Michael Saylor

MicroStrategy’s Saylor fuses work email address with Bitcoin Lightning

Fans of the Bitcoin bull have been transferring him 21 Satoshis as a way to test out the feature.

The Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network has integrated into the corporate email address of Michael Saylor, a Bitcoin bull and co-founder of business intelligence software firm MicroStrategy.

In an April 17 tweet, the former chief executive of the firm shared a screenshot with his 3 million Twitter followers of a few transactions sent to “saylor@microstrategy.com” from others in the form of Satoshis or “Sats” — the smallest denomination of Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy’s integration is enabled by the Lightning Address protocol, which allows users to link an “Internet Identifier” like an email address rather than having to copy wallet addresses or use QR codes.

It is unclear if MicroStrategy integrated the feature into all corporate emails at the firm.

The Lightning Network is a popular Bitcoin layer 2 scaling solution, capable of processing 1 million transactions per second (TPS) for a base fee of 1 Satoshi, or around four cents.

Saylor, who now serves as executive chairman at the firm, has been the mastermind behind MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment strategy, whaims to strengthen the firm’s balance sheet.

Related: Coinbase CEO says Bitcoin Lightning is ‘something we’ll integrate’

MicroStrategy has spent $4.17 billion to accumulate 140,000 BTC since the company began buying in March 2021. The firm’s average purchase price is $29,800, according to data from Buy Bitcoin Worldwide.

With the price of Bitcoin currently sitting at $29,400, MicroStrategy is down a mere 1.3% on its total investment.

However, the firm was in the green again for a short period of time last week when Bitcoin broke through the $30,000 mark.

Cointelegraph contacted MicroStrategy for comment on its plans to integrate the Lightning Network in more of its corporate email addresses but did not receive an immediate response.

Magazine: Bitcoin in Senegal: Why is this African country using BTC?

‘Agent of an anti-crypto agenda’ — Community slams Gensler over Kraken crackdown

SEC’s recent charges against crypto exchange Kraken over its staking program have sent tremors through the crypto industry.

Members of the crypto community seem outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. 

On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program,” which it claims is qualified as securities under its purview.

Kraken agreed to settle the charges by paying $30 million in fines and to immediately cease offering staking services to U.S. retail investors, though they will continue to be offered offshore.

The move appears to have attracted the ire of not only the general crypto community but also of investors, politicians and industry executives.

Cinneamhain Ventures partner and Ethereum bull, Adam Cochran, called out SEC chief Gary Gensler, describing him as “an agent of an anti-crypto agenda” rather than a regulator, and questioning why the same standards weren’t applied to Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:

In a Feb. 9 statement shared on Twitter, Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, argued that the situation at hand is a textbook example why Congress — not the SEC — should be working with industry players to forge appropriate legislation:

U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer — who has long been a critic of Gary Gensler — reiterated the importance of staking in the crypto ecosystem.

In a Feb. 9 Twitter post, the lawmaker explained that staking services will play an important role in “building the next generation of the internet” and argued that the “purgatory strategy” will hurt “everyday Americans the most,” as they may soon be forced to fetch such services offshore.

Meanwhile, Ryan Sean Adams, the founder of the Ethereum show Bankless, suggested to his 220,800 Twitter followers on Feb. 9 that the SEC could have taken other measures rather than charging Kraken out of the blue:

Other members of the community questioned how Kraken could possibly have registered with the securities regulator, as there was “no clear path” to approve crypto staking.

Others suggested it could impact Ethereum’s consensus layer, given Kraken is the fourth-largest validator on Ethereum, according to on-chain metrics platform Nansen.

Related: ‘Kraken Down’ — SEC commissioner rebukes own agency over recent action

However, not all were against the SEC’s decision. Prominent Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor — who has long considered ETH and other proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies to be securities — agreed with Gensler’s analysis that retail investors “lose control” of their tokens when they’re delegated to external staking service providers:

Meanwhile, attorney and chief policy officer of the Blockchain Association, Jake Chervinsky, noted that such “settlements are not law” and that Kraken’s decision to settle was likely an economic decision rather than a legal one:

The debate comes as the SEC’s charge towards enforcing action against staking service providers prompted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to say that “regulation by enforcement” would be a “terrible path” for U.S. innovators, as they’ll be forced to push more of their services offshore.

