Michael Saylor said MicroStrategy will continue to be the top choice for investors looking to gain exposure to bitcoin even if a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) gets approved.
He said an ETF would bring billions of dollars in investments into the market, which would profit companies like MicroStrategy, which have significant exposure to the cryptocurrency.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) chairman Michael Saylor said his software company would continue to be the go-to company for investors to gain exposure to bitcoin (BTC) without directly buying it, even if a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is rolled out.

If the regulators approve one of the nine currently open applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a spot ETF would pour billions of dollars in investments into the bitcoin market, Saylor said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. This would help companies like MicroStrategy, whose balance sheet holds a massive amount of bitcoin, he added.

He likened the software company’s stock to a fast car investors can use to supercharge their bitcoin exposure, while an approved spot ETF will supply the fuel the market needs to keep prices elevated. "We are that sports car. The spot ETF will be that super tanker," he said. "We view it as really beneficial to the entire ecosystem."

Stocks such as MicroStrategy and crypto miners are highly correlated to the price of their digital assets in their balance sheets. Investors has historically used these stocks to gain exposure to digital assets without buying them directly from a crypto exchange.

MicroStrategy, a well-known bitcoin whale, owns around $4.5 billion bitcoin after purchasing another $341 million in the second quarter. It also announced that it may sell up to $750 million of stock to buy more bitcoin, among other things.

Since adopting its bitcoin strategy, which is to convert all of its earnings from its core software intelligence business into bitcoin, the company has generated a 254% return, outperforming the cryptocurrency, which has risen 145% since then, according to a research report from TD Cowen.

The shares of MicroStrategy have climbed about 170% this year, while bitcoin rose more than 70%.

MicroStrategy Michael Saylor Bitcoin ETFs

Helene Braun

Helene is a New York-based news reporter at CoinDesk, covering news about Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and updates on crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk's Markets Daily show on Spotify and Youtube. Helene is a recent graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.