Michael Saylor responds to criticism of companies buying Bitcoin

While the adoption of bitcoin in business remains a divisive subject, Michael Saylor continues to stand as a leader of the movement. The executive chairman of Strategy is no longer content with accumulating BTC. He is now going to the front to defend, in the face of criticism, an assumed vision of bitcoin as a strategic corporate treasury asset. In a context of macroeconomic uncertainty, its positions revive the debate on the relevance and sustainability of this strategy.

An assumed defense of a contested Bitcoin strategy

During his appearance on the podcast “What Bitcoin Did”Michael Saylor responded bluntly to criticism aimed at companies that raise funds, through debt or via capital increases, to buy bitcoin.

These strategies, considered risky or even thoughtless by some, would, according to him, be perfectly rational, including for loss-making companies. “If you're losing $10 million a year, but you're making $30 million from your bitcoin positions, haven't I saved the company? »he said, in response to the attacks.

For Saylor, this type of arbitrage is not speculation, but a long-term cash management strategy, more relevant than traditional options.

In his argument, he directly opposes the usual allocation choices to that of bitcoin, believing that traditional methods can worsen the financial situation of a company. He asserts in particular that:

• Share buybacks in unprofitable companies magnify losses more quickly because they reduce cash flow without generating real value;

• Low-yielding bonds (like Treasury bills) do not provide effective protection against monetary erosion or economic difficulties;

• Bitcoin, on the other hand, offers an interesting asymmetry, with a revaluation potential greater than operational losses;

• The choice to hold BTC is comparable to that of a rational individual, regardless of the size or situation of the company.

Saylor is not content to advocate an isolated strategy. It attempts to reposition bitcoin as a serious component of corporate asset management, in direct opposition to the dominant standards of traditional corporate finance.

Fragile and unevenly distributed adoption

Beyond Saylor's position alone, the figures confirm that the Bitcoin strategy in business is much more than just a fad.

According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net, publicly traded companies hold around 1.1 million BTC todayor 5.5% of the total circulating supply (estimated at 19.97 million BTC). Yet this adoption remains extremely concentrated. Strategy alone holds 687,410 BTC, followed by MARA Holdings (53,250 BTC) and Twenty One Capital (43,514 BTC). In other words, a handful of players represent the bulk of corporate exposure to bitcoin.

However, the year 2025 saw this movement slow down. Although 117 companies adopted BTC as a store of value during the year, the momentum waned at the end of the year, in particular due to less favorable market conditions.

As Markus Thiele, founder of 10x Research, notes, several crypto treasuries saw their net asset values ​​decline in November, making capital raising more difficult and trapping some shareholders with mounting unrealized losses. Such an observation qualifies Saylor's optimistic speech. If bitcoin can be a buoy, it can also become a burden when volatility hits at the wrong time.

MSCI extends reprieve for crypto firms like Strategy, providing temporary respite to a stressed model. However, the balance remains fragile: between stock market valuation, access to markets and regulatory developments, the Bitcoin strategy in business will soon have to prove itself beyond the convictions of its defenders.