The U.S. should target a 20% stake in Bitcoin, according to Strategy’s Michael Saylor.
“The real promise is if you own 4-6 million BTC, you’re going to pay off the national debt,” says the Strategy founder.
Michael Saylor, from Strategy, has urged the U.S. to acquire 20% of Bitcoin’s supply, emphasizing the importance of a national Bitcoin reserve.
“There’s only room for one nation-state to buy up 20% of the network, and obviously, I think it should be the United States, I think it will be the United States,” Saylor said at the CPAC conservative movement conference in Washington DC on Feb. 20.
During the same interview, he stated, “The US could own 20% of the [Bitcoin] network like that,” snapping his fingers before adding, “The dollar would strengthen, the nation would be enriched, and the real promise is if you own 4-6 million BTC, you’re going to pay off the national debt.”
He warned that failing to act could allow other nations—such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, or European countries—to buy it first.
With Bitcoin’s current price, 4 million BTC—equivalent to 20% of its circulating supply—would cost roughly $392 billion.
By comparison, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds about 395 million barrels, valued at $29 billion, making this proposed Bitcoin investment a significant commitment.
When asked whether the U.S. strategic reserve should include cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin, Saylor avoided mentioning any other digital assets.
“I think the key thing to keep in mind right now is that Bitcoin is a commodity, an asset without an issuer, there is no company, no individual, no country, no entity that can corrupt it, and it has reached escape velocity.”
Earlier in the conversation, he discussed how companies struggle to compete with powerful tech monopolies.
“Satoshi gave us a way out of a conundrum, Satoshi gave us a strategy that makes a small company big and powerful and makes an individual more powerful than the state.”
On February 5, MicroStrategy rebranded as Strategy, reinforcing its position as the top corporate Bitcoin holder. The company now holds 478,740 BTC, currently worth around $47 billion.
Strategy acquired Bitcoin at an average price of $65,000 per BTC and has realized a 51% profit—around $16 billion. This success has driven its stock price up by 360% over the past 12 months.
Saylor highlighted how global capital is shifting into cyberspace, evolving from physical to digital assets, aligning with the transition from the 20th to the 21st century.
“The 21st century is going to be a billion AIs thinking a million times a second, and what are they going to be using to move their money around? They’re going to use digital money because they can’t get a bank account,” he said.
