During MicroStrategy World, Michael Saylor lead a focused discussion on the mega trends of finance he believes make the transition to Bitcoin as a global store of value inevitable. One of the most informative sessions was a discussion with a leading Bitcoin expert, Ross Stevens. Ross is CEO and founder of the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), which enables institutional clients like Microstrategy to smartly buy and hold Bitcoin. 

NYDIG expects to hold $25B in Bitcoin for institutional clients by year end. So Ross speaks with authority and experience.

Here is some of the context Saylor extracted from Stevens:

Historically, when smart leaders of central banks try to reign in spending, the politicians rally and push back hard. Ross gave several examples of this to make the point and then expressed the “so what” of the situation by the economic observation that: “A central bank can control the supply of their money, they can’t make their people value it”

Ross defines money as “title to human time.”  In his view, “people sacrifice their time for money which enables us to trade our time for the time sacrifices of others.”

Ross’s view on learning Bitcoin is that it is like learning a foreign language, immersion helps “Learning bitcoin is like learning a foreign language. With immersion, you think in the language. I now think in bitcoin. It’s very freeing. Bitcoin is the best money we have, maybe it’s the best money we’ve ever had. That’s why I’ve learned the language”.

Another descriptor Ross uses for money is that it is a technology: “Money is technology. It is and it always has been. It’s technology for making our wealth today available for consumption tomorrow.”

One of the most unique things about Bitcoin is it is based on math. “Bitcoin is the first store of value ever whose supply is entirely unaffected by its demand. Bitcoin is better at being than gold because it’s more salable across time.”

Ross’s opinion on this is one that may well be up for debate, but is certainly thought provoking: “A CEO’s most important job is capital allocation, the decision of whether and how to adopt the bitcoin standard. It will be the most important decision every CEO makes in the next 10 years. Whether they actively make it or not, they do so with high consequence.”

Ross does a good job defending Bitcoin from the FUD that is spread by those that fear it:“Dimon calls it a fraud, yet it’s more real than fiat. Fink calls Bitcoin an index of money laundering. It’s more akin to an index of money printing. Warren Buffett calls bitcoin rat poison. That one is shameful, because bitcoin is giving life not taking it.”

“You can stay on the fiat standard in which some people get to print new units of money in unlimited size (just not you) or you can move to the bitcoin standard in which no one gets to do that (including you).”

Ross: "Everyone now has a choice, you can stay on the fiat standard in which some people get to print as much money as they want (but not you), our you can go to the #Bitcoin standard where no one gets to print more (including you)."

— Bob Gourley (@bobgourley) February 3, 2021

“We finally have a monetary system governed by rules, not rulers. I’ve made my choice, everyone has to make theirs.”

Ross also referenced the famous statement by President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Neel Kashkari, who came right out and stated that “there is an infinite amount of cash in the Federal Reserve.”

Ross mentioned a quote oft cited in the #Bitcoin community. Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said that “there is an infinite amount of cash in the Federal Reserve. Proves point that holding cash has more risk than ever.https://t.co/PEFwZeqrFJ

— Bob Gourley (@bobgourley) February 3, 2021

This session of MicroStrategy World was followed by a series of sessions that provided CEOs and their legal teams with actionable insights into how to make use of Bitcoin as a store of value and suggestions on use cases. Overall the two days was very well done and we believe it will add fuel to the fire of institutional adoption of Bitcoin.

 

OODA network members can also access these additional resources on Web3 including insights into how to reduce risk and inform business strategies. Research and reporting of interest includes:

What CEOs Need To Know About Bitcoin: Including potential new business models to consider  A Cambrian Explosion in innovation in Bitcoin related products and services is underway. Here is what the business leader should know about this revolutionary transformation of the global financial sector.

The Cryptocurrency Incident Database OODA analysts track every major cybersecurity incident and seek insights into root causes that can inform defenses.

Reducing Risk To Cryptocurrency Projects by Red Teaming We provide insights on prioritizing defenses of cryptocurrency projects based on our years of experience in red teaming.

Is Bitcoin a National Security Risk? How might Bitcoin be framed as a national security risk?  As national security technologists, here is our take on where the government is likely concerned.

The Past Present and Future of DeFi  Here we capture insights from two of our most popular OODAcasts on the cryptocurrency revolution, one with crypto pioneer Bradley Rotter and one with author of “The Infinite Machine” Camila Russo.

Bitcoin and Ethereum and the Metaverse  Jahon Jamali is one of the great explainers of the nature of the crypto revolution and provides insights here into the nature of the coming changes.

What Will The Federal Government Do In Response To The Rise of Cryptocurrencies? All businesses and citizens should understand the importance of improving policy in this domain, but we also need to be cautious about over regulating or passing foolish rules that do more harm than good.