Exclusive Interview with Michael Saylor: “You’ve Misunderstood Our Statement ‘We’ll Never Sell Bitcoin’—We’re Still Net Buyers”
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Exclusive Interview with Michael Saylor: “You’ve Misunderstood Our Statement ‘We’ll Never Sell Bitcoin’—We’re Still Net Buyers”
“Any company that gives up its right to choose will regret it—no matter what.”
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsCompiled & Translated by TechFlow
Guest: Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy
Hosts: Bonnie and David
Original Title: Michael Saylor, the “Bitcoin Pope,” Goes Head-to-Head! Why Is Strategy Preparing to Sell Bitcoin?
Podcast Source: Bonnie Blockchain
Air Date: May 9, 2026
Editor’s Introduction
In this episode, Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, offered his first systematic explanation—following the company’s latest earnings call—of its controversial statement that it may sell bitcoin to fund dividends on STRC preferred shares. This stance directly contradicts his long-standing, iconic slogan: “Never sell your bitcoin.” His core explanation: Strategy’s breakeven point is 2.3% of its bitcoin holdings. As long as bitcoin’s annual appreciation exceeds 2.3%, the company remains a net buyer of bitcoin on a monthly and quarterly basis—even if it occasionally sells some.
Three additional points raised by Saylor deserve special attention from readers: First, Strategy issued 60% of all U.S. preferred shares this year, single-handedly reactivating the entire U.S. preferred-share market. Second, STRC’s Sharpe ratio stands at 2.5–3—higher than NVIDIA’s (~1.7) and top-tier hedge funds (up to 2.2)—making it “the financial instrument with the highest risk-adjusted return in public markets.” Third, bitcoin’s “killer app” is now unmistakably clear—not payments, but use as collateral for credit. Digital credit is the stepping stone toward a $100 trillion digital currency market.
Key Quotes
The Shift to “Selling BTC for Dividends”
- “We want the market to understand that bitcoin’s capital gains are funding STRC’s credit dividends. Sell $1 million of STRC, then immediately buy $1 million of bitcoin.”
- “I’m known for saying ‘never sell your bitcoin,’ so when we said we might sell, the internet exploded. But more precisely, it should be ‘never be a net seller of bitcoin’—though that phrasing lacks viral appeal.”
- “Even during these periods, if we sell one bitcoin, we’ll buy back ten to twenty. Once people grasp this, it shouldn’t even be an issue.”
- “Any company that surrenders its optionality will inevitably regret it—no matter what.”
STRC’s Economic Model
- “Our breakeven rate is 2.3%. That means as long as STRC issuance stays below 2.3% of our bitcoin holdings, we remain net buyers of bitcoin—even if we sell some to pay dividends.”
- “STRC is the central engine driving bitcoin value accumulation. In April, we sold $3.2 billion of STRC and bought $3.2 billion of bitcoin. That month’s dividend was $80–90 million—equivalent to buying 30 bitcoins and selling just one.”
- “Our over-collateralization ratio for bitcoin is 5:1. For every $5 of bitcoin, we issue $1 of credit—and that $1 carries a defined yield.”
Responding to “Ponzi Scheme” Accusations
- “Peter Schiff believes bitcoin itself is a Ponzi scheme—he dislikes anything in this space.”
- “If you refuse to recognize bitcoin’s legitimacy, you’ll never accept the legitimacy of any derivative built upon it.”
- “Consider a real estate developer raising debt to buy land at $10,000 per acre, developing it, and later selling at $100,000 per acre—then monetizing that capital gain. No one calls that a Ponzi scheme. We’re doing exactly the same thing—but with bitcoin.”
Bitcoin Market Liquidity and Buying Impact
- “We can buy $100 million of bitcoin in one hour—price doesn’t move. Buy $200 million—still no move. Buy $200–300 million, pause—and price actually rises.”
- “Bitcoin is the deepest, most liquid capital market in the world. Want to trade $1 billion with 20x leverage on weekends? Bitcoin handles it. Need $1 billion of credit within one hour? Bitcoin delivers.”
- “I’ve accumulated roughly $62 billion of bitcoin—more than anyone I know. If a single company could systematically manipulate this market, that would vastly overestimate our influence. This is a global market with its own dynamics—e.g., a single Chinese government announcement can move the price.”
