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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
Marvie Basilan

Genius Or Fool? Michael Saylor HODLed His Personal Bitcoin Stash – Now Worth $1 Billion

MicroStrategy founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor speaks to Peter McCormack of the What Bitcoin Did podcast regarding the approval of spot Ether ETFs. YouTube | Bitcoin is Forever Money with Michael Saylor (Credit: What Bitcoin Did YouTube Channel/Screenshot)

KEY POINTS

  • Saylor's stash worth around $175M in 2020 is now worth over $1 billion based on current prices
  • He said he continues to accumulate more Bitcoins but declined to reveal the exact count
  • Bitcoin crashed to $49,000 Sunday night but has since bounced back to $57,000 as of early Thursday

MicroStrategy's executive chairman Michael Saylor is known for his immense belief in the possibilities offered by Bitcoin, the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency, and just a few days after a crypto market bloodbath that saw hundreds of millions of liquidations, the $BTC maximalist revealed he hasn't sold any of his personal holdings.

A flashback to 2020

Around four years back, Saylor revealed that he had personal holdings of 17,732 Bitcoins, which he bought at an average price of $9,882 or worth around $175 million at the time. He noted that MicroStrategy was informed before it implemented its $BTC strategy regarding Saylor's personal treasury, which kickstarted later in the same year.

In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday, the tech titan revealed that he hasn't sold any of the Bitcoins he amassed over the years. When pressed about the exact count of his holdings, he paused before saying, "at least that much," but he did say he continues to acquire more of the world's top digital asset by market value

How much is his stash worth now?

Based on current prices, his personal Bitcoin stash of 17,732 $BTC is now worth around $1 billion. It can be safe to conclude that his treasury is worth more since he has been continuously purchasing more Bitcoins over the years.

MicroStrategy has also been making quarterly purchases of Bitcoin. The tech company now holds more than 226,000 Bitcoins.

X users react

As with any interview of Saylor where he speaks about $BTC, the crypto community on X went abuzz following his confirmation that he didn't dump his holdings even when some whales did so during the weekend's crypto market crash.

Prominent Bitcoiner @TheBTCTherapist called Saylor a "legend." One user said it was a "bold statement" to hold such massive amounts of the token, but another commenter said the maximalist will go down in history either "as a genius or a fool" for pinning his entire fortune on one specific asset.

One commenter noted that Saylor's massive personal stash is the reason why he is the digital coin's "#1 salesman," since he "has to be a megaphone for his own sake."

Maxi to the end?

It remains to be seen whether Saylor will someday dump his personal holdings, but so far, it appears he is a legitimate hodler, which refers to crypto holders who aren't swayed by market sentiment or action and continue to hold on to their digital assets.

As he has said in earlier interviews and keynotes, Saylor believes Bitcoin is the perfect investment for individuals, companies, and families as it can be a path toward "generational wealth."

Crypto prices crumbled Sunday night amid a global financial bloodbath, but as of early Thursday, Bitcoin has recovered from a $49,000 crash to $57,000. It remains volatile and has been hovering at as low as $54,000 in the last 24 hours.

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