In this episode of UpOnly, Cobie & Ledger talk to Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, and one of the biggest advocates for Bitcoin in the world.
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Show Notes
Bitcoin Journey
– First tweeted about Bitcoin in 2013, was sceptical
– Would comment on early tech, very unknown at the time
– Would tweet about Bitcoin and people find his old tweets
– Learned about Bitcoin through poker and online gambling
Diversifying
– DON’T DIVERSIFY
– Diversifying is selling the winners to buy the losers
– Amazon wins
– Walmart kinda treads water
– and 15,000 companies lose
– It’s nearly impossible to beat a digital monopoly
Banking Experience
– Lost $1M in a bank rug
– Lost $1M in an Argentina rug as well
– Banks wouldn’t let him move his money around
– He got crushed by Argentina inflation
– Kept getting smoked – “can we buy a yacht, float it to the US, then sell it here?”
– Couldn’t do that, eventually gave up
Current Bitcoin Experience
– Then had $1B company with $500M cash on balance sheet
– Knew it was gonna get inflated away
– Saylor: “It’s like losing half your body – like amputating your left arm and left leg”
– Now has like $5B worth of Bitcoin
– If you’re on main street you had the worst year of your life
– If you’re on Wall Street you had the best year of your life
– First Bitcoin buy in August was defensive
– Bought first amount at like $11k BTC ($250M buy)
– Then got $600M loan at 1% interest…and just bought Bitcoin lmao
– Saylor: “All time high is just the all time high to date”
Business and Bitcoin
– Cobie: “Given the cyclical nature of crypto, I’ve seen life ruining bear markets and pre up only euphoria bull markets. Will you keep buying bitcoin forever?”
– Saylor: “Yeah” LMAO
– Devaluing currency is crushing basically every small business
– Saylor: “It’s like you’re rowing 7 knots, but the current is moving against you at 7 knots”
– Michael Sailor! *credit to CryptoCred*
– Saylor: “It is true that if I deal you double aces, you have an advantage in the poker game. But if I put a gun to your head, you don’t have that advantage anymore!” think he’s saying zoom out, think bigger lol
– More war/ poker/ boating analogies
Bitcoin vs Other Cryptos
– The others are very complicated, there’s likely a crypto economy in the future
– Bitcoin is not like them it is simple
– Once a sovereign wealth fund owns $5B of it, then its OK for big companies to own $5B of it, and there’s a domino effect
– One regulator could wake up tomorrow and put out a press release that doubles the market
– There are 10,000 big institutions that can start to pour in and that tips everyone in
– Saylor: “If you’re Apple, you can take your market cap up $2 trillion. Do you want $2 trillion???”
– The real Bitcoin bond – borrow $1B at 1% interest and buy Bitcoin
Countries Buying Bitcoin
– Cobie: “So El Salvador did it and now there are rumors of Honduras doing it – I do think the second person to follow is a strong form of leadership”
– Ledger: “Your top job as a large holder of Bitcoin is to convince others to buy Bitcoin to increase the network effects”
Bitcoin Maximalism
– Ledger: basically asked if there is any chance Saylor buys anything besides Bitcoin?
– Satoshi disappeared, price was a penny, there’s no pre-mine, its PoW, there’s no yield
– Basically, it’s pure
– Saylor: “Every proof of stake coin is a security”
– If you are a person of any fame, you cannot endorse a security
– However, you can endorse property
– “Saylor Coin, Saylor Moon Coin, Son of Shiba Moon Coin”
– China could create China Coin (only legal to mine in China)
– There is risk in property, but its heavy and sound
– You want property to be heavy and durable
Crypto Future
– The first decade of crypto was off shore, entrepreneurial
– The second will be on shore, institutional
– We are in the middle, and will be there for 3-5 years
– Cobie (summarizing): “you buy Bitcoin because you know what Bitcoin will be in 50 years”
– Other coins not so much
Life Advice
– Saylor: “Stay in your lane”
– You start trying to express a nuanced opinion and next thing you know your debating a nobel prize winner in that field
– There are black swan tail risks that can crush everything so can’t worry about them much
– If you think there’s a 95% chance Bitcoin goes to 0 then alright put 5% of your money in
– Misc. good quotes:
– “Bitcoin could be a $100 trillion asset without L2s without Lightning Network or anything”
– “The block of granite under Manhattan doesn’t move. It still has value”
Do you own Bitcoin as well personally?
– Yes, Michael Saylor owns 17,732 BTC
FINAL ALPHA
– “Focus.”
– “Just because you can acquire a thing doesn’t mean you can maintain a thing, and just because you can maintain a thing doesn’t mean you can enjoy a thing” referring mostly to a boat
– “The hardest thing is to compete forever, profitably”
Music by GiovanniPickle