Digital Credit Is Bitcoin’s “Killer App”
- “Over the past 12 months, one thing has become crystal clear: bitcoin already has at least one killer app—digital credit. For a $1.5 trillion asset class with daily trading volumes in the tens of billions, the answer is simple: serving as collateral for credit.”
- “STRC is the most liquid credit instrument—and the largest preferred share—in the entire market, with a Sharpe ratio of 2.5 to 3. The highest Sharpe ratio among traditional credit instruments is only 0.5; NVIDIA’s is ~1.7; the S&P’s is 0.9; bitcoin’s is 0.85; top hedge funds max out at 2.2. Digital credit delivers superior risk-adjusted returns versus any financial strategy available in public markets.”
- “This year, we issued 60% of all U.S. preferred shares—making us the largest credit issuer in the United States. Last year and this year, we’ve single-handedly reactivated the entire U.S. preferred-share market.”
- “Digital credit is the stepping stone to digital currencies and digital yield. Yield-bearing stablecoins are exploding: Apex launched one that grew from $0 to $300 million in eight weeks; Saturn launched one that reached $110 million in six weeks. The underlying market is $100 trillion—and growing virally.”
Macro Trends and AI
- “Even tight monetary policy, geopolitical conflict, and trade wars are merely headwinds—they slow us down briefly. When they reverse, they become tailwinds. Bitcoin keeps grinding upward because miners contribute only $10–12 billion of native supply annually—roughly 450 bitcoins per day. Every $10 billion of capital we raise buys an entire year’s supply.”
- “Without AI, we couldn’t have built STRC. I used AI to develop Strike, Strife, Stride, and Stretch. If you run a bitcoin treasury—or a digital treasury—the smartest thing you can do is use digital intelligence to carve digital credit out of digital capital.”
Why We’re Willing to Sell Bitcoin
Host Bonnie: Something happened 19 hours ago that shook the internet. What was it?
Michael Saylor: You’re referring to our earnings call. There, we announced our willingness—when necessary—to sell bitcoin to fund dividends on STRC preferred shares.
Host Bonnie: I believe this represents a carefully considered pivot. What’s the logic behind it?
Michael Saylor: Most importantly, we want the market to understand that bitcoin’s capital gains are funding STRC’s credit dividends. We sell $1 million of STRC, then immediately buy $1 million of bitcoin. We expect bitcoin to appreciate ~30% annually—historically closer to 40%. We allocate the first 11% of those capital gains to fund credit dividends.
But the market has long been confused about where dividends originate. For most of this instrument’s life, we’ve funded dividends by selling common stock (MSTR). MSTR is a bitcoin derivative, typically trading at a premium—so effectively, we’ve been selling bitcoin derivatives. Yet some worry we’ll eventually run out of stock to sell; short sellers claim we *must* sell stock. Meanwhile, another narrative insists the company will *never* sell bitcoin—leading to the absurd conclusion: “If they won’t sell bitcoin, then bitcoin isn’t really an asset—and the $65 billion on the balance sheet should be written off to zero.”
You can’t have a $65 billion asset valued at zero—that’s unacceptable. We don’t want rating agencies viewing the company as having zero assets; we want them seeing $65 billion. And online, critics still call this a Ponzi scheme—because we issue stock to fund preferred-share dividends.
What we need to do is clarify our business model: issue credit, invest that capital into a digital asset called “bitcoin,” and generate returns faster than the dividend payout rate—then monetize those capital gains to fund dividends. The clearest way to express this is to explicitly tell the market: the company doesn’t need to sell common stock forever—we can instead sell highly appreciating bitcoin to fund dividends. That’s using capital gains to fund credit dividends.
Think of a real estate developer: raise debt, buy land at $10,000/acre, develop it, sell at $100,000/acre, and monetize the capital gain—by selling land, leasing, or refinancing. No one questions their legitimacy. We’re doing the exact same thing—with bitcoin.
I’m famous for saying “never sell your bitcoin,” so when we said we might sell, the internet exploded. But more precisely, it should be “never be a net seller of bitcoin”—though that phrasing lacks viral punch. Let me assure you: during these periods, even if we sell one bitcoin, we’ll buy back ten to twenty. So it’s effectively buy 10, sell 1, net buy 9—and continuously create bitcoin. Once people understand this, it shouldn’t be an issue—but right now, discussion boards are indeed buzzing.
