Michael Saylor used a Bankless podcast appearance this week to reiterate what has become his most audacious long-term price claim: that Bitcoin will eventually reach $21 million per coin, a target that would value the entire 21 million coin supply at $441 trillion and imply a return of approximately 27,000% from current levels around $77,000. The comments came after Strategy’s most recent $1 billion purchase, acquired between April 6 and April 12 at an average price of $71,902 per coin, pushed total holdings to 780,897 BTC and returned the company’s treasury above its $75,577 average cost basis for the first time since bitcoin’s 2026 decline.
Saylor’s $21 million argument rests on a framework he has consistently deployed: that as traditional banking infrastructure progressively embraces Bitcoin as collateral, the asset will undergo the same valuation transformation that real estate experienced when it became eligible for conforming loans from government-backed institutions. “You live in a city, and on one side of this street, it’s kind of scary and dangerous, and you have to buy the houses for cash,” he told the podcast. On the other side, “it’s totally safe… and you can get a conforming loan from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. When people feel safe and the conventional banking system finances the asset, the price of the houses skyrockets.”
His longer-form reasoning on the podcast covered two additional structural mechanisms. He argued that every additional $10 billion of credit created against Bitcoin collateral absorbs roughly a year’s worth of newly mined supply at certain price levels, meaning financial system integration magnifies demand pressure independently of new buyers entering the market. He also addressed rehypothecation, where the same Bitcoin is repeatedly used as collateral and can effectively enable short selling. If institutional holders pull more coins into long-term custody arrangements rather than rehypothecation, he argued, short sellers would eventually face forced buy-backs that accelerate price appreciation.
The more immediate financial mechanics of Strategy’s (NASDAQ: MSTR) position are worth examining on their own terms. STRC, the company’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, has now financed the purchase of 50,792 Bitcoin since its launch and pays an 11.5% annual dividend. The instrument generated $1.156 billion of liquidity in the most recent purchase period alone. Strategy still has $21.6 billion in STRC authorisation alongside $27.1 billion in MSTR common stock remaining for sale, giving it approximately $49 billion in total remaining capacity to accumulate. The company has publicly targeted 1 million BTC by end of 2026.
The BTC Yield metric, which Saylor uses to measure Strategy’s performance as a Bitcoin accumulation vehicle, reached 5.6% year to date in 2026. He has also highlighted the company’s breakeven Annual Rate of Return of approximately 2.05%, pointing out that the historical long-run performance of Bitcoin far exceeds that threshold. At current prices, the 780,897 BTC holding is worth approximately $60 billion, against a cost basis of $59.02 billion. The position is marginally profitable following a period in which Strategy disclosed a $14.5 billion unrealised loss at Q1’s close when Bitcoin was trading in the $65,000 to $70,000 range. Friday’s Strait of Hormuz-driven rally, which pushed Bitcoin to $77,000 to $78,000, represents the most material improvement in Strategy’s treasury value in months.
