Michael Saylor Attributes Bitcoin's Weakness to Trade Policies and AI Spending

Michael Saylor, the Executive Chairman of Strategy, has attributed the recent weakness in Bitcoin (BTC) to several macroeconomic factors, including restrictive trade policies, rising yield curves, and significant spending on artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking at ParaFi Capital’s Investor Day, Saylor expressed his belief that despite these challenges, Bitcoin is on a path back to a bull market.

Saylor noted that Bitcoin tends to be more sensitive to risk-off shocks compared to equities, describing it as 'pure capital.' He highlighted the impact of trade tensions, particularly between the U.S. and Canada, and the increase in yield curves by 100 basis points over the past year. Additionally, he pointed out that the ongoing AI buildout represents a substantial draw on investor capital, estimated at around $1 trillion.

While Saylor remains optimistic about Bitcoin's future, others in the industry have differing views. For instance, Mike McGlone from Bloomberg Intelligence has suggested that Bitcoin could drop to $10,000 if U.S. stocks were to decline by 20%. In contrast, Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, noted that spot exchange-traded funds have absorbed $58 billion, indicating a potential support level for Bitcoin near $30,000.

Saylor also emphasized the importance of bank adoption for Bitcoin, predicting that the custody of Bitcoin by banks could lead to the establishment of credit networks within the next 12 to 24 months. He believes that each $10 billion of credit could equate to about a year’s worth of Bitcoin supply, which could significantly influence institutional attitudes towards the cryptocurrency.