Peter Thiel vs. Michael Saylor: Crypto treasury bet or bubble?

Tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Michael Saylor are establishing crypto institution treasuries, but immoderate fiscal observers enactment that their strategies could airs important risk.

Both Thiel and Saylor person poured important superior into cryptocurrencies done their respective firms and concern vehicles: Saylor, with his bundle steadfast Strategy’s predominant Bitcoin (BTC) buys, and Thiel, done task superior investments successful crypto firms, and his exchange, Bullish, which went nationalist earlier successful August. 

Each is not lone seeking to grow his holdings but besides however the cryptocurrency manufacture is shaped and regulated. But determination are inactive important differences successful their respective strategies and outlooks regarding crypto, and companies that decided to signifier crypto treasuries could beryllium inviting a “death spiral” erstwhile prices crash. 

Thiel and Saylor person differing crypto concern strategies

Michael Saylor, co-founder and president of bundle institution Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), has created waves successful the fiscal satellite done what has been dubbed an “infinite wealth glitch.”

The “glitch” refers to Strategy’s attack to buying Bitcoin, wherein it issues banal oregon equity-linked securities to bargain Bitcoin and past holds the plus connected its equilibrium sheet. 

Normally, issuing much equity would devalue the stock’s price, but ample Bitcoin purchases summation BTC’s price, subsequently expanding Strategy’s valuation and allowing it to contented much debt.

And the rhythm continues. 

The strategy has been truthful palmy for Strategy that it has gained a big of imitators. The word “Bitcoin treasury company” is increasing progressively communal successful the fiscal world, with 174 nationalist companies reportedly holding Bitcoin, according to BitcoinTreasurys.net.

Saylor’s crypto strategy concentrates solely connected Bitcoin, namely, accumulating the largest information of the cryptocurrency arsenic possible, and contains a astir metaphysical characterization of the asset. 

In 2020, helium wrote that Bitcoin “is a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding connected the occurrence of truth, exponentially increasing ever smarter, faster, and stronger down a partition of encrypted energy.”

In a code astatine the Bitcoin Policy Institute successful March, Saylor said Bitcoin was a “Newtonian network,” the power of which was indispensable for the US to support planetary power. 

He further suggested that an assertive Bitcoin accumulation strategy from the US authorities could erase the nationalist indebtedness and suggested successful different interviews that a nationalist Bitcoin reserve is “manifest destiny for the United States.”

Thiel’s strategy, portion little groundbreaking, is much diverse. In February 2025, Founders Fund, a VC steadfast co-founded by Peter Thiel successful 2005, which backed firms similar SpaceX, Palantir and Facebook, invested $100 cardinal successful Bitcoin and different $100 cardinal successful Ether (ETH).

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) August 26, 2025

The Founders Fund owns 7.5% of ETHZilla, a biotech steadfast that transformed into an Ether concern vehicle, arsenic good arsenic a 9.1% stock successful BitMine Immersion Technologies, which Founders Fund helped rise $250 cardinal successful ETH. 

Thiel has besides backed a cryptocurrency exchange, Bullish, that went nationalist connected Aug. 19, receiving a $1.15-billion valuation settled crossed respective stablecoins, including USDC (USDC) and PayPal USD (PYUSD). 

He is intelligibly invested successful the crypto abstraction and is optimistic astir its growth, but Thiel has besides shown immoderate much measured skepticism, peculiarly regarding Bitcoin. Far from Saylor’s “swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom,” Thiel antecedently wondered whether the plus isn’t astatine slightest “in portion a Chinese fiscal limb against the US.”

“It threatens fiat money, but it particularly threatens the US dollar, and China wants to bash things to weaken it truthful China is agelong Bitcoin, and from a geopolitical perspective, the US should beryllium asking immoderate tougher questions astir precisely however that works.”

In short, Thiel’s attack offers a much cautious and diversified vulnerability to cryptocurrencies, portion Saylor takes an aggressive, nonstop exposure, all-in-on-Bitcoin strategy. 

Bitcoin treasury companies connected the rise: Is it a bubble?

The crypto manufacture whitethorn soon find retired which strategy volition win. In caller weeks, the Bitcoin treasury exemplary championed by Saylor has been losing steam. 

The model’s thesis of “raise capital, person to Bitcoin and hold for appreciation” whitethorn beryllium reasonably straightforward, but it leaves the institution susceptible to the notorious volatility of Bitcoin markets. 

If the terms of BTC dips excessively adjacent to the Bitcoin-per-share metric, oregon nett plus worth (NAV), of a company’s stock, that banal loses the valuation buffer that was expected to assistance its banal price. 

This tin pb to a expected “death spiral” successful which, arsenic a company’s marketplace headdress shrinks, truthful does its entree to capital. Without anyone to bargain the company’s equity oregon immoderate lenders, the steadfast cannot grow its holdings oregon refinance existing debt. Should a indebtedness mature oregon a borderline telephone come, forced liquidations volition follow. 

Strategy’s NAV presently clocks successful astatine 1.4 times its stock price. It was astir treble the stock terms successful February, erstwhile Carnegie Mellon University concern prof Bryan Routledge told Fortune, “There’s nary rational mentation for that difference.”

Strategy banal (red) moves successful lockstep with Bitcoin’s terms (purple). Source: TradingView

Strategy investors, therefore, look hazard not lone from fluctuations successful Bitcoin’s terms but from “whatever is driving this quality betwixt the nett plus worth and the terms of the shares ... That other constituent is an other root of risk.”

In caller weeks, the Strategy banal terms has slumped on with BTC, but Saylor’s BTC-buying runs proceed unabated. The institution bought 3,081 BTC for $356.9 million implicit the week ending Aug. 24.

Market conditions whitethorn beryllium comparatively dependable for now, and argumentation from the White House remains firmly pro-crypto. But crypto winters ever come, and erstwhile they do, the marketplace volition spot which strategy survives. 

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