Ethereum
There is a Second Best: Bitcoin Bull Michael Saylor Softens on Ethereum
For years, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor refrained from acknowledging the existence of a “crypto industry.” For him, there was Bitcoin-an asset that he compared to gold of our time – and then thousands of cheap imitators that are barely worth mentioning.
“There is no second choice,” says the entrepreneur – who can personally own over a billion dollars worth of BTC – was known say.
At least that’s the case so far.
It seems that the eleventh hour shock approval stain Ethereum The ETFs from two weeks ago caused the Bitcoin maximalist to change his stance on crypto – or at the very least, adjust his political calculus.
“Bitcoin was going to be the only asset securitized and offered as a spot ETF by the Wall Street establishment – and it was going to spread as the only legitimate crypto asset,” Saylor recently said on the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, summarizing his thinking ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s change in approval of spot ETH ETFs.
For some time before this decisive moment, Saylor had loudly predicted that no other crypto asset other than Bitcoin would ever get this crucial stamp of approval from traditional finance. He also claimed that Ethereum would be designated as a security by the SEC.
Now, the approval of the Ethereum ETF – which some industry analysts suggest means that Ethereum cannot be considered as a guarantee– appears to have changed his mind about the viability of crypto as a bigger industry than just Bitcoin.
“I think that right now the best expectation is [that] the crypto asset class will be legitimized,” Saylor said.
In particular, the entrepreneur seemed impressed by industry-wide efforts that resulted in a recent series of key policy victoriesincluding spot approval of the Ethereum ETF.
“I think we are much more powerful politically [when] supported by the entire crypto industry,” Saylor said. “They obviously have a lot of political power, a lot of users.”
Saylor’s MicroStrategy holds more than 1% of all BTC in circulation, a sum currently worth over $14 billion. It’s been a long time resisted calls for investing in any other crypto asset.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to note that Saylor previously claimed that Ethereum would be declared an unregistered security by the SEC.