Bill Barhydt, the CEO of Abra and an early Bitcoin adopter who bought in when it was under $5, has sharply criticized Michael Saylor’s plan to render his personal stash of over 17,000 BTC—worth about $350 million—untouchable forever.
In a fresh interview on the Supply Shock podcast with Pete Rizzo, Barhydt didn’t mince words. He said Saylor’s strategy “makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.” Saylor, the big Bitcoin bull behind MicroStrategy’s hefty investments, hinted in a CoinDesk chat that he might send his personal coins to an “unsendable wallet” for good.
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Saylor’s Big Idea Falls Flat
Saylor’s take is that locking away his stash would cut Bitcoin’s supply and lift the value for everyone else. Barhydt gets the logic but isn’t sold. “His perspective is that this is a gift to the Bitcoin community because if you lower the denominator and the numerator, it helps everybody else in terms of the purchasing power,” he said.
“My take is, the Bitcoin Price predictions community does not need that gift.” Barhydt, who’s been around since the $5 days, thinks it’s a misstep.
Cash Could Change Lives Instead
Barhydt’s got other plans for that kind of money. He suggested Saylor could fund education for low-income folks, set up bitcoin-based banking in developing markets, or build remittance services. These moves, he said, would grow Bitcoin’s crowd long-term. He looked back to when he gave away coins to spread the word.
“When we were giving away bitcoin, it wasn’t like we were telling people, ‘Here, go build your financial fortune,’” he explained. “It was like, no, you need to understand how this decentralized system allows you to move value between two parties without some trusted third party in the middle.”
No Satoshi Vibes Here
Barhydt also poked at Saylor comparing himself to Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Saylor might see his lockup as a grand exit, but Barhydt disagrees. “Saylor is not perceived to be a benevolent dictator of Bitcoin,” he said.
He argued it’s not the same kind of move Satoshi made stepping away. Saylor’s plan feels more about boosting bags than building the network, he hinted.