Crypto needs ‘adult supervision’ and turmoil to ‘grow up’ — MicroStrategy co-founder

The bankruptcies of once high-profile crypto players are “painful” but helpful, according to Michael Saylor, but industry oversight is still needed.

High-profile crypto bankruptcies and a hearty price crash are necessary evils to help the industry grow, while greater regulation is a must, according to MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor.

In a Feb. 3 interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Saylor opined on potential incoming United States crypto regulation after the bankruptcy of FTX, saying:

“The crypto meltdown was painful in the short term, but it’s necessary over the long term for the industry to grow up.”

He added the industry “has some good ideas” — implying one was Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network — but added some in the space “implemented those good ideas in an irresponsible fashion.”

Saylor said the crypto space needs direction from entities long-involved in the traditional financial markets and input from regulators — in particular the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“What [the industry] needs is adult supervision. It needs the Goldman Sachs and the Morgan Stanleys and the BlackRocks to come into the industry. It needs clear guidelines from Congress. It needs clear rules of the road from the SEC.”

This “meltdown,” according to Saylor, educated many on crypto while simultaneously revealing that it’s “time for the world to provide a constructive, transparent framework for digital assets” so the financial system can move “into the 21st century.”

Saylor on Munger’s crypto criticism

Saylor also responded to criticisms leveled by Charlie Munger, the vice chair of insurance and investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, saying the 99-year-old investment veteran should take time to study Bitcoin.

On Feb. 1, Munger opined that crypto is “not a currency, not a commodity and not a security” instead calling it “gambling” and arguing that the U.S. should “obviously” bring in laws to ban crypto.

Related: Film review: ‘Human B’ shows a personal journey with Bitcoin

Saylor agreed Munger’s crypto-criticism wasn’t “totally off” but there are “10,000 crypto tokens which aren’t gambling,” adding:

“Charlie and the other critics, they’re members of the Western elite and they’re continually prodded for an opinion on Bitcoin and they haven’t had the time to study it.”

He added if Munger “spent 100 hours studying” Bitcoin then “he would be more bullish on Bitcoin than I am.”

Saylor pointed to emerging markets such as Lebanon, Argentina and Nigeria which have high crypto-use rates and use cases spanning from inflation hedging to remittances.

“I’ve never really met someone […] that spent some time to think about it that wasn’t enthusiastic about Bitcoin.”

Crypto stocks surge: Coinbase up 69%, MicroStrategy up 74% since lows

Crypto-related stocks, ETFs and tokens have all surged in price so far in 2023 despite experts expecting the Federal Reserve to continue hiking interest rates.

The share price of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has surged by 69% since its all-time lows, and other crypto-related stocks including business intelligence firm MicroStrategy have recorded similar jumps — it’s been green candles all around since the start of 2023.

The share price of Coinbase fell as low as $31.95 on Jan. 6, before shooting up to $54.14 by the close of trading on Jan. 17.

Coinbase’s share price for the last month. Source: Yahoo Finance

The rising share price will likely be accompanied by a huge sigh of relief for Coinbase executives after a challenging 2022 saw it cut 20% of its workforce and wind down its Japanese operations. Despite the surge, COIN remains more than 84% below its all-time high.

Other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy and digital payments company Block Inc. have also posted strong gains in the new year.

MicroStrategy’s share price has increased to nearly $236 from a low of just over $135 on Dec. 29 — representing an increase of over 74% — while Jack Dorsey’s Block has seen its share price increase by a muted but still respectable 27%, after rebounding from a low of under $59 on Dec. 28 to over $75.

The rebound has been even more dramatic for crypto mining stocks. Bitfarms and Marathon Digital Holdings recorded surges of 140% and 120%, respectively, throughout the first two weeks of the year.

Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also rebounded to a lesser degree, with Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) more than doubling its price from a low of just over $4 on Dec. 28 to over $8.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) jumped from over $10 on Dec. 28 to a current price of around $13 — increasing by just under a third.

Related: Is this a bull run or a bull trap? Watch The Market Report live

Even Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has managed to regain some of its 2022 losses, after increasing from a low of $7.76 on Dec. 28 to a current price of $11.72, a 51% increase.

While the trust is designed to mirror the price of Bitcoin (BTC), it often trades at a discount or premium to the value of its underlying holdings. It is now sitting at a discount of just over 36%, after having traded at over a 45% discount on Dec. 28.

