Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he remains bullish on bitcoin, but that Michael Saylor’s approach to financing bitcoin purchases has hurt the broader crypto market, in a CNBC interview Friday, as the preferred stock at the center of Strategy’s model fell to a record low.
“Financial engineering does not drive long-term value,” Garlinghouse said, arguing that the lasting value of any digital asset comes from its utility. “Team Michael Saylor was not focused on the right things and that has hurt the overall market.”
He separated that from his view on the asset itself, saying he remains bullish on bitcoin.
Garlinghouse’s target was the machine that Strategy has used to accumulate bitcoin. For about a year, the company has been issuing preferred stock, a class of stock that pays a fixed dividend, to raise cash for more bitcoin.
Its STRC stock carries an annual dividend of 11.5% and is set to trade near $100. Garlinghouse pointed to STRC trading about 25% below that level as a “damning indictment” of the strategy.
