Strategy’s Saylor Says Bitcoin Bear Market Is Over, Predicts Move Back Above $100,000

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, said Bitcoin’s bear market is over and predicted the cryptocurrency will climb back above $100,000.

Bloomberg reported on October 13 that Saylor, in an interview with Bloomberg TV a day earlier, said Bitcoin would "clearly move back above $100,000 and return to a six-figure price." He said the token bottomed slightly below $60,000 before rebounding, and that its rise into the $80,000 range points to further gains.

Bitcoin is trading around $83,000 and has fluctuated around the $80,000 level since mid-August. It remains about 30% below its record high of $126,251 reached in October last year. Shortly after that record was set, about $19 billion of positions were liquidated across the crypto market in a single day, and Bitcoin then stayed in a prolonged bearish stretch.

Saylor said the market is reentering a bullish phase. "We are transitioning into a bull market," he said. "As a result, I expect us to buy more Bitcoin and issue securities in a bull market." Over the longer term, he added, Bitcoin is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 20% to 30% over the next several years.

Strategy has also changed its funding strategy to respond to the recent downturn. The company established a new capital management framework to increase cash holdings through sales of Bitcoin and common stock, while allowing it to repurchase interest-bearing preferred shares. The goal is to secure liquidity while reducing leverage pressure. Although its recent Bitcoin purchases have been smaller than in the previous bull market, Saylor said the company plans to expand purchases and increase securities issuance to support them.

Still, possible changes to index-inclusion rules by MSCI, the global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International, remain a variable. MSCI is reviewing whether to exclude companies whose primary purpose is asset accumulation from global equity indexes. If the rule is adopted, Strategy could also be removed. JPMorgan previously estimated that as much as $2.8 billion could be affected.

Saylor said MSCI’s position so far has been disappointing because it applies what he described as a standard biased against digital assets. He said he hopes the firm reconsiders, because the move could set a bad precedent for the industry. He added that Strategy should be viewed as an operating company rather than a simple asset-holding company. MSCI is scheduled to announce its decision on Friday.