Host Bonnie: Can you walk us through how “sell one, buy ten” works in practice?
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin’s largest value-accumulation engine is Stretch. In April, we issued $3.2 billion of STRC—and thus bought $3.2 billion of bitcoin. That month’s dividend was ~$80–90 million. Raising $3 billion while paying $80–90 million in dividends equates to buying 30 bitcoins and selling just one.
Our breakeven rate is 2.3%—meaning: as long as STRC issuance stays under 2.3% of our bitcoin holdings, we remain net buyers of bitcoin—even if we sell some to pay dividends. Put another way: as long as bitcoin’s annual appreciation exceeds 2.3%, we can fully fund dividends *and* grow our holdings—without ever selling common stock.
This year, we’ve already sold ~$5 billion of STRC in the first four months—projecting full-year issuance at 15–20%. With a 2.3% breakeven threshold, that’s buy 20, sell 2, net buy 18. As long as the company grows, our bitcoin purchases will always exceed sales. I expect to remain a net buyer of bitcoin every month and every quarter going forward.
Host Bonnie: One final question before handing over to David. Many investors treat “never sell your bitcoin” as gospel. Should they continue doing so?
Michael Saylor: Yes—you should be a net accumulator of bitcoin. When I say “never sell,” I mean: if you must spend it for something, replace it within the same timeframe. Some in crypto advocate spending bitcoin directly—for goods and services. If you do spend it, replenish it. Don’t be a net seller—because bitcoin is capital. At year-end, you should hold *more* bitcoin than you did at year-start.
Compare it to Google: spends $1 billion building data centers, earns $10 billion, nets $9 billion profit. Does that disrupt the dollar market? No—the dollar is fine, Google’s business model is sound, and everyone sees it as rational capital allocation. If you spend one bitcoin and earn ten, it doesn’t harm bitcoin or the company—it makes the company stronger. We tap into the crypto liquidity market: spot bitcoin trades $20 billion daily; derivatives trade $50 billion. That’s a powerful energy source. When equity capital markets are less liquid than bitcoin’s commodity market, we must be able to pivot.
Any company that surrenders its optionality—regardless of what it is—will regret it. Example: if we declared we’d *never* repurchase our own stock—only issue it—short sellers would drive the price to $1, far below NAV, and then we’d repurchase at a massive discount. So yesterday on the call, we stated: we’re prepared to exchange STRC for MSTR, BTC for MSTR, or use BTC or MSTR to meet obligations—all decisions guided solely by the company’s best interests. Long-term, however, our commitment to being net accumulators of bitcoin remains unchanged. Day-to-day asset trading—selling credit, equity, or capital assets—depends on market conditions and mispricing.
We also announced yesterday our readiness to repurchase our own bonds. Our corporate bonds trade at a discount and are undervalued—so buying them is rational; selling them is not. We don’t sell undervalued assets—we buy and arbitrage away such inefficiencies. If the market knows we’ll do this, pricing becomes fairer across these instruments—a win for all investors and our fiduciary duty to shareholders.
Bitcoin Is Digital Capital, Not a “Ponzi Scheme”
Host David: Let me read a tweet you retweeted this morning: Peter Schiff—one of your biggest critics (a gold proponent and longtime bitcoin bear)—wrote: “Yesterday Saylor admitted MSTR would sell bitcoin to fund STRC dividends if necessary. This pledge helps prolong the so-called Ponzi scheme. But I suspect, when push comes to shove, he’ll suspend dividends and let STRC collapse—rather than let bitcoin collapse.” How do you respond?
Michael Saylor: Peter believes bitcoin *itself* is a Ponzi scheme. He dislikes everything in this space. Bitcoin is digital capital. We build a digital treasury company by issuing equity and credit instruments to purchase that capital. Bitcoin endures because it represents the tokenized form of global economic wealth—with full property rights. On top of it, we’ve built STRC: a credit instrument that strips out volatility, reduces risk, and distills yield from digital capital. If you reject bitcoin’s legitimacy, you’ll reject *all* derivatives built atop it. But for those who accept bitcoin as legitimate, what we’re doing is straightforward: 5:1 over-collateralization—$5 of bitcoin backing $1 of credit, with that $1 carrying a defined yield.