Some pundits believe Bitcoin in particular has skyrocketed on the back of the positive inflation figures from the United States released on Jan. 12 — with BTC having increased in price by over 17% since then — but it is interesting to note that Dec. 28 seemed to represent a market bottom across many cryptocurrencies and stocks.

While the recent surge in crypto-related stocks is bound to be a huge relief to those who have invested in them, it is worth noting that many of these companies have a long way to go to return to their all-time highs, as highlighted by a Jan. 10 tweet from financial adviser Genevieve Roch-Decter.


MicroStrategy to offer Bitcoin Lightning solutions in 2023

MicroStrategy’s Lightning Network solutions include Satoshi-powered incentives for marketing and website cybersecurity.

MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor has shared his firm’s plans to release Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered software and solutions in 2023.

In a Twitter Spaces event on Dec. 28, Saylor shared that the company is exploring software and solutions that utilize the Lightning Network, such as solutions that “support” enterprise marketing as well as a cybersecurity solution aimed at corporate websites.

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment protocol layered on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain that allows for off-chain transactions, raising payment throughput and lowering transaction fees.

A business intelligence and tech company known for its massive Bitcoin holdings, MicroStrategy has been looking to beef up its Lightning Network-versed team, most recently announcing it was looking to hire a software engineer to build a Lightning Network-based software-as-a-service platform.

During the Twitter Spaces conversation, Saylor explained that chief marketing officers could potentially use the Lightning Network to incentivize customers — such as giving out satoshi rewards for engaging in activities such as posting good reviews or completing surveys.

The company also wants to make it possible for any enterprise to “spin up” Lightning infrastructure in an “afternoon,” he said.

The MicroStrategy chairman again made mention of his “Lightning wall” cybersecurity idea, essentially a Bitcoin-based paywall that would protect websites from cybersecurity attacks by requiring visitors to put down a deposit in Satoshi.

Saylor explained that users who want to access sensitive corporate websites would be required to deposit “100,000 satoshi” to “guarantee” safe passage, which would be returned instantly once the user has finished their visit.

He noted this is something that credit cards could not offer due to the time delays involved in getting funds back, stating: 

“The problem with credit cards is that you couldn’t reasonably post $20 to 100 websites each day and then you get the $20 back in one second, could you?

Saylor believes it is only a matter of time before someone creates the Lightning version of the “Netscape browser,” which he believes will involve “something like” a Lightning wallet that holds dollars and various cryptocurrencies.

He believes that if this wallet is created in a non-custodial way, it has the potential to spread to 100 million people.

During the Twitter Spaces conversation, Saylor again hailed the Lightning Network as the “internet of money” and praised its “inspirational” progress.

He said the company has teams working on it and are looking to bring something out by “next year,” adding that it’s more likely it will be able to show something in the first quarter.

Related: Bitcoin Lightning Network to be used in fiat transfers between Europe and Africa

In October, Michael Saylor retaliated against Eric Wall over his suggestion that Saylor has not made more than three Lightning transactions in his life.

Most recently, a new type of BTC address was introduced. Lightning Addresses allowusers to make transactions on the Lightning Network almost instantly, as opposed to the 10-minute average for regular Bitcoin transactions.

Crypto will be regulated as securities — ICE boss and Senator Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s bill seeks to hand control to the SEC, imposing new obligations on centralized crypto firms, something Jeffrey Sprecher thinks will be good for crypto.

Most cryptocurrencies are likely to be regulated as securities in the United States, according to the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), Jeffrey Sprecher and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The renewed focus on regulating cryptocurrencies as securities comes in light of FTX’s recent implosion, which wiped countless billions from the market, put consumer funds in limbo and soured crypto’s reputation among regulators and officials.

Speaking on Dec. 6 at the financial services conference by Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Sprecher — whose ICE operates the New York Stock Exchange — confidently stated crypto assets are “going to be regulated and dealt like securities.”

He argued this will ultimately result in far greater consumer protections and regulatory oversight of centralized exchanges and brokers:

“What does that mean? It means more transparency, it means segregated client funds, the role of the broker as a broker-dealer will be overseeing and the exchanges will be separated from the brokers. The settlement and clearing will be separated from the exchanges.”

Sprecher also argued new regulation was not necessarily required for crypto as the legal frameworks are already there in terms of securities and they are “just going to be implemented more strongly.”

