Calacanis Warns MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet Distorts Company Valuation
Angel investor Jason Calacanis is urging investors to steer clear of MicroStrategy’s corporate Bitcoin play and instead purchase the cryptocurrency directly. The Silicon Valley veteran, best known as an early backer of Uber, argues that the company’s aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy—championed by co-founder Michael Saylor—creates unnecessary risk and distorts both the firm’s valuation and Bitcoin’s broader market perception.
Calacanis emphasized that direct Bitcoin ownership offers investors greater control, removing the added volatility tied to a single company’s management decisions and corporate governance. “If you want Bitcoin, buy Bitcoin,” he stressed, suggesting that bypassing corporate intermediaries is the safer way to gain exposure.
Concerns Over Valuation and Volatility
Calacanis has long criticized MicroStrategy—recently rebranded as “Strategy”—for its heavy dependence on Bitcoin price movements. He contends that the company’s stock should trade at a discount to its net asset value, given that its business model has become deeply intertwined with cryptocurrency rather than its core software operations.
This dependency, he argues, leaves shareholders vulnerable to Bitcoin’s wild swings, exposing them to risks far beyond the performance of the company’s traditional business. Critics like Calacanis believe this volatility creates a distorted picture of the firm’s actual worth.
Impact on Bitcoin’s Reputation
Beyond financial risk, Calacanis also warns that Saylor’s high-profile Bitcoin purchases could harm the cryptocurrency’s reputation. He suggests that concentrating so much Bitcoin within a single corporation undermines the asset’s decentralized ethos, potentially skewing market dynamics and public perception.
Since 2020, MicroStrategy has invested billions into Bitcoin, becoming the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the asset. While this strategy has brought the company global attention, skeptics argue it ties shareholder fortunes too closely to Bitcoin’s volatility—something Calacanis believes individual investors can avoid through direct ownership.
