Michael Saylor calls bitcoin the 'perfect asset' for retirement accounts and safer than bonds as Fidelity moves to let investors put the crypto in their 401(k)

• MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor told CNBC on Tuesday bitcoin is is the "perfect" asset for retirement plans.
• Saylor made his comments as Fidelity on Tuesday became the first major retirement company set to include bitcoin as an option for 401 (k) plans.

Michael Saylor, the billionaire founder of MicroStrategy, said employees at the enterprise software firm will be able to add bitcoin to their retirement accounts through Fidelity Investments, which on Tuesday became the first major retirement-plan provider set to offer the cryptocurrency as a savings vehicle.

"Bitcoin's digital property and that makes it the perfect asset for a retirement plan. It's less risky than bonds and stocks and commercial real estate and gold," Saylor told CNBC in a Tuesday interview. MicroStrategy is the largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, the highly volatile and world's most-traded cryptocurrency.

"A 401(k) plan is a pretty common thing for millions and millions of workers to use to save in order to protect their family interests. This is going to fill an important vacuum in the investment product market," he said.

Saylor in a Twitter message said MicroStrategy is working with Fidelity to give its employees access to bitcoin as part of its 401(k) program.

"There's been a lot of demand for this. They've been asking for it for quite a while. It's a technical challenge to offer 401(k) savings plan and Fidelity has overcome that challenge," he said.

MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries have spent $4 billion on bitcoin purchases. In April, it held 129,218 bitcoins bought at an average price of $30,700. The company's holding was valued at $4.9 billion on Tuesday with the digital currency trading at around $37,970.

Fidelity will include bitcoin investment into retirement accounts later this year. Customers will be able to put up to 20% of their savings into bitcoin, with other cryptocurrencies likely to be added later. Fidelity has 23,000 companies using it to administer their retirement plans.