Michael Saylor wants U.S. banks to be able to custody Bitcoin (BTC) for their clients and to issue loans against it. He also believes that digital assets have the potential to grow into a $100 trillion industry.
Saylor is currently the chairman of MicroStrategy (now renamed Strategy), a software company known for its large-scale Bitcoin purchases. This week, after attending the Freedom Tech DC summit hosted by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, he published a policy article outlining this vision.
What Saylor wants banks to do with Bitcoin
Saylor wants banks to provide custody services, that is, to hold Bitcoin on behalf of clients. He also wants banks to issue loans collateralized by Bitcoin under clear, workable rules.
But he believes global capital rules are the obstacle. The Basel framework sets international standards for the capital that banks must hold against their assets, and it assigns a 1250% risk weight to the highest-risk category of crypto asset holdings.
Saylor cites this figure to illustrate how harsh the current regulatory treatment is. He calls on regulators to distinguish three types of activities: first, holding Bitcoin on behalf of clients; second, lending against Bitcoin as collateral; and third, building positions with the bank's own funds.
He expects that banks entering the market will become one of the main drivers of industry growth. In his view, the more banks compete for Bitcoin holders, the more new money will flow into this asset with a limited supply.
MicroStrategy has already ranked various lenders in its own "Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index," which shows that as of July this year, adoption by large banks was 32%.
However, there is still disagreement within large banks. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has publicly called Bitcoin a "pet rock," but Strategy CEO Phong Le says that Dimon is actually supportive of Bitcoin in private.
He explained: "The era of digital assets and digital intelligence needs a digital bill of rights, not a bill of restrictions."
Where Saylor's $100 trillion figure comes from
Saylor ties this figure to artificial intelligence (AI). He predicts that AI agents—that is, software acting on behalf of individuals—will research, negotiate, and purchase goods on their behalf.
He says this economy needs a currency that can operate at software speed, around the clock. By contrast, today's financial system relies on human identity and human working hours.
Saylor believes that Bitcoin and other digital assets fit this scenario perfectly. He puts the industry's potential at $100 trillion, but did not give a timeline for achieving that goal.
Why Saylor turned to regulators instead of Congress
This lobbying push stems from a setback. On September 15, the U.S. Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, which was intended to set rules for the U.S. crypto market, by a vote of 49 to 50.
Saylor says the bill had too many restrictive provisions. He now believes the most viable path over the next two years is through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Treasury Department, and the White House.
In his vision, the Treasury Department and banking regulators will create a workable path for Bitcoin custody and credit businesses. Meanwhile, lawmakers are stepping up efforts to introduce a bill to replace CLARITY.