Many view bitcoin as legitimate—but balk at its volatility. They won’t use it to pay their child’s tuition next fall or settle bills due in 12 weeks. For them, digital credit makes sense: principal-protected, stable, and yielding 3–4× money-market fund returns. It’s bitcoin’s superiority over other capital assets that enables us to offer higher dividends.
Host David: Let me test a theory with you before handing back to Bonnie. Some traders observe that after each STRC dividend, the ex-dividend price dips below par—lasting one or two days, sometimes longer. Once it rebounds to par, Strategy begins buying bitcoin. So they front-run this pattern—buying bitcoin as STRC approaches par, betting you’ll buy at par. What’s your take?
Michael Saylor: Near the record date, STRC sees massive buying demand—because holders get ~90 cents in dividends post-record date. So STRC trades billions of dollars pre-record date, then drops 60–70 cents the next day—taking one to two weeks to recover to par. Arbitrageurs calculate: lock up $1 million for one day, repeat 12 times yearly, and lock in ~42% annualized returns. Their math checks out—and benefits us too, by boosting liquidity and participation. This dynamic will persist.
As for front-running in the bitcoin market: the derivatives market alone trades $50 billion daily. Is anyone wealthy enough to move this market? Unlikely. My view: bitcoin is, in a sense, “the square of tech capital.” Its drivers are trade wars, hot wars, foreign policy, the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, and currency wars—e.g., whether SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) falls to 200 bps, or whether the yield curve flattens. Clearly, we’re in a tight monetary environment—and macro factors are bitcoin’s primary drivers.
Here’s a fact: we buy $100 million of bitcoin in one hour—price doesn’t move. Buy $200 million—still no move. Buy $200–300 million, pause—and price rises. So unless someone can deploy $30 billion in an afternoon, they won’t move the market. I’ve spent enormous sums—more than anyone I know—accumulating ~$62 billion of bitcoin. I believe this is a global market with its own dynamics—driven by foreign policy. A single Chinese government announcement can shift bitcoin’s price. Saying our company has systemic importance sounds flattering—but I don’t believe it.
Host Bonnie: Why hasn’t the price moved, despite your massive purchases?
Michael Saylor: The market is extremely deep and liquid. Suppose I buy $1 billion in one day—that’s just 1/50th of $50 billion. Talking to traders, you learn: spot bitcoin trades $20 billion daily; derivatives trade $50 billion. Where does $1 billion land in a $40–60 billion pool? It’s the deepest, most liquid capital market globally—that’s what makes it special. Want to trade $1 billion with 20x leverage on weekends? Bitcoin handles it. Need $1 billion of credit in one hour? Bitcoin delivers.
Macro forces are the main drivers—but the market also has its own logic. Micro factors matter too: formation of digital credit, bank credit, investor sentiment toward digital assets. Yet bitcoin is larger than any of us imagined—and that very scale gives us confidence. No single player can prop it up—or suppress it.
Host Bonnie: If the Strait of Hormuz—through which ~20% of global seaborne oil passes—remains closed for the foreseeable future, several things happen: first, inflationary pressure persists; second, the Fed may need to cut rates—but high inflation blocks it. What happens to liquidity? And if the Fed is stuck, what happens to bitcoin?
Michael Saylor: Tight monetary policy, highly strained global trade, and elevated geopolitical tensions driven by foreign policy or war (Ukraine, Iran) are headwinds—they apply slight downward pressure. Once reversed, they become tailwinds. But bitcoin keeps grinding upward—because miners contribute only $10–12 billion of native supply annually—roughly 450 bitcoins per day. Every $10 billion of capital we raise buys an entire year’s supply.
Banks create $10 billion of credit—that’s the first turn of the wheel. We sell $10 billion of STRC digital credit—that’s the second. That $10 billion flows into IBIT (BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF)—that’s the third. These capital flows—digital credit, digital capital packaging, bank credit—are the market’s foundation—and all are trending positively. Regardless of macro conditions, you’ll see persistent upward movement. Macro winds only affect the *pace*: at 30% growth, you hit 50%; with headwinds, you slow slightly.
