MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor Called Bitcoin a Competitor to the S&P 500 Index

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – At the Bitcoin Atlantis conference in Madeira, Portugal, MicroStrategy Inc co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor discussed Bitcoin and other topics. One of the talking points surrounds the recently approved Bitcoin Spot ETF and its ability to compete with other top asset classes and ETFs.

On the same occasion, Saylor explained, Bitcoin is a competitor to gold and can beat the S&P 500 index.

“We thought maybe Bitcoin was a competitor to gold, but actually Bitcoin has topped the rankings, and is now starting to lag behind the S&P 500 Index ETF,” said Saylor, quoted from Yahoo Finance, Thursday (14/3/2024).

Bitcoin and gold are viewed similarly by some investors, as they are in limited supply and can be seen as a hedge against inflation. However, gold has been around for thousands of years, while Bitcoin is only 15 years old.

Bitcoin is rapidly rising in rank and Saylor no longer sees gold as Bitcoin's main competitor from an investment perspective.

In contrast, Saylor believes Bitcoin has the potential to compete with the world's largest ETFs, namely S&P 500 index ETFs, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:IVV).

In terms of market capitalization, the S&P 500 far surpasses Bitcoin. It has a market capitalization of more than USD 40 trillion or the equivalent of IDR 620,084 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 15,502 per US dollar), far above Bitcoin's USD 1.3 trillion or the equivalent of IDR 20,152 trillion.

However, Bitcoin's recent performance, according to Saylor, could be a sign that Bitcoin is ready to compete with some of the largest funds in the world.

The spot Bitcoin ETF was launched less than two months ago but has already exceeded combined total assets of more than USD 50 billion or equivalent to IDR 775.1 trillion, according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. The ETF also saw a record number of inflows during its first 30 days.

“This ETF opens up awareness, opportunity and functionality of the financial world to 99% of mainstream investors. You can't underestimate how important this is to the entire network,” explains Saylor.

Saylor and Microstrategy are the largest institutional Bitcoin holders, accumulating 193,000 Bitcoins over the past few years. Overall investment increased by more than 100% and is currently worth more than USD 13.5 billion or the equivalent of IDR 209.2 trillion.

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