Senator Warren wants to crack the whip

Crypto skeptic Senator Elizabeth Warren is working on a crypto bill that would reportedly give the Gary Gensler-led Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) most of the regulatory authority over the crypto space.

According to a Dec. 7 report from online news outlet Semafor, which cited two unnamed sources close to the matter, Warren’s crypto bill is still in its early stages but aims to cover a host of issues including taxation, regulation, national security and climate.

Warren is said to be looking to impose regulatory obligations such as audited financial statements and bank-like capital requirements in particular.

While specific details on the bill weren’t disclosed, Alex Sarabia, a spokesperson for Warren, confirmed with Semafor the senator is looking toward the SEC.

“She’s working on crypto legislation and believes that financial regulators, including the SEC, have broad existing authority to crack down on crypto fraud and illegal money laundering,” Sarabia said.

There has been a long-running debate among regulators on which crypto assets should fall under the category of a commodity or a security, with Bitcoin (BTC) being the only asset to unanimously be seen as a commodity due to its truly decentralized nature.

Related: US CFTC commissioner calls for new category to protect small investors from crypto

Ether (ETH) has also been discussed as a commodity at times but with far more pushback. Notably, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chief Rostin Behnam recently backtracked on his view of ETH being a commodity while speaking at an invite-only crypto event at Princeton University. He now believes that Bitcoin holds that status.

Over in the crypto world, MicroStrategy founder and Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor has gone one step further by essentially calling for all crypto assets that aren’t BTC to be shut down, as he argued they are “committing securities fraud.”

During a Dec. 6 appearance on the PDB Podcast, Saylor reiterated his opinion that assets such as XRP (XRP), ETH and Solana (SOL) are all unregistered securities as they were issued and controlled by centralized entities.

Painting a scenario he would like to see, the fervent BTC maxi noted “the best thing for the world would be for the SEC to shut down all of it.”

Twitter users have, of course, mocked him for making such comments:


Litecoin hits fresh 2022 high versus Bitcoin — But will LTC price ‘halve’ before the halving?

Litecoin diverged from the broader crypto market downtrend in the months leading up to its halving in August 2023.

Litecoin (LTC) has emerged as one of the rare winners in the ongoing cryptocurrency market meltdown led by the FTX exchange’s collapse.

LTC price outperforms BTC, ETH

The 2011-born altcoin rallied nearly 16% month-to-date (MTD) to reach $62.75 on Nov. 22, outperforming its top rivals, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which lost approximately 25% and 30%, respectively, in the same period.

LTC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Furthermore, the LTC/BTC price also rallied to new heights, gaining 50% in November to establish a new yearly high of 0.003970 BTC on Nov. 22.

As Cointelegraph reported, Litecoin diverged from the broader cryptocurrency market downtrend earlier this month with its halving slated for August 2023. LTC has also received an endorsement from none other than Michael Saylor for being a Bitcoin-like “digital commodity.” 

Nonetheless, signs of bullish exhaustion are emerging.

Litecoin price fractal hints at 50% correction

Litecoin’s rally versus Bitcoin has made the LTC/BTC pair overvalued, according to its weekly relative strength index (RSI) reading.

Notably, LTC/BTC’s weekly RSI, which measures the pair’s speed and change of price movements, surged above 70 on Nov. 22. An RSI reading above 70 is considered overbought, which many traditional analysts see as a sign of an impending bearish reversal.

Historically, Litecoin’s overbought RSI readings versus Bitcoin have been followed by major price corrections. For instance, in April 2021, the LTC/BTC RSI’s climb above 70 met with a strong sell-off reaction, eventually pushing the pair down by 75% to 0.001716 BTC by June 2022.

Similarly, an overbought RSI in April 2019 led to a 70% LTC/BTC price correction by December 2019.

The same RSI fractal now hints at Litecoin’s possibility of undergoing a 50% wipeout versus Bitcoin if coupled with LTC/BTC’s multi-year descending channel pattern, as shown below.

LTC/BTC weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

Typically, LTC/BTC turns overbought after hitting the channel’s upper trendline, which follows up with a correction toward the lower trendline.

As a result, the pair risks dropping to or below 0.001797 BTC by December 2022 if the fractal repeats, down more than 50% from the current price levels. 

Conversely, a decisive breakout above the upper trendline could have LTC/BTC test its 200-week exponential moving average (200-week EMA; the blue wave) at 0.005319 BTC, up 30% from current price levels, as the next upside target.

