Michael Saylor says UK turmoil is a signal to 'opt out' and embrace bitcoin as policymakers scramble to avert disaster in global markets
- The turmoil in UK currency and bond markets should shine a light on bitcoin as an alternative, according to Michael Saylor.
- "The 'crisis' the central bankers are trying to avert is the free functioning of markets delivering fair interest rates," he tweeted.
Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy, said bitcoin offers a non-sovereign store of value, while policymakers at the Bank of England scramble to stabilize financial markets with bond-buying.
The bitcoin evangelist suggested in a Wednesday tweet that the Bank of England's frantic moves to avert further chaos in the country's bond market should spur an embrace of crypto as a "non-sovereign" assets like bitcoin. Included in his post was a photo of a Financial Times cover story about the the BoE's bid to avert a debt catastrophe by intervening to buy long-dated government bonds.
"The 'crisis' the central bankers are trying to avert is the free functioning of markets delivering fair interest rates. In these times of financial repression the rational response is to opt-out and embrace non-sovereign store of value assets like #bitcoin."
In a separate tweet, the former MicroStrategy CEO — he changed his role to executive chairman in August — wrote that central banks are hurting capital markets and currencies when they take steps to intervene. Bitcoin, on the other hand, cannot be manipulated by the government.
"When central banks intervene to prop up their own bonds, they cripple the capital markets and collapse their own currencies," he wrote in a Thursday tweet. "Sovereign debt is an increasingly ineffective treasury reserve asset. #Bitcoin offers a sound economic & ethical alternative."
Speaking last week at MarketWatch's Best New Ideas in Money Festival, Saylor forecasted that bitcoin could surge back to its record-high of $69,000 within the next four years. Sometime in the next 10 years, he noted, it could hit $500,000.
MicroStrategy holds roughly $3.98 billion in bitcoin, and most recently bought about $6 million worth of tokens from August 2 to September 19, according to SEC filings.
On Thursday, bitcoin hovered around $19,296. It has fallen roughly 60% in 2022.
Similarly, MicroStrategy's stock is trading at about $213 and has dropped about 61% year-to-date.