Michael Saylor Says This Is The Reason Why Bitcoin Is Stuck Sideways And Not Breaking Out

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Strategy Inc. MSTR CEO Michael Saylor shared in an interview aired Friday his views on why Bitcoin BTC/USD has been chopping sideways.

People Are Bitcoin Rich But Fiat Poor, Says Saylor

During a podcast with Bitcoin influencer Natalie Brunell, Saylor said that $2.3 trillion worth of Bitcoin, its market capitalization, is unbanked, meaning owners cannot borrow against it.

“And because they can’t get a loan against it, at the point that you all of a sudden find yourself Bitcoin rich, but fiat poor. You don’t have a lot of dollars,” Saylor emphasized. “Then you think I have to go and sell it.”

He compared the situation to a startup where employees, suddenly rich with penny stock options, are forced to sell because they can’t borrow against them. He added that the current wave of selling is driven primarily by cryptocurrency OGs, who had a lot of money for a long time and are now diversifying.

Saylor did, however, agree that this is “normal” for Bitcoin’s life cycle. “The truth is, if you zoom out and look at the one-year chart, Bitcoin is like up 99%. It’s like nearly double,” he added.

Saylor Promotes Bitcoin Treasury Companies

Saylor’s comments follow his recent keynote speech at a conference, in which he urged people to disregard the “critics and whiners” and feel optimistic about Bitcoin Treasury firms, which, in his words, are recycling “stranded capital just as miners recycle stranded energy.”

Saylor, one of Bitcoin’s most vocal advocates, has put his money where his mouth is, driving his firm Strategy to the forefront of Bitcoin’s corporate adoption. As of this writing, Strategy held a stash worth over $72 billion, according to bitcointreasuries.net.

Jim Chanos’ Opposition

However, his strategies have not been without criticism. Famed short-seller Jim Chanos labeled Saylor’s financial strategy as “financial gibberish,” following reports that he might consider selling Bitcoin or its options to fund dividend payments for securities his company issued to acquire the cryptocurrency.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $114,438.21, down 0.99% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Strategy shares closed 1.25% lower at $344.75 during Friday’s regular trading session. Year-to-date, the stock has delivered returns of 19%.

As of this writing, the stock demonstrated a very high Momentum score. Visit Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings to see how it compares with the highest-weighted stock in your portfolio.

Photo Courtesy: Travis Wolfe on Shutterstock.com