Arthur Hayes warns Bitcoin holders not to count on Michael Saylor to save them

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes said Bitcoin holders should not confuse Michael Saylor’s buying machine with a safety net for their own portfolios.

Arthur made the point during a May 13 interview with Scott Melker (aka Wolf of All Streets), where he said Michael’s role is tied to Strategy (MSTR), not to ordinary investors holding Bitcoin and hoping a public company will keep bidding forever.

Arthur said Michael is there to protect Strategy, its stockholders, and the products built around its balance sheet. “Saylor is not there to protect your Bitcoin bags.”

Arthur says traders can use STRC to guess when Strategy may buy Bitcoin

Arthur said, “We’re going to see these little pops in Bitcoin, not huge. But every time you see that STRC is about to trade above par and go above 100, like you can literally front run Saylor transparently buying a couple billion dollars in two or three days. Why wouldn’t you want that trade, you know?”

According to Arthur, the tracker indicated that Michael could have made 2,000 $BTC purchases once STRC broke above parity. He wants to anticipate the transaction because it is observable. As simple as it sounds, there are traders who would attempt to front-run a buying spree once an order from such a major player becomes apparent.

On the other hand, Arthur confessed that he hasn’t researched all aspects of corporate finance in STRC. But what makes Strategy different is the fact that only a few organizations are capable of developing financial instruments based on Bitcoin. Strategy has the resources to leverage its massive Bitcoin balance sheet, Wall Street desks, and capital market structure.

“I mean I don’t think Strategy is going out of business anytime soon. Obviously from what I understand he doesn’t have to pay a dividend in STRC. You’re sort of trusting that he’s going to. What happens when you trust in crypto. It doesn’t end up very well. Not that Saylor’s doing anything bad,” said Arthur.

Michael keeps funding Bitcoin buys while Strategy manages dividends and debt

Strategy has also been working on its debt side, moving to repurchase about $1.50 billion of convertible notes while still adding Bitcoin through stock-linked funding, as Cryptopolitan previously reported.

That puts Michael in the middle of more than one job at once: buy Bitcoin, manage leverage, keep capital coming in, and deal with investors who expect returns.

Michael has also signaled that Strategy’s old “never sell” posture may not be as simple as people thought. He indicated that limited Bitcoin sales could be used to improve $BTC-per-share and help fund dividends. That is a big deal for Bitcoin investors who treated Strategy’s holdings like a vault that never opens.

Scott told Arthur:

“I talked to him [Saylor] Wednesday morning just by total coincidence like I had the first interview lined up with him right after he said he’d sell some Bitcoin. I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be fire,’ and you know, like he didn’t say it explicitly but yeah his shareholders and anyone who’s buying STRC and the SEC need to hear that Bitcoin is not an impaired asset when it comes to protecting dividends and STRC.”

Scott also said Michael may have to say he could sell some Bitcoin if retail investors get hurt, because a public company executive cannot just talk like a crypto anon on X. He joked that saying the wrong thing could bring legal trouble.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN), came up in the same context. “Like, you know, Brian Armstrong also can’t just go out there and say wild stuff about crypto prices. He has to actually protect his shareholders,” said Arthur.