Proof of Reserves? Michael Saylor says no

Bitcoin 2025 started today in Las Vegas and will be running ’til Thursday.

It’s the biggest Bitcoin event in the world – and this year’s speaker lineup definitely lives up to the hype.

We’ve got Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, Senator Cynthia Lummis, Peter Schiff. Yes, the gold guy, #1 Bitcoin hater himself.

You can scroll the full list here, but today we’re focusing on one name in particular: Michael Saylor.

He’s the co-founder of Strategy and basically the face of corporate Bitcoin buying.

(Sidenote: we did a deep dive into why companies like Strategy matter for Bitcoin’s future – check that out if you missed it!)

Anyways, Saylor got asked if Strategy was planning to publish Proof of Reserves (PoR).

In plain English: will they publicly show wallet addresses to prove they actually hold the Bitcoin they say they do?

The answer?.. No ❤️

He said that PoR is risky and straight up just bad for institutions, because:

• PoR only shows assets, not liabilities. So you don’t know what debts or risks are hiding behind those reserves;

• Sharing wallet addresses publicly exposes long-term holdings, which can create privacy risks or even security threats.

Saylor says that institutions need a much stronger standard: like Big Four audits that not only verify holdings but also ensure the Bitcoin isn’t being loaned out or used as collateral, with executives held legally accountable for the results – just like Strategy did.

And this got some people mad.

Here’s why they got mad:

• Bitcoin’s whole thing is transparency – you should be able to verify, not just trust;

• Saying “we have reserves, just trust our auditor” feels like TradFi, not crypto.

That said…

Strategy is TradFi. When you buy $MSTR, you’re not buying Bitcoin – you’re buying shares in a public company that happens to own a lot of it.

The whole setup is built for institutional investors, not the average crypto degen. And let’s be honest, institutional clients probably care more about audit reports than seeing wallet addresses.

So yeah, it’s a bit weird to criticize them for using a TradFi model… when they’re literally a TradFi company.

And just like Saylor pointed out: if you want true crypto-style security, buy Bitcoin directly and self-custody it.

But if you wanna go the institutional route, real financial audits – not wallet screenshots – are gonna be the way to go.