Michael Saylor wants Bitcoin in banks and a $100 trillion industry

Michael Saylor wants US banks to hold Bitcoin for customers and lend against it. He says digital assets could grow into a $100 trillion industry. Saylor chairs Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy. He set out the plan in a policy post after speaking at the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Freedom Tech DC summit this week. Saylor wants banks to provide Bitcoin custody for customers. He also wants banks to issue loans backed by Bitcoin under clear rules. Saylor argues that global capital rules hinder those activities. The Basel framework gives its riskiest class of crypto holdings a 1,250% risk weight. Saylor wants regulators to distinguish client custody from Bitcoin-backed lending. He also wants regulators to distinguish both activities from banks’ own positions. Saylor expects bank adoption to drive industry growth. He says competition for Bitcoin owners could bring fresh capital into an asset with limited supply. Strategy’s Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index put major-bank uptake at 32% in July. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has publicly called Bitcoin a pet rock. Strategy CEO Phong Le says Dimon privately supports Bitcoin. Saylor said digital assets and digital intelligence need a bill of digital rights rather than a bill of restrictions. Saylor links the $100 trillion potential to artificial intelligence. He expects AI agents to research, negotiate, and buy things for their owners. He says that economy needs money that moves at software speed around the clock. He says Bitcoin and other digital assets fit that setting. He gave no timeline for reaching $100 trillion. The Senate voted 49-50 against advancing the CLARITY Act on September 15. The bill would set rules for US crypto markets. Saylor says the bill leaned too heavily on restrictions. He sees the SEC, the CFTC, Treasury, and the White House as the best path for crypto rules over the next two years. Under his plan, Treasury and banking regulators would create paths for Bitcoin custody and credit. Lawmakers are rushing to replace CLARITY.