Strategy CEO Phong Le and Blockstream CEO Adam Back appeared Wednesday on a panel moderated by Natalie Brunell, covering Bitcoin treasury strategy, tokenization, digital debt, and the eternal mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto.
The discussion painted a picture of the financial system in transition, with Bitcoin at the center of it.
Le opened with an interesting take on Strategy’s Bitcoin Holdings. The company now has 818,334placing the second one behind only one object.
“There is only one group that has more Bitcoin than Strategy,” Le said. “That’s Satoshi.”
The company is on track to reach 1 million BTC in the next few months, a milestone that will cement its place in financial history.
Digital credit in the bitcoin space
Most of the discussion focused on the Stretch, or STRC, Strategy, a regular offering that pays 11.5% annually with the money used to buy Bitcoin.
Le was specific about why the item is important. “This is good,” he said, contrasting it with industries such as tobacco and processed foods.
Investors use STRC as a place to store small amounts of money, and it has served as a low barrier for people seeking exposure to BTC. Layer 2 products and DeFi protocols are now being built on top of it, Le said, describing STRC as “the most important asset of all time” and the cornerstone of bringing BTC and DeFi together.
In the past we have discussed the intersection of cypherpunk ideas and institutional economics, arguments that the Bitcoin community has struggled with for a long time.
He said the acceptance of BTC as an independent currency and private currency is a “sign of success,” not a compromise. Cypherpunks, he explained, believe in making money with free markets, not with privacy.
Back said financial firms are there to grow Bitcoin on a per-share basis, and when they do, their owners benefit as well.
Le emphasized this point, saying that he learned a lot from Back when they first met. “Cypherpunks are creative geniuses who understand the markets very well,” said Le, explaining his movement always works on the line between technology and capital.
Get started a symbolBoth men saw it as a structural change. Le explained that the “digitization of markets,” and the blockchain to provide a lens layer.
He pointed to tap-to-pay as an example. “Why can’t you do this to groups, friends and colleagues?” he asked. Back added that tokenization enables 24/7 trading, the use of assets as collateral, and unlocking value in things that are difficult to find or sell, such as private documents and contracts.
When asked if the big banks would compete with bitcoin’s digital loan, Le said he expected it. He compared it to Amazon’s rebranding and forcing Walmart to respond.
He then added: “I would like to see Morgan Stanley on this list” regarding the biggest bitcoin companies.
The group closed slowly. Brunell asked Back about a New York Times investigation published earlier this month that named Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Back, who he denied what he said When the story came out, he did not respond directly. “We’re in a great place in terms of people using technology,” he said.
