Michael Saylor defended Strategy's recent Bitcoin sale, stating the ability to sell is crucial for its digital credit business. He explained that Bitcoin serves as capital to back credit obligations and dividend-paying securities, enabling higher yields than traditional accounts.
Strategy's ability to generate capital through Bitcoin sales is crucial for its digital credit offerings, which Saylor believes represent a significant growth area for the Bitcoin ecosystem. The depegging of a related stablecoin highlights the volatility and interconnectedness of these emerging financial products.
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, has defended the company's recent sale of 32 Bitcoin, stating that the ability to sell the cryptocurrency is essential for its digital credit business. This move appeared to contradict Saylor's long-standing "never sell" mantra.
In an interview at the BTC Prague conference, Saylor explained that companies holding Bitcoin as treasury assets must retain the flexibility to sell when necessary to support dividend-paying securities and other Bitcoin-backed credit products. He emphasized that if a company policy prohibits selling Bitcoin, it undermines the value of both its credit and equity.
Saylor described Strategy's STRC preferred stock as a "digital credit" instrument that leverages the company's Bitcoin holdings to meet credit obligations. These securities have become a key method for Strategy to raise capital for further Bitcoin acquisitions.
He further elaborated on digital credit markets as a potential "trillion-dollar opportunity" for the Bitcoin ecosystem, suggesting these products could enable yield-bearing digital money with yields potentially reaching up to 8%, significantly higher than traditional savings accounts. Saylor believes these products can transform credit markets and attract substantial capital into Bitcoin.
However, the resilience of such products was recently tested. On June 4, Apyx Finance's dividend-backed stablecoin, apxUSD, lost its peg, trading as low as $0.90. Apyx attributed the depeg to a decline in STRC shares, which serve as the primary collateral asset, alongside falling Bitcoin prices and derivative market dynamics. As of press time, apxUSD was trading at $0.96.