Ad
Markets
Share this article

Bitcoin Spot ETF Biggest Development on Wall Street in Last 30 Years, Says Michael Saylor

A large increase in demand coupled with lower supply should set the stage for higher prices in 2024, he predicted.

Updated Mar 8, 2024, 6:56 p.m. Published Dec 19, 2023, 7:36 p.m.
Michael Saylor, executive director, MicroStrategy (Marco Bello/Getty Images)
Michael Saylor, executive director, MicroStrategy (Marco Bello/Getty Images)

Markets shouldn't underestimate the significance of the coming spot bitcoin [BTC] ETFs, said MicroStrategy (MSTR) Executive Chairman Michael Saylor in a Bloomberg TV appearance on Tuesday.

"It's not unreasonable to suggest that this might be the biggest development on Wall Street in 30 years," said Saylor, suggesting the last comparable new product was the S&P 500 ETF, which allowed investors one-click exposure to that widely-followed index.

Mainstream investors – whether at the individual or institutional level – to date have not had a "high bandwidth" compliant channel for putting money into bitcoin, said Saylor, and that's all about to change with the spot ETF. This new vehicle, argued Saylor, is going to drive a demand shock for bitcoin which will soon be followed by a supply shock in the form of April's halving event – at which point there will be just 450 bitcoin produced each day versus the current 900.

It all adds up to a major bull run for bitcoin next year, said Saylor, though declining to speculate on how far the price may go.

Addressing the oft-asked question about whether an actual spot ETF might draw investor demand away from MicroStrategy – which is often thought of as a bitcoin ETF proxty – Saylor noted that MSTR is an operating company that can use its cash flow or "intelligent leverage" to boost its stack. He also reminded, unlike with ETFs, there is no fee to own MSTR.

Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

picture of Stephen  Alpher