LTC/USD pair “bear flag” 

Litecoin is eying a similar price crash versus the United States dollar as it paints a bear flag pattern on the weekly charts.

Related: Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest adds more Bitcoin exposure as GBTC, Coinbase stock hit new lows

Bear flags are bearish continuation patterns that appear when the price consolidates higher inside a parallel, ascending channel range after a strong move lower (called flagpole). They resolve after the price breaks below the lower trendline and falls by as much as the flagpole’s height.

LTC/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

LTC has been trading inside the bear flag range, eyeing a breakdown below its lower trendline support of around $55. The bear flag downside target is around $32.40 if it breaks decisively below the said support — i.e., a 50% decline by December 2022. 

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

CZ and Saylor urge for crypto self-custody amid increasing uncertainty

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said self-custody is a “fundamental human right,” while Michael Saylor said self-custody is necessary to prevent powerful actors from accumulating and abusing power.

Industry heavyweights have urged crypto investors and traders to self-custody their crypto assets amid the significant market uncertainty brought on by the collapse of FTX. 

In a Nov. 13 tweet to his 7.6 million followers, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao pushed the crypto community to store their own crypto via self-custody crypto wallets.

“Self custody is a fundamental human right. You are free to do it anytime. Just make sure you do do it right,” he said, recommending investors to start with small amounts in order to learn the technology and tooling first:

Speaking to Cointelegraph during the Pacific Bitcoin conference on Nov. 10-11, MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor also discussed the merits of self-custody given the current market environment.

Saylor suggested that self-custody not only provides investors with property rights, it also prevents powerful actors from corrupting the network and its participants:

“In systems where there is no self-custody, the custodians accumulate too much power and then they can abuse that power.”

“So self-custody is very valuable for this broad middle class, as it tends to create […] this power of checks and balances on every other actor in the system that causes them to be in continual competition to provide transparency and virtue,” he explained.

Saylor also made the argument that self-custody plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and security of blockchains because it increases decentralization:

“If you can’t self-custody your coin, there’s no way to establish a decentralized network.”

The recent events that transpired last week appear to have already pushed many investors and traders towards self-custody solutions.

Since the sudden collapse of FTX in early November, the number of Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals on centralized exchanges reached a 17-month high, according to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode:

While at the same time, net inflows into self-custody wallets have soared.

Smart contract wallet Safe — previously Gnosis Safe — reported over $800 million in net inflows since last Tuesday when the FTX saga began to spiral out of control:

The outflow from centralized exchanges caused by the FTX meltdown also created problems for hardware-based cryptocurrency wallet provider Ledger — who were temporarily unable to process a mass influx of inflows due to scalability issues.

The token of the Binance-acquired self-custody wallet Trust Wallet (TWT) also increased 84% to $2.19 over the last 48 hours before cooling off to $1.83, according to CoinGecko.

The token allows token holders to participate in deciding how the wallet operates and what technical updates are to be made.

Related: Self-custody is key during extreme market conditions: Here’s what experts say

Investor confidence in centralized exchanges took another hit on Nov. 13 when Crypto.com accidentally sent 320,000 ETH to Gate.io.

Ethereum bull and host of The Daily Gwei Anthony Sassano on Nov. 13 called out the crypto exchange over its mistake and later stated that investors should not store assets on centralized exchanges “for longer than you need to.”

Meanwhile, Blockchain Association head of policy Jake Chervinsky said that self-custody education should be one of the first things newcomers learn, while Bitcoin proponent Dan Held told his 642,800 Twitter followers that self-custody is a crucial element to self-sovereignty:


BTC energy use jumps 41% in 12 months, increasing regulatory risks

Despite the European Union rejecting a proposal banning crypto mining earlier this year, more regulations could soon be implemented to mitigate the environmental impacts of crypto mining.

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a 41% increase in energy consumption year-on-year (YoY) despite dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and a more diverse and sustainable energy mix — but there are concerns the rise could see regulators clamp down on crypto mining. 

The data comes from a Q3 2022 report by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC), which represents 51 of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining companies.

The report found Bitcoin mining to consume 0.16% of global energy production, slightly less than the energy consumed by computer games, according to the BMC — and an amount it considered to be “an inconsequential amount of global energy.”

Bitcoin mining also emitted 0.10% of the world’s carbon emissions which the BMC deemed to be “negligible.”

