Rebranded
Early February 2025, MicroStrategy ($MSTR), rebranded itself to Strategy, or Strategy B.
A move that feels akin to General Electric rebranding to "Electric" or Pizza Hut to "Pizzah.
To me, and I saw more people reacting the same way, it felt like a strange corporate rebranding scheme. Someone even mentioned it was a transition towards evolving from a business software company to a full-on “bitcoin bank” later on with Strategy being a so-called bridge-brand.
And yes, if anyone is still in doubt: yes, the suits have arrived in the bitcoin industry (we’re an industry now, with branding, software companies, soon real corporations, mining companies and hardware manufacturers under the umbrella of big tech people.
This corporate rebranding isn't just a name change; it's a strategic shift, preparing audiences and investors for the company's realigned focus on leveraging Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset. Somewhere along the line MSTR will be a middleman of all middlemen. Like it or not.
The Bitcoin Paradox
What's puzzling is that Strategy, a company with billions in assets, operates in the tech/fintech/bitcoin space where many players are struggling for funds.
Developers, documentary makers (including the ones sleeping under their kitchen table), marketing people, artists (including the ones trying to get a free meal from anyone offering them a cigarette) and founders of projects (including the ones renting a suit) are often so cash-strapped that they're resorting to asking people to work for free or nearly free in order to get a product rolled out.
Meanwhile, Michael Saylor’s (micro)Strategy-B, sits on a mountain of about 461000 bitcoin1.
You might recall Saylor's famous advice to his audience at various conferences: "sell all your chairs for bitcoin, except the one you're sitting on."
Well, many people developing apps for blind people, exchanges for self-custodial trading, or educational apps, sell their chairs indeed,… just to keep themselves afloat.
While it's a catchy soundbite, it does make one wonder:
If Bitcoin is indeed the future and Strategy believes in that future so strongly, why not invest in the people building that future?
Maybe it happens, maybe it doesn’t, I’m not entirely sure, but a quick search didn’t show that much seeding of ideas or sponsoring anything directly.
I’m sure it happens in the background maybe… but even then, it’s clear to me that many projects in bitcoin are running on fumes, or the heart and motivation of ideologists.
The Need for Support
The Bitcoin ecosystem is vibrant but fragile. Many projects and developers are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what blockchain technology can achieve, but they often lack the financial backing to turn their ideas into reality. A fund from Strategy could provide the necessary resources to accelerate development, attract more talent, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Bitcoin network.
After all, how can a leading middleman in any industry be profitable in the long run, when belief and real development is no longer funded accordingly.
Certainly the “value4value” model seems broken beyond repair in this space (a podcaster/artist/blogger relying purely on donations often gets less income/donations than a beggar playing a self-made instrument near the Brussels’ Central station (they get about 40€ a day by the way, if their music is palatable even up to 70€).
A podcaster getting 1500 sats is already happy these days.
Devs putting their open-source projects online do even worse from what I’ve heard. Some of them even openly begging for anything to even pay the rent.
But also other, more traditional ways of financing companies, are showing some problems.
No wonder, many of them turn their backs on the bitcoin space after a while to resort to that òther type of begging : “altcoin” development. Like the recently closed service for tipping people in restaurants and bars, who closed down and started a sh—coin company. I had a chat with them before they shut down and they told me there’s little to no interest, nor funding and altcoins don’t have that problem (we know why… they’re money-printers and so on)
A Call to Action
As Strategy continues to accumulate Bitcoin and position itself as a leader in the space, it has a unique opportunity to give back to the community that has contributed to its success. But also to safeguard itself by motivating and supporting people who do really cool work and make things work in the real world.
By establishing a fund, Strategy could not only support the growth of Bitcoin but also enhance its own strategic position. It's a win-win scenario that could have far-reaching benefits for the entire industry.
Conclusion
Strategy's corporate rebranding and strategic focus on becoming a Bitcoin bank of some sorts, is significant for them. But it leaves a more and more widening gap with some really-real world companies and projects that are crawling on the floor, begging for any dollar.
It would free such companies from eventually having to make (often shady) deals with shitcoiners or strange projects in general.
It’s time for Strategy to consider how it can leverage its strategy (pun intended), its wealth, and its name to cultivate the very ecosystem it relies on. The mainstream or retail sector will only follow when real-world applications are possible — if they actually DO care about that at all.
The future of Bitcoin depends on the collective efforts of its supporters, and Strategy is in a prime position to lead in that regard.
AVB
@avbpodcast
https://www.investopedia.com/microstrategy-bought-another-usd1b-in-bitcoin-last-week-8777636