Michael Saylor responded sharply to criticisms questioning the Bitcoin treasury model.
Speaking on the What Bitcoin Did program that aired yesterday, Saylor described host Danny Knowles’ question about whether the number of companies borrowing to buy Bitcoin is sustainable as “ignorant and offensive.”
When Knowles pointed out the risks of more than 200 companies, describing themselves as “Bitcoin treasures” in the market, buying Bitcoin through borrowing, Saylor responded, “Who are you to say ‘they’re just borrowing to buy Bitcoin’?” According to Saylor, this approach underestimates the adoption of Bitcoin by companies as a new and superior technology.
Saylor’s departure coincided with a challenging period for Bitcoin treasury companies. Data shows that approximately 40% of the top 100 Bitcoin treasuries are trading at a discount, making new capital increases difficult. Furthermore, over 60% of these companies purchased Bitcoin at prices above current levels, with some shares experiencing losses of up to 99%.
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Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), founded by Saylor, is also at the center of the controversy. The company generated $125 million in operating cash flow in the first nine months of 2025, almost all of which came from its legacy business intelligence software operations. During the same period, Strategy raised over $50 billion through equity, preferred shares, and convertible securities, using almost all of it to purchase Bitcoin. Thus, over 99% of the Bitcoin treasury’s funding came from securities issuances, not operations.
The focus is clear in the company presentations as well: approximately 90% of the slides are dedicated to the Bitcoin treasury, while the software business is given limited coverage and is not presented as the main driver of growth. With over 650,000 Bitcoin, Strategy is by far the world’s largest institutional Bitcoin holder.
Saylor argued that questioning hundreds of companies issuing securities to buy Bitcoin is as pointless as “questioning companies adopting electricity.” According to Saylor, even loss-making companies can create value by buying Bitcoin: “If a company loses $10 million a year but earns $30 million from Bitcoin, it’s on a net profit of $20 million.”
Saylor also objected to Knowles’ comment that treasury companies could compete with each other, saying, “We’re not competing with each other. There’s room for 400 million companies to buy Bitcoin.”
*This is not investment advice.