Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of Strategy, is making a big ask: he wants the US government to buy 20% of all the bitcoin supply. According to him, this would strengthen the US dollar, grow the economy, and even pay off the national debt.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Saylor said:
“If you want to own the future, you want to own cyberspace. How do you own cyberspace? You own bitcoin, and then you run the Bitcoin network.”
Saylor wants the US to buy between 4 to 6 million bitcoin, which would cost around $500 billion at today’s prices. This would “pay off the entire national debt” according to him, which is over $34 trillion.
Related: US National Debt Hits $35 Trillion | Could Bitcoin Be the Solution?
He warned if the US doesn’t act fast, another country will, saying, “There’s only room for one nation-state to accumulate 20% of the network. You wouldn’t want the Saudis, Russians, Chinese, or Europeans to buy it first.”
While Saylor’s idea is big, the US government has not announced any plans to buy bitcoin at this scale. However, some lawmakers are interested in bitcoin reserves.
Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has suggested the US hold 5% of all bitcoin, a smaller but still significant amount. President Donald Trump has also formed a working group to look into the idea of a federal bitcoin reserve.
At the state level, several US states including Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Arizona have introduced bills to hold bitcoin as part of their public funds. Utah’s bill has passed a House committee and Arizona’s Senate Finance Committee approved a similar measure.
Saylor says adding bitcoin to US reserves would strengthen the dollar and make the country an economic powerhouse in the digital age.
“The U.S. could own 20% of the network in this way—for free,” he said, referring to the government’s ability to print money through treasury bonds.
He likened buying bitcoin to the Louisiana Purchase and the Alaska Purchase. According to him, bitcoin is a new digital frontier in which the U.S. must secure its rank before global competitors do.
Saylor also says it would benefit taxpayers. He claims that a bitcoin reserve could create $50 to $80 trillion in value for the U.S. economy.
Saylor is enthusiastic, but not everyone agrees with him. Some economic experts say bitcoin is too volatile to be a reserve asset.
Christian Catalini, founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, wrote that reserves should provide stability and security during crises.
“Countries store dollars or oil because they need them to repay debts, settle cross-border obligations, and keep essential systems running when supply chains falter,” he explained.
Others worry that if the US started buying large amounts of bitcoin, it could mean they don’t trust the dollar and weaken its global status.
David Gerard, a long-time Bitcoin skeptic, dismissed Saylor’s proposal.
“There is no plausible reason why either of these would be true or how the U.S. would benefit from all that bitcoin,” he said. “Saylor is advocating for U.S. government price support for bitcoin, and that’s all.”
While the US government hasn’t acted on Saylor’s advice yet, corporations are buying in. In 2025, publicly traded companies held almost 1 million bitcoin, a 31% increase from the previous year.
Many institutional and retail investors have started accumulating bitcoin through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 11 U.S. listed spot bitcoin ETFs now hold over 1,167,000 BTC collectively, which is over 5% of the total supply.
Saylor himself is putting his money where his mouth is. His company, Strategy, is leading the charge by making Bitcoin its business model and now holds almost 478,740 BTC, worth over $50 billion. They just announced they’re raising another $2 billion to buy more.
One reason for this is a change in accounting rules. Companies can now recognize bitcoin’s unrealized gains as profits instead of only losses. This has made bitcoin a more attractive investment for corporate treasuries.
