Saylor’s Bitcoin Pivot Sparked by 2020’s Economic Turmoil

In an interview with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy (now called Strategy), explained why he started investing in Bitcoin in 2020. He said the COVID-19 lockdowns and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s actions made holding cash risky. 

Saylor called 2020 a “war on currency” because lockdowns shut down businesses and the government kept interest rates near zero, so cash wasn’t growing. Saylor described the lockdowns as “soul-stealing,” saying they hurt small businesses and workers while big investors on Wall Street got richer. 

He stated that during that period the Federal Reserve had printed a lot of money, which boosted the stock market by summer. This has created a bubble in stocks and other investments. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy had $500 million in cash that wasn’t earning anything because of the low rates.

As per the reports, he wanted a safe way to store his company’s money that would hold its value over time. He decided against real estate, stocks, or even rare art like Monet’s because they were too expensive. In 2018 he thought Bitcoin was a “scam”, but in the year 2020, he changed his mind after studying it through YouTube, podcasts, and books, with help from his friend Eric Weiss. 

Saylor then realized that Bitcoin was better than gold for holding value without relying on governments or banks.

In August 2020, MicroStrategy bought 21,454 Bitcoins for $250 million. Now, the company owns 582,000 Bitcoins, worth about $63 billion, making it the biggest corporate Bitcoin owner, according to the Saylor Tracker. Saylor’s decision came from his distrust of regular money, which was losing value due to the economic mess in 2020. His move has shown other companies how Bitcoin can protect against inflation and government-controlled money systems.