Michael Saylor, the famed Bitcoin bull and executive chairman of business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, says the approval of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be the biggest development Wall Street has seen in 30 years.
His revelation came during a conversation with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, where he suggested that the “last thing that was this consequential” was the creation of the S&P Index ETF, which enabled investors to buy shares in all 500 S&P companies in a single trade.
Saylor explained that a spot Bitcoin ETF would give mainstream retail and institutional investors access to a “high bandwidth compliant channel” to invest money into the apex cryptocurrency, a facility that never existed.
Saylor Expects the ETF to Drive Up Demand For Bitcoin, Resulting in a Major Bull Run in 2024
The crypto billionaire also argued that the ETF would be a major catalyst in driving demand for Bitcoin, followed by a “supply shock” in April 2024 when the halving event occurs on the Bitcoin network.
It is estimated that after the halving, there will be just 450 BTC produced each day compared to the 900 BTC mined at present.
He noted that it was the first time the market would witness a 2x to 10x increase in demand combined with a supply scarcity for a highly desirable asset that people want to hold onto for a long time.
Saylor expressed his optimism for a major Bitcoin bull run in 2024.
Although he declined to speculate how far the price may go for the world’s leading cryptocurrency, he confidently stated, “Higher”.
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MicroStrategy’s Goal is to Pursue More Bitcoin for Shareholders, Says Saylor
While addressing questions about whether a spot Bitcoin ETF might draw investors’ attention away from MicroStrategy, Saylor highlighted the unique manner in which his company operates.
He explained that MicroStrategy – which is often thought of as a Bitcoin ETF proxy – is an operating company that can use its cash flow or “intelligent leverage” to boost its BTC holdings.
Saylor used the opportunity to remind Bloomberg host Kailey Leinz that, unlike ETFs, MicroStrategy does not charge a fee from investors.
Saylor said that the goal of his company is to always find a way to pursue more Bitcoin per share for shareholders, whether that be through debt, equity, or cash flows from its business.
MicroStrategy has been providing mainstream investors with exposure to Bitcoin since the company started to accumulate the digital asset in 2020.
According to data from Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, the cloud-based firm now owns 174,530 BTC with an average purchasing price of $30,252. Based on current value, MicroStrategy’s holdings are worth $7.3 billion. Most notably, the company is up $2.1 billion on its crypto investment.
Saylor called the recent rule change by the Financial Accounting Standards Board allowing corporations to capture the highs and lows of their cryptocurrency holdings, a “giant step forward for the industry”. He added that the new rule enables companies to beat the cost of capital by holding Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $42,579 – down 0.7% in the last 24 hours.
