In a recent interview, Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor shared how why he decided to start accumulating Bitcoin, and what he has discovered about them. He also shares his take on whether quantum computers will be able to hack Bitcoin passwords. The interview was hosted by Jordan Bernt Peterson, a Canadian psychologist, book author, and media commentator
Saylor reveals story behind choosing Bitcoin in 2020 over other assets
Reflecting back to 2020, Saylor told Peterson that when the pandemic broke out, he started thinking of where to park his money, about half a billion dollars. Saylor began looking for an ultimate form of money to own among that economic crisis. He did not want to buy into US Treasuries to own national US debt since T-bills were worthless back then.
Saylor looked at real estate and stocks which soared at that moment but he did not like the reasons which stood behind those price jumps (the interest rate hike). He also considered art and gold but then decided against those as well. He was unable to find “$500,000 million worth of Picassos Monets attractively priced” and as for gold, his attorney talked him out of it since it sat at about $800 per ounce for twenty years and did not move higher, calling gold “dead money”.
Saylor wanted a “liquid and fungible asset” which would store his “economic energy” for an indefinite period of time. Eventually, he opted for Bitcoin, though a few years before it, Saylor thought of it as a “scam coin that is probably gonna collapse.” But in 2020 he began self-educating himself on Bitcoin on YouTube, listening to podcasts, then he read the famous “The Bitcoin Standard” book.
Quantum computation can hardly harm Bitcoin, Saylor insists
Saylor referred to Bitcoin as “the most anti-fragile and indestructible thing in the world.” He also calls Bitcoin “an ideology that is manifested as a protocol”, saying that even if in the future quantum computation can break Bitcoin passwords, it won’t be able to hack the basics of Bitcoin, which is fundamental maths.
He compared that to hackers hacking one’s email account, saying that they are unable to destroy the English language anyway, which those emails are written in. In this case one has to upgrade the computer program, Saylor believes.
