Garlinghouse Backs Bitcoin as Digital Gold, Slams Strategy's Leverage

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reaffirmed his bullish stance on Bitcoin (BTC) during an appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street on June 26. He described BTC as digital gold, highlighting its efficiency compared to physical bullion. Moving approximately $300 billion in gold reportedly took years and billions of dollars, while the same value could be transferred in Bitcoin much more quickly.

Garlinghouse argued that digital assets solving problems at scale can build liquidity, demand, and trust over time. He emphasized BTC's store-of-value use case as anchoring its long-term role. 'I'm bullish on bitcoin,' he said.

Garlinghouse also addressed Strategy's (STRC) bitcoin accumulation model, which relies on leverage. He criticized this approach, stating that it intensified downward pressure on the broader crypto market during the recent downturn. STRC's preferred shares were trading roughly $25 below par value at the time, according to Garlinghouse.

Strategy recently sold 32 BTC to fund preferred stock dividends before buying back more bitcoin than it sold. Garlinghouse drew a distinction between his constructive view on BTC and his criticism of Strategy's financial engineering and leverage-driven accumulation model. Investors now face questions about Bitcoin's role as a long-term store of value and the sustainability of Strategy's balance sheet model.