“Bitcoin is Political Neutral. But Bitcoin Treasury Vehicles Aren’t. Are we buying the coin, or the campaign?”, – WRITE: www.coindesk.com
But for investors seeking Crypto Exposure, The Question Isn’t Just ABOUT How Much Bitcoin A Company Holds. It’s about What else Come with The Package.
In One Corner, We Have Strategy (Formerly Microstrategy): The Bitcoin Standard-Bearer, Helmed By Michael Saylor, Who Has Spen The Past Four Years Turning Digital Gold Vault. Saylor Has Become Bitcoin’s MOST PROMINENT CORPORATE EVANGELIST, TURNING STRATEGY INTO A Digital Gold Vault with Quarterly Earnings Calls that Double As Bitcoin Sermons.
In the Other Corner, Enter Trump Media (DJT), WHICH OPERATES The TRUTH SOCAL PLATFORM AND HAS A Revenue Stream You Could Mistake for a Rounding Error: $ 4.1 Million in 2023, Compares. Yet ITS Market Cap Has Floated Above $ 6 Billion – A VALUATION PROPED UP ALMOST ENTIRELY by Brand Loyalty, Media Spectacle, and Now, Bitcoin.
Let’s Be Clear: DJt Didn’t Just Buy Some Bitcoin. IT Bought A Lot of It – Enough To Vault It Into The Upper Echelon of Corporate BTC Holders. On Paper, that makes it interesting. But this isn’n your typical balance-saet play. This is Bitcoin by Way of Meme Stock, Populist Vehicle, and Culture War Capital. And for Investors Looking for Crypto Exposure, It Raises an Uncomfortable – and IncreASINGly Unovoidable – Question: What HapPens Who Your Bitcoin Proxy of the Stock Comes With A Political
Strategy’s Bitcoin Play, While Bold, Has Always Been Pitched As A Rational (Some Might Say Religious) Hedge Against Inflation and Fiat Debasement. ITS FOUNDER DOESN’T DABBLE IN POLITICS (OUTSIDE OF POKING Fun at Altcoins), and the Company Isn’t Staging Rallies or Trender on Truth Social. It’s All-in Bitcoin-Not Ideology.
Trump Media, by Contrast, Is Ideology-FIRST. ITS BRAND, VALUATION, AND CUSTOMER BASE INSEPARABLE FROM DONALD TRUMP’s Political Identity. With Bitcoin Now Making Up The Overwhelming Majority of the Company’s Assets, This Is Less A Treasury Decision What a Wholesale Pivot. But in Practice, IT Functions More Like A Cultural Signal-A Declaration of Alignment With The Anti-Establishment, Pro-Soverign Values that Animate Its MOST LOYAL FOLLOWERS.
That’s not a bad strategy, Necessarily. IT MIGHT EVEN BE A BRILLIANT ONE. The Marriage of Trumpism and Bitcoin Isn’s Odd As It Sounds. Both Reject Centralized Authority. Both Thrive on Defiance. Both are, depending on your ViewPoint, Revolutionary or Rebellious – and Always Controversial.
But For Investors Who Simplaly Want Crypto Exposure in Their Portfolio, The Emergence of Political Branded Bitcoin Stocks Presents A New Kind of Risk. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BITCOIN BCOMES Tribal? What haps whos each side of the Political Aisle HAS ITS OWN BITCOIN Company, ITS OWN BITCOIN ETF, ITS OWN FINANCAL MEDIA ECOSYSTEM?
In this New Paradigm, Bitcoin Exposure Could Become Not Just A Financial Choice, But A Cultural Affilation. Imagine A Left-Leaning Climate-Tech Firm Launching “Green Bitcoin Holdings, Inc.” to push eco-freely mining. Or a libertarian Group Creating “Freedom Ledger Corp.” to promote bitcoin as a Tool for Tax Resistance and Personal Sovereignty. Bitcoin Could Become The Financial Equivalent of Cable News: Red Coins, Blue Coins, and Perpetual Outrage.
That’s a Far Cry from Bitcoin’s Original Promise As a NeutralDecentralized Alternative to Fiat. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE TRUSTLESS. Borderless. Immune to Capture. But WHEN ITS BIGGGEST CORPORATE Champions Start Behaving Like Political Action Committees It Threatens to Drag Bitcoin Into The Very Systems It Was Designed to Transcend.
SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE INVESTORS?
If you’re look for a relativly Clean Bitcoin Proxy, Strategy Still Offers the Clearest Path. ITS VALATY IS REAL – but is the volatility of customs. Trump Media, on the Other Hand, is a Bet on Narrative, Loyalty, and Virality. It Might Outperform in the Short Term. IT MIGHT EVEN SPARK A WHOLE NEW CLASS OF POLITICALLY-INFUSED CRYPTO EQUITIES. But is no Longer Just About Bitcoin. It’s about Who OWNS The Story Armund Bitcoin.
The Final Irony? Bitcoin Itself Doesn’t Care. It Doesn’t Care Who Your Ceo Is. It Doesn’t Care Who Your President is. IT JUST KEPS PRODUCING BLOKS, ONE EVERY TEN MINUTES, INDIFFERENT TO SPIN, Slogans, or Senate Hearings (Until 21 Million Is Reached – at Wich Point of The Political Tribe With.
But Investors do caare. And as Bitcoin Enters New Phase of Cultural Colonization, We’d All Be Wise to Ask: Are We Buying The Coin – or The Campaign?
Note: The Views Expressed in this Column Are Those of the Author and Do Not Necessarily Reflect Those of Coindesk, Inc. i Owners and Affilites.
Over A Career Spanning Nearly Three Decades, Based in New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Stockholm, and Helsinki, Mr. Hoppe Has Advised Clients Ranging from the World’s Largest Corporation to Founders and Early-Stage Startups on Matters Ranging From International Debt and Equity FinAts Content and Technology Licensing Agreements, Film/TV Option Agreements, and Crypto/Blockchain Regulatory Compliance.
