Strategy’s Saylor Says Bitcoin Does Not Need Ethereum-Style Yield

Bitcoin’s early culture treated decentralization, self-custody and freedom from intermediaries as defining principles. Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, argues that institutional and sovereign adoption requires a broader framework encompassing regulated custody, financing and counterparty-risk management. In his view, Bitcoin is evolving from a conviction-driven asset held by technologists into digital capital infrastructure capable of supporting global pools of wealth.

In a recent essay outlining a “Bitcoin Reformation,” Saylor said self-custody should remain a right rather than become an obligation for every holder. He advocated managing counterparty trust through institutional structures instead of rejecting it outright, allowing banks, companies, investment funds and governments to choose custody and financial services suited to their mandates. The proposal seeks to widen Bitcoin’s access to mainstream capital without removing the option to hold assets independently.

MicroStrategy, now known as Strategy, is a leading proponent of corporate Bitcoin reserves, continuously buying the cryptocurrency through debt and equity issuance. The performance of its holdings is seen as a key gauge of whether the digital asset treasury (DAT) model can endure. Earlier weakness in Bitcoin prices had generated paper losses while weighing on the valuations and fundraising capacity of similar companies.

As Bitcoin recovered to about $77,000 in mid-April, Strategy’s shares rose 8% in a single day. Founder Michael Saylor said the company generated $1.3 billion in Bitcoin gains during the first two weeks of April. Strategy currently holds about 780,000 Bitcoin at an average cost of $75,577, putting its position close to break-even and boosting confidence in the DAT market.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, raises funds through debt, common-share issuance and preferred stock to buy bitcoin, making BTC its core treasury asset. Michael Saylor argues that as long as bitcoin’s long-term annualized return exceeds the 2.05% cost of its preferred stock, the company can continue paying dividends without issuing additional common shares and diluting shareholders.

According to its latest disclosure, Strategy holds more than 760,000 bitcoin and remains the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. Saylor recently hinted again at further purchases. At its current pace of accumulation, the company is buying close to three times the amount of new bitcoin supply created over the same period, indicating that it continues to use low-cost preferred stock to expand its BTC position.

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has long urged companies to hold Bitcoin as a balance-sheet reserve and previously took a cautious stance toward other crypto assets. He now envisions a three-tier structure combining Bitcoin, public blockchains and digital credit products as he seeks to tap the $300 trillion global credit market.

At the 2026 Strategy World conference, Saylor explicitly endorsed Ethereum and Solana, describing them as platforms for distributing and transmitting digital credit. Bitcoin would retain its role as the core reserve asset at the foundation of the system. The framework signals a shift from Bitcoin maximalism toward a vision of multichain financial infrastructure.