‘Economic Steel’: New Zealand’s Bitcoin Opportunity, According to Michael Saylor

Saylor said investors like himself, who personally owned at least US$1.1 billion ($1.8 billion) worth of the cryptocurrency, were actively trying to drive up its price, meaning Bitcoin buyers would benefit .

His Nasdaq-listed technology company was the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with more than 225,000 bitcoins worth more than $16 billion on its balance sheet.

Saylor suggested that New Zealand companies could follow his example and purchase Bitcoin as a treasury asset.

“If you have a low growth company focused on the New Zealand economy, and if you start investing your balance in Bitcoin, you now have a 1% producer in New Zealand tied to a 50% company. Big Tech’s fast-growing digital money network.

“How many companies in New Zealand grow 20% a year for 10 years in a row? The chances are almost zero.

“But what is the probability that Bitcoin will grow at 20% per year? Actually, this is my case with the bear.”

Saylor expected Bitcoin’s price to reach US$13 million – it was currently around US$68,000.

Acceptance

This year, financial institutions including BlackRock launched exchange-traded funds, offering investors access to cryptocurrency through the stock market for low fees.

He believed that Bitcoin’s next big thing—more listed companies or governments accepting Bitcoin—would come from banks accepting it as money in accounts or as collateral for loans.

“Banking is just the next logical step,” Saylor suggested.

“If you want all the people with money and power in the world to adopt this asset, they will do so when their suppliers support the asset. It’s a very exciting thing.”

“Crypto-anarchists”

Some Bitcoin investors were against Saylor’s proposal for banks to become more important custodians of the asset, as it would centralize a currency popular due to its decentralized nature.

In an interview, he defended his position, arguing that it increases the security of the asset.

“I think that when Bitcoin is held by a group of crypto-anarchists who are not regulated entities, who don’t recognize government, don’t recognize taxes, or don’t recognize reporting requirements, it increases the risk of confiscation.

“When you regulate government entities like BlackRock and Fidelity, JP Morgan and State Street Bank, who own the assets, and all the legislators and all the law enforcement agencies, they invest in these organizations.

“So all the senators and all the congressmen are by no means going to seize assets… because that’s where all their retirement money is.”

Net

Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer network had no central authority controlling it and no central point of technological failure.

Speaking about the characteristics of the Bitcoin network and its invention by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, Saylor said that it reached scarcity and had an “immaculate conception.”

“Satoshi launches it, goes away forever, gives up beneficial ownership—it’s an immaculate concept.”

The original bitcoin Nakamoto mined to secure the network was not sold, Saylor said.

Bitcoin’s supply was capped at 21 million tokens, which meant an expected level of deflation, unlike fiat currencies issued by central banks that targeted annual inflation rates.

While many other cryptocurrencies have launched, Saylor said Bitcoin was clearly the winner.

“That’s because all the smart money in the world decided it was a winner. Was it supposed to be like this? Well, no.

“It’s like, why are we speaking English? Because all the rich and powerful people chose English. Maybe it was a different language? It could be French.”

Sailor’s Agenda

Explaining why he believes Bitcoin is a superior asset, Saylor said it is “clean money” akin to “economic steel” compared to dirty money such as sovereign debt, which has had negative after-tax real returns.

“It’s like forced chemotherapy on your healthy 14-year-old,” he said of sovereign debt.

“This is a scourge, a burden of humanity that they have carried on themselves for thousands of years.

“When you ask, ‘What is human progress that has raised civilization?’ It is technology.”

Saylor himself was once against Bitcoin, comparing it to online gambling in a 2013 post on social network X (formerly Twitter).

Acknowledging this, Saylor said, “Everyone is against Bitcoin before they are for it.”

“I’m sure the first guy with the fire scared a bunch of other tribesmen. Nobody wants to get burned. But without fire we are no better than monkeys.”

When asked why he is so publicly bullish on Bitcoin, Saylor responded that he wants to “fix money.”

“If money goes bankrupt, all eight billion people will have toxic capital. All 300 million companies have toxic capital.”

Watch parts one and two of Michael Saylor discussing Bitcoin and his company MicroStrategy at Markets with Madison in the video above.

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this program is of a general nature and is not intended to provide personalized financial advice. We recommend that you seek advice from a qualified professional based on your individual circumstances.

Madison Reidy – host and executive producer New Zealand Herald investment show Markets with Madison. She joined Herald in 2022 after working in investments and covering business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.