The bankruptcy of former top-two crypto players is “painful” but beneficial, according to Michael Saylor, but the industry’s attention is still needed.
A high-profile cryptocurrency bankruptcy and price crash is badly needed to help the industry grow, while broader regulation is needed, according to MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor.
In a Feb. 3 interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Saylor spoke about possible future US crypto regulation after the FTX bankruptcy, saying:
“The crypto meltdown was painful in the short term, but necessary in the long run for the industry to grow.”
He added that the industry “has some great ideas” — meaning one was Bitcoin
BTC
ticking down
$22,351
Lightning Network — but added another in the field “made these great ideas useless.”
Saylor said the crypto space needs guidance from organizations long involved in social financial markets and advice from regulators — particularly the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“What [the industry] needs is to take care of the elderly. It needs the Goldman Sachs and the Morgan Stanleys and the BlackRocks to come into the business. It needs clear guidelines from Congress. It needs clear road rules from the SEC.”
This “meltdown,” according to Saylor, has educated many about crypto while suggesting that “it’s time for the world to provide a constructive, transparent system of digital assets” so that the financial system can move “into the 21st century ” .”
Saylor on Munger’s cryptocriticism
Saylor also responded to criticism from Charlie Munger, vice chairman of insurance and investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, saying the 99-year-old investment veteran should take time to learn Bitcoin.
On February 1, Munger ruled that crypto is “not a currency, not a commodity and not a security” instead of calling it “gambling” and argued that the US should “obviously” introduce laws to ban crypto.
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Saylor acknowledged that Munger’s crypto-criticism isn’t “completely removed,” but there are “10,000 crypto tokens that aren’t gambling,” adding:
“Charlie and other critics, they are members of the Western elite and they are constantly encouraged to think about Bitcoin and they don’t have time to study it.”
He added that if Munger “spent 100 hours studying” Bitcoin, then “he would be much stronger on Bitcoin than I am.”
Saylor pointed to emerging markets such as Lebanon, Argentina and Nigeria that have high levels of crypto usage and use cases ranging from inflation hedging to remittances.
“I’ve never met anyone […] who spent time thinking about it who wasn’t interested in Bitcoin.”
