New Developments in Bitcoin Mechanism Introduction: Michael Saylor Indicates a Fundamental Shift in the Market

The year 2025 was marked not by short-term price fluctuations in the Bitcoin market, but by the strengthening of long-term fundamentals, making it a defining year. As Michael Saylor, founder and chairman of Strategy, points out, the overall industry trend has reached a stage that warrants a major rephrasing. From speculative assets to institutional capital. This fundamental shift is shaping the market structure from late 2025 into early 2026.

The perspective Saylor shared on the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast reflects not just personal optimism but the reality of ongoing institutional changes across the market. Currently, about 200 companies hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, and this number continues to grow. This trend alone clearly indicates that Bitcoin is becoming integrated into the global financial system.

From 2025 to 2026: A Fundamental Shift in Bitcoin Market Structure

The advances in fundamentals that characterize 2025 are occurring beyond short-term price movements. The four major trends emphasized by Saylor are profound enough to warrant a complete rephrasing of the entire industry.

First, the revival of the insurance market is significant. When Bitcoin was heavily purchased in 2020, insurance companies unilaterally canceled their contracts. For four years, companies had to bear hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance premiums. Behind this institutional exclusion, which was overturned in 2025, lies regulatory authorities’ recognition of Bitcoin not as a mere speculative commodity but as a legitimate asset.

Second, the introduction of fair value accounting has enabled companies to recognize unrealized capital gains from Bitcoin holdings as profits. The financial statements of Bitcoin-holding companies have fundamentally been rephrased. Scenarios where loss-making companies generate tens of millions of dollars in capital gains and improve their income statements are now a reality.

Third, policy shifts by the US government are also a key trend. In 2025, Bitcoin was officially recognized as a “Major Digital Commodity,” and government guidance shifted positively. The Treasury Department approved the inclusion of crypto assets in balance sheets, and the chairs of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) explicitly expressed support for Bitcoin—culminating nearly two decades of industry struggle.

Fourth, integration into the banking system is accelerating. At the start of the year, only $0.05 could be borrowed against $1 million in collateral, but by year-end, major banks including JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley had begun or planned Bitcoin-backed lending. By early 2026, these large banks had reached the stage of discussing Bitcoin trading and processing.

Revival of Insurance, Accounting Reforms, Regulatory Support: Structural Changes Brought by Market Rephrasing

To understand the latest trends in the Bitcoin market, one must not overlook the shift in the regulatory environment. The industry was once discussed in terms of “regulatory risk.” However, the series of policy shifts in 2025 demands a rephrasing. We have reached a stage where it should no longer be called “risk” but “institutionalization.”

The commercialization of derivatives markets on CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) signifies expanded access for institutional investors. More importantly, the introduction of physical issuance and redemption mechanisms between IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF) and Bitcoin itself is groundbreaking. The non-taxable structure for exchanging $1 million worth of Bitcoin for $1 million worth of IBIT is an innovative mechanism unseen in traditional physical asset markets.

By the end of 2025, Bitcoin prices experienced multiple adjustments. According to the latest data, the current BTC price is $89.11K, which is a correction from the previous all-time high of $126.08K. However, as Saylor repeatedly emphasizes, these short-term price fluctuations do not reflect the market’s intrinsic strength. In fact, from a long-term moving average perspective, Bitcoin’s performance continues to be bullish.

Rationality of Corporate Bitcoin Holdings Strategies: A New Rephrasing of Criticisms

Within the industry, there are criticisms of over 200 companies purchasing Bitcoin. However, the figures Saylor mentions thoroughly rephrase the basis of these criticisms. Despite approximately 400 million companies worldwide, why does the purchase of Bitcoin by just 200 companies exceed the market’s capacity? The answer suggests that traditional criticisms are structurally flawed.

The rationality for companies to hold Bitcoin lies not in speculation but in productivity enhancement. A scenario where a loss-making company with a $10 million annual loss holds $1 billion in Bitcoin and generates $300 million in capital gains is entirely rational from a financial management perspective. The real issue is not companies buying Bitcoin but that loss-making companies are not holding Bitcoin at all.

Saylor rephrases Bitcoin as “something like power infrastructure.” Electricity is a universal capital that drives all machinery, and in the digital age, Bitcoin plays the same role. This rephrasing is important because it positions Bitcoin purchases not as mere financial maneuvers but as a fundamental strategic shift in management.

Strategy’s Digital Credit Strategy: A Clear Rephrasing of Banking Business

Strategy’s business model requires a clear rephrasing in relation to traditional financial institutions. As Saylor repeatedly emphasizes, Strategy is not a bank but a company specializing in creating digital credit. This distinction is not superficial; it fundamentally rephrases the scale of market opportunities.

While banking services are becoming saturated, the digital credit market can theoretically expand almost infinitely. Areas such as senior credit, corporate credit, Bitcoin-backed derivatives, and Bitcoin-backed exchanges are still in development. On Earth, no insurance companies currently use Bitcoin as collateral or capital. This gap is at the core of Strategy’s market strategy.

If the company can capture 10% of the US Treasury bond market, the market size would reach $10 trillion. This scale warrants a rephrasing of traditional corporate valuation. Holding dollar reserves improves corporate credit ratings and enhances the appeal of digital credit products. This strategy is not just about increasing capital but a rephrasing of market entry strategies.

During the transition from 2025 to 2026, the overall trend of the Bitcoin market can only be understood through a new rephrasing of long-term institutionalization rather than short-term price forecasts. As Saylor points out, looking at the history of the past 10,000 years, true transformation requires a time horizon of 10 or 20 years, and reacting to market movements on a 100-day basis only hinders fundamental market understanding. How long it will take for the entire industry to accept this new rephrasing remains uncertain, but the trends from 2025 to 2026 serve as important indicators of this process.