MicroStrategy Co-Founder Michael Saylor: There’s 10 years of pent up demand for these bitcoin ETFs

Michael Saylor, Microstrategy executive chairman and co-founder, joins ‘Closing Bell Overtime’ to talk the state of the crypto industry, the rollout of bitcoin ETFs, bitcoin’s climbing valuation and more.

>>> WELCOME BACK TO OVERTIME. BITCOIN SEARCH TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN TWO YEARS AFTER IT BROKE PAST THE 50,000 DOLLAR MARK. JOINING US NOW TO DISCUSS IS MICRO STRATEGIES EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN MICHAEL SELLER. IT’S A GREAT TIME TO HAVE YOU ON THE SHOW.

>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME, MORGAN. >> MICRO STRATEGY HAD A VERY STRONG DAY, FINISHING UP ALMOST 11%. YOU’RE AT 46% IN THE PAST WEEK. THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME JOINING US SINCE THE ETS BEGAN TRADING. INITIALLY WE SAW SHARES OF MICRO

STRATEGY SELLING OF. NOW SINCE JANUARY 11TH, MICRO STRATEGY IS OUTPERFORMING ALL OF THESE ETFS. WALK ME THROUGH YOUR OUTLOOK FOR BITCOIN, AND THEN WE CAN JUMP INTO EARNINGS. >> I THINK THAT A LOT OF THIS IS INDICATIVE OF THE POPULARITY OF

BITCOIN AS AN ASSET CLASS. IT’S NOW THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR INVESTMENT ASSET. IT IS NOVEL, DIGITAL, GLOBAL, IT IS UNIQUE. IT’S UNCORRELATED TOO TRADITIONAL RISK ASSETS. IT DOES NOT COME WITH THE EXPOSURE TO ANY COUNTRY, CURRENCY, COMPANY, QUARTERLY RESULT, PRODUCT CYCLE,

COMPETITOR. NOT TO WEATHER, NOT A WAR, NOT TO AN EMPLOYEE BASE OR SUPPLY CHAIN. THAT MAKES IT A NATURAL ADDITION TO THE PORTFOLIO. THERE ARE TEN YEARS OF PENT UP DEMAND. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE ETFS. FINALLY, MAINSTREAM INVESTORS

ARE ABLE TO ASK BITCOIN. THAT IS WHAT IS DRIVING THE SURGE OF GAP IT’LL IN THE ASSET CLASS. INITIALLY, THERE WAS A REBALANCING AS PEOPLE MOVED CAPITAL BETWEEN THE FUTURES MARKET AND MINORS AND MICRO STRATEGY AND ETFS. FOLLOWING THE REBALANCING, THE

ASSETS FOUND THEIR FOOTING. NOW THERE’S TEN TIMES AS MUCH DEMAND FOR BITCOIN COMING IN THROUGH THE ETFS AS THERE IS SUPPLY COMING FROM THE NATURAL SELLERS THAT ARE THE MINERS. >> OF COURSE, WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE EVENTS, THAT KIND OF A

SHIFT, SUPPLY DEMAND DYNAMICS COMING INTO THE SPRING AS WELL. EARNINGS LAST WEEK, YOU RE- BRANDED THE COMPANY. YOU ANNOUNCED THE RE-BRANDING OF THE COMPANY HAS A BIG KIND OF ELEMENT COMPANY. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? >> IT IS A NATURAL DECISION FOR

US GIVE IT A SUCCESS OF THE BITCOIN STRATEGY. THEN UNIQUE STATUS AS PART OF THE BIGGEST COMPANY HOLDER OF BITCOIN. MIKE RESTAURATEUR G IS AN OPERATING COMPANY WHICH CAN ACTIVELY MANAGE THEIR CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH MORE FLEXIBILITY THAN AN INVESTMENT

TRUST, WHICH IS WHAT THESE SPOT ETFS ARE. WHEN WE WILL DEVELOP SOFTWARE, GENERATE CASH FLOW. WE ARE GOING TO LEVERAGE THE CAPITAL MARKETS. THAT IS ALL IN ORDER TO ACCUMULATE MORE BITCOIN FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS. AND TO PROMOTE THE GROWTH OF

THE BITCOIN NETWORK GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF ENTERPRISE VALUE IS NOW BASED UPON THOSE BITCOIN RELATED ACTIVITIES. IT MAKES FOR US TO CALL OURSELVES A BITCOIN DEVELOPMENT COMPANY IN THE SAME WAY THE UCA REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OR PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT

COMPANY. >> CERTAINLY THEY QUICKLY TRADED HOLDER OF BITCOIN, 190,000 BITCOIN AS OF JANUARY. CURRENT PRICES ARE WORTH MORE THAN 18 BILLION DOLLARS. THE FLYWHEEL WHICH IS THE SOFTWARE BUSINESS. THE BILL’S — BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE BUSINESS. SHIFTING TO THE CLOUD, ROLLING

OUT GENERATIVE A.I. OFFERINGS WHERE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES REVENUE WAS UP LAST QUARTER. OVERALL REVENUE WAS DOWN. WALK ME THROUGH THAT BUSINESS, HOW IT ROLLS OUT THIS YEAR. HOW THAT ROLLS INTO BITCOIN IF IT DOES EXPLICITLY. >> WE ARE GOING FROM A

TRANSITION FROM THE CLOUD. A.I. IS A BIG DRIVER OF THAT TRANSITION. THERE IS A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM FOR THE NEW A.I. OFFERING. WE BUILT IT INSIDE OUT OFFERING, JUST AS YOU CAN SEE PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT MICROSOFT’S COPILOT A.I.

BRINGING INTO DRIVING IN THEIR REVENUES. WE THINK THAT OUR A.I. OFFERING IS GOING TO DRIVE AN ACCELERATION OF MIGRATION FROM THE LONG TIME CLOUD. OVERTIME, IT WILL ALLOW US TO CONTINUE TO GROW THE BUSINESS. >> YOU TALK ABOUT LEVERAGING CAPITAL MARKETS, YOU ARE

CONTINUING TO. IT IS A LOOK LIKE IN 2024, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS SOME SPECULATIVE INVESTMENTS THAT BELIEVE YOU MIGHT INVEST IN ANOTHER STOCK SPLIT? >> WE ARE FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE OUR CAPITAL STRUCTURE ACTIVELY AND IN A CREATIVE WAY.

SOMETIMES WE LOOK TO EQUITY MARKETS WHEN IT IS THE BEST WAY TO ACQUIRE THE BITCOIN. WE’VE ALSO DONE CONVERTS, AND CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THE CONVERT MARK AND. WE CAN REFINANCE DEBT, REFINANCED OUR DEAD IN THE PAST AND RETIRED DEBT BEFORE.

WE MIGHT ISSUE DEBT, RETIRE OR REFINANCE DEBT. WE COULD ALSO LOOK AT PREFERRED EQUITY ASSURANCES, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT COULD BE CREATIVE FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS. WE TRY TO