More fascinating than the recent gold tumble is what is going on with bitcoin, especially how it relates to one of its biggest promoters and holders, Michael Saylor of the firm Strategy. His firm issued two classes of stock: common and preferred. Saylor concocted this absurdity related to the preferred, where he structured it to pay a massive 11% dividend and claiming this was a virtually riskless way to gain yield while sacrificing the upside of bitcoin, which he said was probably heading towards $millions. The manner in which he gained the funds to pay the preferred dividend is like the age old Ponzi. For a long time the preferred price hovered around $100, or its par value. Saylor suggested the price was so set it couldn't really move much from par. The underlying "asset" (bitcoin) began tumbling to ~ $60K from its 2025 high of $128K months ago, but only in the last week or two has the preferred---which ostensibly generates its ability to pay the 11% dividend from "continual" gains in bitcoin---began to fall. The $60K price of bitcoin is being aggressively defended. Perhaps it's Saylor trying to salvage his Ponzi. If so, it reeks of Nick Leeson, the trader whose desperation brought down Baring Bank back in the 1990s.
