Euro Pacific Capital CEO and prominent gold bug Peter Schiff has once again argued that Strategy's "infinite money glitch" is actually fundamentally broken.
Dealing with a discount
For years, Strategy successfully ran a "flywheel" strategy. The MSTR stock would trade at a massive premium relative to the actual value of the Bitcoin it held on its balance sheet (its Net Asset Value, or NAV).
Saylor would issue and sell new MSTR stock or convertible debt at this inflated premium.
The stock was sold at a premium, and each new share issued actually increased the amount of "Bitcoin-per-share." However, as Schiff has noted, current sales are done at a discount.
"Past sales were done at a premium. Current sales are done at a discount," he noted.
A 1,550 BTC buy
In early June, Saylor announced that MicroStrategy had purchased an additional 1,550 BTC for $101 million.
The Bitcoin community celebrated the buy, but Schiff claims that it was a failure for shareholders.
In order to get the $101 million to buy those coins, Saylor had to issue and sell MSTR at a heavily discounted price.
The company had to issue more shares proportionally than the amount of Bitcoin it bought. Schiff notes that the move "actually reduced Bitcoin per share, creating a negative Bitcoin yield."
Schiff pointed out that MicroStrategy was almost immediately down over $6 million on that specific 1,550 BTC purchase as the market pulled back.
Now, there is an apparent lack of confidence in the debt vehicle. If STRC doesn't return to par, MicroStrategy might have to raise its dividend.
Schiff notes that the strictly rational move right now would be to "sell Bitcoin and buy back discounted stock."
Owning MSTR is the "worst way" to be bullish on BTC
Schiff’s ultimate takeaway is a warning to investors. Even if you are incredibly bullish on the price of Bitcoin, holding MSTR is a losing bet.
"Almost 60% of Bitcoiners believe that even if Bitcoin crashes to $1,000... bankrupting $MSTR... I'm still wrong. That's not rational. That's a cult," he said.
U.Today Editorial Team
Dan Burgin