The increase in Bitcoin energy consumption comes as the network’s hashrate increased 8.34% in Q3 2022 and 73% YoY, despite fewer blocks being produced and downward price pressure.

Blockchain data analytics firm Glassnode believes that the “hashrate rise is due to more efficient mining hardware coming online and/or miners with superior balance sheets having a larger share of the hash power network.”

While the report also claimed Bitcoin mining efficiency to have increased 23% YOY and 5,814% over the last eight years, further increases in overall energy consumption may draw the ire of regulators examining the issue.

Pressure is ramping up on Bitcoin miners from environmentalists who claim its power consumption is harmful to the environment. Greenpeace is currently running the “change the code not the climate” campaign to encourage the Bitcoin network to move to proof-of-stake. However, the official account has only amassed 1100 followers so far.

On Oct. 18, the European Union released documentation outlining an action plan to implement the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan — with both planning to keep a close eye on crypto mining activities and their environmental effects.

The European Blockchain Observatory and Forum (EUBOG) also suggested the EU adopts mitigation measures to lessen the adverse impacts on the climate caused by the digital asset sector.

This suggestion has already been put into effect to some degree, with the EU asking for its member states “to implement targeted and proportionate measures to lower the electricity consumption of crypto-asset miners” to combat the severe cut in the energy supplied from Russia.

Related: Researchers allege Bitcoin’s climate impact closer to ‘digital crude’ than gold

The push for tighter regulation comes despite the EU rejecting a proposal in March that would have enforced a total ban on crypto mining.

As for the United States, regulatory movements appear to be a step behind its EU counterpart.

In September, the White House Science Office published a 46-page document that looked into the climate and energy implications of crypto-assets. However, mixed conclusions were reached and no significant plan is in the works yet.

Michael Saylor slams ‘misinformation’ about Bitcoin’s energy use

Michael Saylor claims Bitcoin mining could become a clean, profitable and modern industry that generates hard currency for remote locations in the developing world.

Ahead of Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS), Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist Michael Saylor has come out swinging against what he says is “misinformation and propaganda” about the environmental impacts of proof-of-work (PoW) BTC mining. 

The MicroStrategy executive chairman, who recently stepped down as CEO, shared a lengthy post on his Twitter account on Wednesday, detailing seven of his “high level thoughts” on BTC mining and its impact on the environment.

One of his key arguments was against the notion that PoW BTC mining isn’t energy efficient.

Instead, Saylor claims it is the “cleanest industrial use of electricity and is improving its energy efficiency at the fastest rate across any major industry.”

He backed up his argument with figures taken from the Q2 Global Bitcoin Data Mining Review published in July by the Bitcoin Mining Council, a group of 45 companies that claim to represent 50.5% of the global network, noting:

“Our metrics show ~59.5% of energy for bitcoin mining comes from sustainable sources and energy efficiency improved 46% YoY.”

Saylor’s argument comes as the BTC mining industry has received a lot of pressure over its alleged impact on the environment, which has even led to certain United States states taking steps to ban crypto mining.

Saylor claims that constant improvements to the network and “relentless improvement in the semiconductors,” makes mining far more energy efficient than large tech companies such as Google, Netflix or Facebook.

“Approximately $4-5 billion in electricity is used to power & secure a network that is worth $420 billion as of today,” argued Saylor:

“This makes Bitcoin far less energy intensive than Google, Netflix, or Facebook, and 1-2 orders of magnitude less energy intensive than traditional 20th century industries like airlines, logistics, retail, hospitality, and agriculture.”

Saylor also claimed that 99.92% of carbon emissions in the world are due to industrial uses of energy other than bitcoin mining.

Looking at the numbers, Saylor does not believe environmentalist arguments condemning PoW mining are fair.

Rather, in his opinion, it’s an attempt to “focus negative attention on Proof-of-Work mining” and distract authorities from the “inconvenient truth that Proof-of-Stake crypto assets are generally unregistered securities trading on unregulated exchanges.”

In one of the more high-profile legal cases at the moment, Ripple is embroiled in a lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly conducting an unregistered securities sale in the form of Ripple’s XRP.

Related: Michael Saylor got wrecked, but Bitcoin investors needn’t panic

In closing, Saylor says all the negativity toward PoW mining distracts from the possible benefits for the world.

“Bitcoin mining can bring a clean, profitable and modern industry that generates hard currency to remote locations in the developing world, connected only via satellite link.”