Bitcoin News Today: Saylor's Leveraged BTC Play Sparks Clash Over Bitcoin's Core Ideals

Michael Saylor's aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy has drawn sharp criticism from analysts, who argue that his company's actions are undermining Bitcoin's price action and deviating from the cryptocurrency's original vision as a decentralized store of value. Strategy Inc. (MSTR), the publicly traded firm led by Saylor, added 8,178 BTC worth $835.6 million in the week ending November 16, 2025, bringing its total holdings to 649,870 BTC acquired for $48.37 billion at an average price of $74,433 per coin. However, 40% of these holdings are now in the red as Bitcoin's price has fallen below $100,000, sparking concerns about the sustainability of Saylor's leveraged approach.

Critics, including Samosa Capital analysts and economist Vinny Lingham, argue that Strategy's model-using debt and equity issuance to fund Bitcoin purchases-contradicts Bitcoin's foundational principles of censorship resistance and decentralization. "Strategy is a highly leveraged holding company" one analyst stated. The firm's euro-denominated preferred stock, which was issued at 80 cents on the euro earlier this month, has already fallen to 78 cents amid the Bitcoin slump, reflecting investor unease.

Saylor, however, remains unfazed. In a recent interview, he asserted that Strategy is designed to withstand a 90% drop in Bitcoin's price, emphasizing that the company's balance sheet remains overcollateralized even in extreme scenarios. "If Bitcoin fell to $10,000, we're still fine," he said, noting that equity dilution -not liquidation- would be the primary buffer in a catastrophic downturn.

The firm's leverage ratio, at just 1.15 times, further supports this claim, with debt maturing in four and a half years and no immediate covenants tied to Bitcoin's price.

The debate highlights broader tensions within the crypto community. While Saylor and other "digital treasury" (DAT) firms advocate for Bitcoin as a corporate reserve asset, detractors argue that their strategies prioritize short-term speculation over Bitcoin's original cypherpunk ideals. "The role of Bitcoin as a sovereign, private medium of wealth storage has been hollowed out," a Delphi Digital analyst noted, citing the growing concentration of BTC in custodial structures like ETFs and government treasuries.

Despite the criticism, Saylor's firm continues to expand its holdings, recently financing $835.6 million in BTC purchases through preferred stock sales. The company now controls nearly 3.1% of the Bitcoin network, with an average cost basis near $74,000. Whether this strategy will prove resilient in a prolonged bear market remains uncertain, but Saylor's unwavering conviction underscores the high-stakes gamble at the heart of the Bitcoin investing frenzy.