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Fast Money’s Brian Kelly Remains Bullish On Bitcoin, Here’s Why

Fast Money trader Brian Kelly was on the show recently to talk about Bitcoin’s recent price surge. The surge which had happened at the end of the weekend had seen the price of Bitcoin rise over 10% to surpass $39,000, gaining over $4,000 within a day.

Brian Kelly agreed with show host Melissa Lee saying that the short-covering contributed to the price surge. Kelly explained that a high number of short coverings around the asset saw the price shooting up as the weekend drew to a close. A lot of factors have been speculated to have given rise to the price spike.

Related Reading | Bitcoin To Reach New All-Time Highs, Market Strategist

Rumors of Amazon integrating Bitcoin on its platform had been the front-running theory behind the price spike. But Kelly explained that the rumors were only part of the reason that the digital asset had seen significant movement. Outlining other factors that contributed to the rally.

Catalyst For Price Spike

Brian Kelly addressed the speculations of the Amazon news being the main catalyst for Bitcoin’s price surge. Kelly explained that the Amazon news had been out in the market about a week before the momentum picked up.

According to Kelly, the high amount of shorts coupled with the news of Amazon and Tether’s news led to a “big short squeeze” as the weekend drew to a close, which is when the market is usually less liquid than usual.

Bitcoin price chart from TradingView.com

BTC price breaks $40,000 for the first time in over a month | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The short squeeze had seen over $1 trillion shorts liquidated in a matter of 24 hours as the price surged. With Bitcoin contributing over 70% of this amount, seeing over $800 million shorts liquidated in the same period of time.

Following the short squeeze has been a bounce-back of the trading volume and volatility levels of Bitcoin, which had been trending at yearly lows for about a month. The digital asset has since picked up momentum and the market seems determined to ride out this wave for as long as possible.

Still Bullish On Bitcoin

Kelly responded to a question regarding the price of the asset bouncing back before reaching $40,000. Saying that the bounce had come as no surprise. Kelly personally remains bullish on bitcoin. “The real game here is whether or not it is going to be adopted as an institutional asset,” Kelly said. “And I don’t see anything that has changed my mind on that.”

Continuing on, Kelly added the decision of the federal bank and federal reserve to keep printing money could be a determining factor. To which Kelly said, “By my score, I don’t see how they cannot continue to print.”

Related Reading | Bitcoin Price Drops $1,000 In 12 Hours After Amazon Dispels Bitcoin Integration Rumors

The rate at which the Fed prints fiat money continues to be a concern for investors. This could lead to inflation if the amount of paper money being printed is not controlled. To this end, Bitcoin becomes an attractive asset for investors who are worried about inflation. Given the limited supply of the asset, there is simply no way for an individual or government to print or make more coins. Hence, fighting inflation.

Bitcoin continues to see bullish movement. At the time of this writing, the asset price has now broken $40,000 and continues to trend upward.

Featured image from NBC News, chart from TradingView.com
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Michael Saylor Clarifies His Company’s Bitcoin Strategy On US’s National TV

The dedication MicroStrategy’s CEO puts into Bitcoin raises questions even in the crypto sphere. Imagine how people in the traditional financial world feel. Michael Saylor joined CNBC’s “Fast Money” talk show to discuss his controversial game plan. The hosts asked though questions and the CEO answered them with ease.

What follows is a play-by-play narration of the game.

 

Of course, Saylor started by defining the intangible asset, “The world is waking up to the fact that Bitcoin is digital property on an open monetary network. And that’s pretty profound because it’s going to spread to billions of people around the planet. It’s digital gold on a big tech network.”

Related Reading | Saylor Reacts To Taunts That Bitcoin Has Become The MySpace of Crypto

Some people wonder if MicroStrategy abandoned its software business. If the company is now it’s some kind of Bitcoin ETF. According to the CEO, they have two strategies and one of those is to buy Bitcoin. “MicroStrategy is the first company to do a dutch auction or share repurchase to buy Bitcoin. We’re the first company to do a convertible debt offering to buy Bitcoin. Last week, we became the first company to do a senior secured debt offering to buy Bitcoin.” 

NewsBTC already covered their latest play, and Saylor clarified that they will use the new funds, “either to buy Bitcoin, or to retire debt, or for general corporate purposes.” MicroStrategy wants to have all of its options open.

What Do MicroStrategy’s Shareholders Think?

When asked about his investor’s opinions on his obsession with Bitcoin, Saylor once again clarified the situation. Before this new chapter, MicroStrategy’s stock was trading at about $120 a share. They were a profitable company, but cash was a liability on their balance sheet. They shapeshifted, rotated their shareholders base, “and transformed ourselves into a company that’s able to sell enterprise software and to aquire and hold Bitcoin.” 

As for the results of this move, he estimates that the power of their brand increased by a factor of 100. The last quarter was the best that the software side of the company’s had in the last 10 years. The core business is up 10%. Employees and shareholders are happy.

What Does Michael Saylor Think About Inflation?

“Over the past 12 months we’ve all been waiting for inflation” According to Saylor, investors say that Bitcoin is up 330% and gold is up 7% in that period. Bitcoin is outperforming gold by a factor of 50. Early Bitcoin believes like Paul Tudor Jones are doubling or tripling their allocation, “I’m surprised they’re not increasing their allocation by a factor of ten, because Bitcoin is fifty times better.”

Is Michael Saylor a Bitcoin Maximalist?

When asked about Bitcoin Maximalism and diversification, Saylor gave them a masterclass in crypto assets:

“Bitcoin is the highest and most dominant digital property network. Think of it like giant blocks in cyber-Manhattan. Then you have digital currency, that’s like Tether, and stablecoins, they want to be money markets in cyberspace. They’ll be like the CBDC Dollars. Then you have digital applications, like Ethereum. Ethereum wants to dematerialize the JP Morgan buildings, and the banking stablishments, and all of the exchanges. There’s a place for all of these things if properly understood.”

Even though there’s a place for every asset, “Bitcoin is made to last forever. High integrity. Very durable.” And that’s a quality you want if you’re building over it.

Microstrategy price chart for 06/16/2021 - TradingView

MicroStrategy price chart on Cboe BZX | Source: MSTR on TradingView.com

Why Buy A Share Of MicroStrategy And Not Just Buy Bitcoin?

Did anyone notice that MicroStrategy’s stock is now following Bitcoin’s rhythm on the charts? According to Saylor, his company offers two advantages. One, Microstrategy has the ability to sweep its software cash flow into Bitcoin. Two, they have the ability to raise debt financing. They can borrow a billion Dollars with zero percent interest. Your ETF will not be able to do that. 

Related Reading | Can Bears Force Michael Saylor To Sell His Bitcoin? Analyst Shared Bullish Theory

So yeah, he compared his stock to an ETF because they’re roughly in the same category. Some investors and funds just can’t buy Bitcoin. They’re able to buy MSTR and the highly anticipated Bitcoin ETF, though. 

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