Bitcoin’s “Killer App”
Host David: Has your thesis on bitcoin evolved?
Michael Saylor: No. But I’ll add: bitcoin’s identity as digital capital is now unequivocal. Over the past 12 months, one thing has crystallized: bitcoin already has at least one killer app—digital credit. For a $1.5 trillion asset class with hundreds of billions in daily volume, the answer is clear: serving as collateral for credit. If digital capital is the best-performing capital asset, then logically, the best-performing credit asset can be built atop it.
Over the past year, I’ve observed STRC is the most liquid credit instrument—and the largest preferred share—in the entire market, with the highest Sharpe ratio. We’ve engineered a tool with 3% volatility, 11.5% dividend yield, and a Sharpe ratio of 2.5–3. By comparison, the highest Sharpe ratio among traditional credit instruments is just 0.5; stocks peak at NVIDIA’s ~1.7; the S&P’s is 0.9; bitcoin’s is 0.85—none break 1. Top hedge funds cap out at 2.2. Thus, digital credit delivers superior risk-adjusted returns versus *any* financial strategy or instrument in public markets. Twelve months ago, I couldn’t have claimed this—but the logic holds: if bitcoin is the best-performing capital asset, then bitcoin-backed convertible bonds are the best-performing convertibles—and credit instruments like STRC are the best-performing preferred shares.
Let me ask you: do you know what share of total U.S. preferred shares we’ve issued this year?
Host David: I’d guess over 70%.
Michael Saylor: We issued 60% of all U.S. preferred shares—and were the largest credit issuer in the U.S. both last year and this year. We reactivated the preferred-share market—and it’s exploded. The new idea is this: digital capital drives digital credit. Next, you’ll see digital credit serve as the stepping stone to digital currencies and digital currency markets. Yield-bearing stablecoins are exploding: Apex launched one that grew from $0 to $300 million in eight weeks; Saturn launched one that reached $110 million in six weeks. Innovation is surging across digital assets, crypto, and TradFi—all fueled by digital credit—and bitcoin makes digital credit possible. This may be the most exciting development this year.
AI’s Impact
Host David: My final question before handing to Bonnie. Some bitcoin miners are pivoting—repurposing mining rigs to power AI data centers. Will you join this so-called “AI transition”? If so, how?
Michael Saylor: It’s healthy that bitcoin miners are now benefiting from investments in high-performance, high-power computing. What we do is refine digital credit using digital intelligence. How does AI impact our business? Without AI, we couldn’t have built STRC. I used AI to develop Strike, Strife, Stride, and Stretch. How do we construct digital credit? Take a piece of digital capital, process it with digital intelligence to produce digital credit—assigning specific risk profiles, volatility, yield, and currency structure—then launch it into public markets.
If you run a bitcoin treasury—or a digital treasury—the smartest thing you can do is use digital intelligence to extract digital credit from digital capital. That’s the stepping stone—the financial fuel powering digital currencies and digital yield. And the market for digital currencies and digital yield is $100 trillion—and spreading virally.
Host Bonnie: Final question. Did Robert Heinlein’s 1958 sci-fi novel Have Space Suit—Will Travel inspire you to attend MIT? Before MIT, before that book, before bitcoin—what would you tell your younger self?
Michael Saylor: In first grade, my parents incentivized reading: 10 cents per book. I loved comic books—priced at 25 cents—so I calculated I needed to read two-and-a-half “real books” to afford one comic. Highly motivated, I read ~100 books that summer. I’d go to the library, borrow 10 at a time, read them all, then return them. Later, I discovered sci-fi: Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov. I read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein, 1966), and Have Space Suit—Will Travel. By third or fourth grade, I’d devoured them all.
I’d say these sci-fi novels drove my intellectual development. Boys in elementary school are highly impressionable. In Have Space Suit—Will Travel, an alpha protagonist repairs a spacesuit himself, gets picked up by a spaceship, traverses the cosmos, saves humanity from bug-eyed monsters, and returns to Earth. His reward? A full scholarship to MIT. I thought: even heroes who save humanity think MIT is good enough—so it’s good enough for me. Damn right, I’m going to MIT.
Host Bonnie: If Elon Musk invites you to Mars, would you go?
Michael Saylor: Depends on the spacecraft he offers.
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