategy: [43:45–47:16]
• U.S. Political Climate & Bitcoin’s Future: [47:16–50:19]
• Phong’s Immigrant Story: [50:45–54:20]
• Hard Work, Incentives, and Hope: [57:32–61:24]
• Capitalism, Incentives, and Intergenerational Wealth: [62:40–64:57]

Final Thoughts

This rich, in-depth conversation reveals Strategy’s commitment to financial inclusion, access, innovation, and resilience. Bitcoin, in Phong Le’s view, is not a partisan tool but a universal emancipation of savings, freedom, and hope—built on the foundational values that drive both the American Dream and global human aspiration.

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