Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having an excellent days, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. Following on from my previous post regarding Charlie Munger and his latest article regarding Bitcoin, this is a follow up looking at the response of one of the most notable characters in crypto, Michael Saylor, and his advocation for Bitcoin.
Stop Yelling Old Man
In my recent post titled "Old Man Yells at Bitcoin" I went through the recent publication by Charlie Munger in the Wall Street Journal stating his opinion that Bitcoin should be banned in the United States. In his own public announcement, Michael Saylor, the co-founder of MicroStratgey, has announced his belief that the Western Elite have yet to properly study and understand the ability and use of crypto when making their statements and regulations for it.
This statement came after Saylor was asked for his opinions during CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” after the release of Munger's recent article in the WSJ. Saylor felt the criticism was totally wide of the mark, stating that “His criticisms of crypto aren’t totally off.” Saylor went on to clarify that while some of it may be considered gambling, painting all crypto and tarring it with the same brush was not the correct approach to take.
“There are 10,000 crypto tokens which are gambling, and I sympathize with him on that matter. But Charlie and the other critics, the members of the Western elite … are continually prodded for an opinion on bitcoin, and they haven’t had the time to study it.”
Saylor believes their viewpoints would greatly differ, and that they would even be more bullish on crypto and Bitcoin than he is, if they took the time to study it. He makes use of examples such as leaders in South America or Africa or Asia who themselves are known to have spent hundreds of hours studying the problem of crypto.
“I really think the Western elites haven’t had the time to study it. But I’ve never really met someone with an incentive, living in the rest of the world, and [who] spent some time [thinking] about it that wasn’t enthusiastic about bitcoin.”
In terms of regulations on Crypto, Saylor was quite clear on his viewpoints. While the collapse of FTX had such an instrumental impact on the crypto space at large, Saylor believe that on the day before FTX filed for bankruptcy Bitcoin was the 'least controversial of everything.' The industry needs to mature beyond these collapses, and having largescale firms such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Blackrock entering the space should be seen as a positive. However, Saylor also believes clear guidelines from Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission would be a welcome addition for crypto.
“The crypto meltdown was painful in the short term but is necessary in the long-term for the industry to grow up. This industry has some good ideas, like digital currencies and assets moving at the speed of light, that are unstoppable … and it also has a lot of entrepreneurs that implemented those good ideas in an irresponsible fashion.”
Why Saylor Believes in Bitcoin
As co-founder of Microstrategy, Michael J. Saylor, believes that Bitcoin can be used as a solution to the variety of financial crises around the globe. Previously, he stated Lebanon as a prime example, a country which has seen the value of its currency lose around 96% of its value against the U.S. Dollar. In his opinion, the commercial banking system failed its people, resulting in a country famed for its stability and investment-friendly financial system falling into disarray. Hyperinflation has taken a hold of the nation, leading to cuts in the available withdrawals from banks.
It has been used by the population in Lebanon as a means against the hyperinflation, either earned through mining / work, or bought with a stable coin such as Tether (USDT). With the financial crisis griping the nation in 2019, the solution was of course the use of a decentralized and seamless digital currency. This allowed the public to make use of currency without the eyes and control of the bankers and the government upon them.
Saylor believes that to maintain shareholder value, conventional treasury practices are no longer effective. He stated previously that Bitcoin could be a viable option in the fight against inflation, as corporations need new management strategies and Bitcoin being the ideal solution.
A similar occurrence has happened with Argentina, where rising inflation has crippled the country, and in a Paxful survey roughly 70% of respondents believe that investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is extremely safe and shields them against rising inflation.
With the United States, and in particular the USD, being the primary focus and view of a 'stable' nation which manages inflation, it has become almost counter intuitive for people to call out against Cryptocurrencies.
While hedging against inflation is a key component in why Saylor is such a fan of Bitcoin, there are many other influencing factors which he feels makes Bitcoin a worthwhile investment and store of value. Some of these points were summarised by Ryan Wingate from an interview Saylor gave with MarketWatch.com in 2022, titled: Michael Saylor's Definition of Bitcoin.
Included in these points by Saylor are:
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Bitcoin is similar to purchasing digital real estate in cyberspace.
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Bitcoin is the first ever fair, shared, immutable, and permissionless digital ledger in human history.
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Bitcoin represents an ideology: permissionless property rights for 8 billion people.
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Bitcoin represents a digital commodity and not a digital security.
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Bitcoin mining converts electricity into digital energy which secures the network for the foreseeable future.
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Bitcoin works with a final settlement which is separate from any credit system or as a security.
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Bitcoin can surpass the market cap of Gold in the next decade, which implies a price of $500,000 per coin.
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Bitcoin is the same anywhere in the world, meaning Bitcoin purchased in Africa is the same as Bitcoin purchased in the United States.
He sees Bitcoin as the instigator of the broader crypto ecosystem, with Bitcoin being different to traditional finances and driven based on four key principles.
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Crypto property/digital commodities, like Bitcoin, are an innovation.
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Crypto exchanges that trade 24/7, 365 are a novelty for the investing public.
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Crypto currencies are US dollar proxies running on crypto rails. Market cap of these will grow because they allow people to escape rapidly-inflating local currencies.
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Crypto securities tokens that people spin of quickly and easily are very controversial right now.
Defined as a Bitcoin Maximalist, Saylor believes that Bitcoin is the only true cryptocurrency, and all others are distractions and / or scams. The dictionary definition of a maximalist is a person who is not prepared to compromise on their beliefs, and while that's not a bad thing, Bitcoin still has scope to grow and develop further. While for now this is the future of Bitcoin, steering clear of becoming a network for DeFi and NFT's, there are endless possibilities of further development and growth for the 'king' of crypto. For no Saylor will continue to fight and be vociferous against those who look to clamp down crypto with impossible regulation and even look to ban it. In the future, Saylor might be fighting against those looking to open up the Bitcoin ecosystem even further, but for now, he is standing up for what he believes in. Time for the "Old Men" to stop yelling and start listening.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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