Michael Saylor Urges Middle East to Become 'Switzerland of Bitcoin Banking'

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Michael Saylor Urges Middle East to Become 'Switzerland of Bitcoin Banking' The executive chairman of Strategy pitched BTC-backed banking and yield products as a $200 trillion opportunity at the Bitcoin MENA conference. By Helene Braun | Edited by Stephen Alpher Dec 9, 2025, 5:01 p.m. What to know : Michael Saylor urged Middle Eastern nations to adopt bitcoin-backed banking, credit, and digital money, calling it a path to becoming “the Switzerland of the 21st century.” He said the U.S. government has broadly embraced bitcoin as “digital gold,” with support from officials across the Treasury, SEC, and other top agencies. Major U.S. banks like JPMorgan, Citi, and Wells Fargo are preparing to custody bitcoin and extend credit against it, he said, signaling a shift in mainstream finance. The Middle East has a chance to become "the Switzerland of the 21st century" by embracing bitcoin-backed banking, credit, and digital money, said Strategy (MSTR) Executive Chairman Michael Saylor. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . In a wide-ranging presentation at Bitcoin MENA, Saylor urged the region to seize what he described as a $200 trillion opportunity by enabling banks to custody bitcoin, offer BTC-backed credit, and eventually launch yield-generating digital money products. “If you are interested in making your nation the digital banking capital of the world ... if you’d like to be the Switzerland of the 21st century, then these are the three ideas: the big, the bigger, and the biggest," Saylor told the audience. A “big idea,” said Saylor, was for sovereign wealth funds to invest in bitcoin. A “bigger idea” was to build banks that custody bitcoin and extend credit on it. The “biggest” idea was to create digital money accounts backed by BTC credit instruments, offering up to 8% yield with no volatility. “You won’t draw a little bit of bitcoin,” Saylor said. “You will actually pull billions and tens of billions and hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars of capital from people that don’t understand bitcoin.” Saylor claimed that the U.S. now leads the global regulatory shift toward bitcoin, pointing to what he described as near-unanimous support from government officials. “There is a profound consensus amongst everyone running the United States,” he said. “Donald J. Trump says he is intent on making America the bitcoin superpower, the crypto capital of the world, the leader in digital assets.” He added that he had spoken personally with the Vice President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the head of the SEC, the Commerce Secretary, and other top officials, all of whom, Saylor claimed, view bitcoin as a strategic asset. Saylor also said U.S. banks that once refused to touch bitcoin are now actively moving to support it. “All of the large banks in the United States have gone from not banking bitcoin 12 months ago to, in the past six months, I have been approached by BNY Mellon, by Wells Fargo, by Bank of America, by Charles Schwab, by JPMorgan, by Citi,” he said. “They are all starting to issue credit against either Bitcoin or against Bitcoin derivatives like IBIT.” Strategy holds more than 660,000 BTC and is now issuing a range of BTC-backed credit instruments, including perpetual preferred stocks and short-term notes that pay monthly dividends. “We're converting 120 months or 240 months of duration into one month,” he said. “Pay me now.” Saylor framed these innovations as the foundation for a new kind of financial system. “Digital capital creates digital credit, and digital credit creates digital money,” he said. “That’s the killer app.” Michael Saylor Charles Schwab Citi Bitcoin News More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. 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