Michael Saylor says investing in MicroStrategy is the closest you’ll get to a bitcoin spot ETF

Michael Saylor says investing in MicroStrategy is the closest you’ll get to a bitcoin spot ETF

MIAMI — may technically be in the business of enterprise software and cloud-based services, but CEO Michael Saylor says the publicly traded company doubles as the first and only spot exchange-traded fund in the U.S. "We're kind of like your nonexistent spot ETF," Saylor told CNBC on the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. So far, the Securities and Exchange Commission has only approved ETFs that track contracts speculating on the future price of bitcoin, instead of the cryptocurrency itself. The commission has any of the formal applications for a pure-play bitcoin-based ETF — a financial instrument that would give investors the chance to invest in bitcoin without having to go through the motions of signing up for an exchange, opening a crypto wallet, or dealing with any of the other logistics involved with buying and holding bitcoin. "If there was a spot ETF, you'd be paying a 1% fee, and it wouldn't be leveraged. With MicroStrategy, we have a software company that generates cash flow, so we convert our cash flows into bitcoin," continued Saylor, who says the de facto MicroStrategy bitcoin spot ETF generates a 4% to 5% tax-deferred yield. MicroStrategy, which was launched by Saylor