In 2020, Michael Saylor confronted an issue that modified the course of his firm—and the crypto market.
As governments responded to the COVID-19 disaster with lockdowns and cash printing, the MicroStrategy founder noticed one thing deeper than a public well being emergency: a full-blown assault on the worth of cash itself.
With rates of interest close to zero and inflation quietly accelerating, Saylor watched his firm’s $500 million money reserve slowly grow to be nugatory. Conventional investments felt overvalued. Actual property was inflated, shares have been hovering, and protected belongings yielded nothing. Even the artwork market didn’t supply a sensible hedge. He wanted one thing liquid, borderless, and proof against political management.
That’s when he started questioning all the things he knew about finance. Bitcoin, as soon as dismissed as a speculative fad, immediately appeared like a lifeline. After digging into its fundamentals by podcasts, books, and conversations with crypto insiders, Saylor got here to see it because the digital equal of gold—solely sooner, simpler to retailer, and uncorrelated with authorities coverage.
His conclusion was clear: sitting on {dollars} meant watching years of company effort erode. In August 2020, MicroStrategy made its first Bitcoin buy—21,454 BTC for $250 million. What began as a defensive transfer turned a long-term technique. The agency now holds over 582,000 BTC, price greater than $60 billion, making it the most important company holder of Bitcoin so far.
For Saylor, the choice wasn’t pushed by hype, however by a perception that in a world of financial instability, a decentralized asset provided essentially the most resilient retailer of worth.