Michael Saylor is urging U.S. banks to custody Bitcoin (BTC), lend against it and help expand digital assets toward a $100 trillion industry.
Key Points:
- Saylor wants banks to hold Bitcoin for clients and extend loans backed by the asset.
- He argues regulators should distinguish custody, collateralized lending and banks’ own crypto positions.
- His $100 trillion projection rests partly on AI agents using digital money in always-on markets.
Bitcoin Banking
Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, outlined the proposal after appearing at the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Freedom Tech DC summit this week. He wants banks to custody Bitcoin and provide credit against it.
His argument focuses partly on the Basel banking framework, which assigns a 1,250% risk weight to Group 2b cryptoasset exposures. Saylor says regulators should treat customer custody, Bitcoin-backed lending and proprietary bank holdings as separate activities rather than applying similarly restrictive assumptions across them.
He sees bank competition as a source of new demand. Strategy’s Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index put major-bank adoption at 32% in July, although large financial institutions continue to take different public positions on the asset. He argues clearer rules would give Bitcoin holders more ways to access capital without selling their assets, while increasing competition among banks.
Also Read: Crypto Hacks Are Up $2.2B In 2026, But DeFi Exploits Are Actually Falling
Saylor AI Thesis
Saylor links his broader $100 trillion digital asset estimate to artificial intelligence, arguing that autonomous software will increasingly research products, negotiate transactions and make purchases. He says those systems need money and markets that operate continuously, unlike financial infrastructure built around human identities and fixed business hours.
“The age of Digital Assets and Digital Intelligence needs a bill of digital rights, not a bill of restrictions,” Saylor said. He wants regulators to act without waiting for Congress.
That shift follows the Senate’s Sep. 15 failure to advance the CLARITY Act, which received a 50-49 majority but fell short of the 60 votes needed. He sees regulators as the faster route.
Banks remain divided publicly on Bitcoin. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has described it as a “pet rock,” while Strategy CEO Phong Le has said Dimon is more supportive of Bitcoin in private.
On Sep. 16, after CLARITY stalled, Saylor said he expected the SEC, CFTC and Treasury to advance rules under existing law while banks expanded Bitcoin custody and lending. The July index measured major-bank Bitcoin adoption at 32%.
Read Next: AI Agents Went Knocking In Washington: OpenAI Bots Probed Three US Agencies
Alexey Bondarev is the Head of Content at Yellow.com, having reported on crypto for the last 10 years. He specializes in in-depth Research and Learn pieces, with a focus on analytical reporting, industry context, and the bigger forces shaping crypto, from the AI era and security technologies to fintech innovation. He believes that everything digital will imminently overcome everything analogue and is working hard to make that come true.