‘Sell Bitcoin now!’ Why Peter Schiff says Saylor abandoned ‘digital credit’ vision
Hedge funds flipped net long as Strategy monetized BTC. Which side is reading the market correctly?
Long-time Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff is now advising his followers to sell the crypto asset and Strategy’s stock (MSTR).
According to him, Michael Saylor, Founder and Chairman of Strategy (the world’s largest BTC treasury firm), has given up on the so-called “digital credit.”
He added,
$MSTR is consistently selling Bitcoin now to buy dollars, as lenders don’t have confidence in Bitcoin as collateral. They prefer ‘good’ old-fashioned fiat money as superior protection. Sell MSTR and sell Bitcoin now!
The so-called ‘digital credit’ is the use of BTC as collateral to raise funds. It has long been touted by Saylor, through its STRC and other debt instruments. But they also became a risk to Strategy and the entire BTC market amid the extended crypto winter.
Strategy sells Bitcoin at a loss
Schiff’s reaction was linked to last week’s BTC sale by Strategy. The firm offloaded 1690 BTC (worth $108.6M) last week. It made a similar offloading the previous week.
Collectively, the proceeds have helped increase its cash reserve to $4.65B, or 2.7 years of coverage for its dividend obligations tied to STRC and others. The BTC sale was also used to repurchase STRC preferred stock.
This is part of Strategy’s new BTC monetization plan. It was initially criticized by some analysts. Others, such as Grayscale, felt that it’s a slow deleveraging that is net positive for BTC in the long run.
So far, the supporters of Strategy’s BTC monetization plans seem to be right. The firm’s latest BTC sale reports have been marked by surprise rallies across BTC, MSTR, and even STRC stock.
However, the three assets slipped lower on Monday amid a renewed rise in oil prices. BTC briefly dropped below $64K but reclaimed the level as of writing.
MSTR and STRC retraced by 2.6% and 0.7%, respectively. The sell-off appeared to be linked to broader geopolitical updates in West Asia rather than Strategy’s BTC sales.
That said, Strategy has been incurring losses. The firm has made only five BTC sales since 2022 but collectively has suffered $102M in realized losses.
Will Bitcoin defy Strategy’s sales?
That said, hedge funds (via CME) have abandoned their defensive and shorting strategies normally linked to hunting for basis yield.
According to CryptoQuant’s Ki Young Ju, this was a ‘rare’ bullish signal for Bitcoin [BTC].
Hedge funds on CME flipped net long BTC futures. This is rare. The suits are betting on upside.
Whether BTC and Strategy will prove Schiff wrong remains to be seen.
Final Summary
- Schiff viewed Strategy’s weekly sell-offs as a failure of Saylor’s ‘digital credit’ vision
- Hedge funds have gone net long on BTC, with analysts calling it a ‘rare’ bullish signal
