Michael Saylor, the founder of the company with the largest crypto reserve, Strategy, revealed that he used artificial intelligence to earn $15 billion for buying Bitcoin. In The Diary Of A CEO podcast, he stated that AI was used by Strategy to develop a completely new financial instrument — preferred shares $STRK, the proceeds from which were later used to purchase Bitcoin.
Strike ($STRK) — are perpetual preferred shares of Strategy with a fixed yield (about 8% annually) and the possibility of subsequent conversion into ordinary shares. Their issuance depends on the market price. The higher it is relative to the nominal value ($100), the cheaper the borrowing, and the more actively the company uses this instrument. Later, the company introduced a whole line of similar instruments, with Stretch (STRC) shares becoming the primary one in use.
Saylor said he turned to AI because it helped "solve a problem that no one has ever faced in the entire history of mankind." He explained that the task was set to come up with an instrument for raising money to buy cryptocurrency, which would be something between stocks and bonds.
Currently, Strategy cannot raise funds through preferred shares because they are trading below the nominal value of $100. The last time STRC reached this price was in mid-May. Nevertheless, Saylor remains optimistic, stating that the use of AI is becoming necessary for success.
"My advice: don't try to outsmart the robots. Instead, ask AI to do something that has never been done before. If you want to achieve incredible success, you need to find a unique opportunity. I know this because I'm a technology entrepreneur," Saylor said.
He also stated that Bitcoin will become "the best long-term capital asset you can own" and is attractive because investing in it does not require the specific knowledge that might be needed when investing in other assets or starting your own business.
"The average person doesn't need to be an expert in real estate. They don't need to be an expert in taxation. They don't need to know how to open their own restaurant, bar, or bakery. They don't need to know how to pick stocks. Why shouldn't the average person just take their money, put it in an asset that increases in value by 15% per year, and not worry about it?" Saylor said.
The founder of Strategy added that he is not sure about Elon Musk's predictions about the imminent onset of an era of abundance, where everyone will be able to have everything they want, and money will become unnecessary.
"I agree with his words that consumer goods, consumables, utilitarian goods will become abundantly available, but there will always exist scarce, yet desirable goods that will not become more plentiful. And I think he's exaggerating. Money will still have value. Wealth will still have value," Saylor said.
According to data as of July 31, Strategy owned 842,138 bitcoins, on which the company has spent $63.51 billion since 2020. At the current rate of about $64.4 thousand, the coins in the company's reserve are worth $54.5 billion.
Strategy ended the second quarter of the year with an $8.2 billion loss. In late May, to maintain financial stability, the company began selling bitcoins from its reserve for the first time in many years.
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