Strategy chairman Michael Saylor is pushing for United States banks to offer Bitcoin custody and issue digital asset-backed loans, framing the moves as essential steps toward a projected $100 trillion industry driven by artificial intelligence. Speaking after the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Freedom Tech DC summit, Saylor outlined a regulatory strategy targeting federal agencies rather than Congress following recent legislative setbacks.
Banking Adoption and Regulatory Hurdles
Saylor wants federal regulators to establish clear, workable rules that allow traditional banks to store Bitcoin on behalf of customers and provide credit against those holdings. According to Strategy’s Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index, major bank uptake reached 32% in July, a metric Saylor expects to climb as competition for a supply-capped asset intensifies.
Current international standards present significant roadblocks to that expansion. Under the Basel framework, the riskiest class of crypto holdings carries a severe 1,250% risk weight. To unlock institutional capital, Saylor wants regulators to separate client custody from Bitcoin-backed lending, and to distinguish both activities from banks’ proprietary positions. Major banking executives remain divided on the asset class; Strategy CEO Phong Le stated that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon privately supports Bitcoin despite publicly labeling it a “pet rock.”
The $100 Trillion Artificial Intelligence Economy
The push for widespread banking integration underpins Saylor’s long-term valuation for the sector. He links the potential $100 trillion market size to the rise of autonomous AI agents capable of researching, negotiating, and executing transactions on behalf of human owners. Because an AI-driven economy requires money that moves continuously at software speed rather than traditional banking hours, Saylor argues that Bitcoin and other digital assets are uniquely positioned to serve as settlement layers.
“The age of Digital Assets and Digital Intelligence needs a bill of digital rights, not a bill of restrictions,” Saylor said.
That philosophy directly shapes his legislative outlook. Following the Senate’s 49-50 vote against advancing the CLARITY Act on September 15—a bill Saylor contends leaned too heavily on restrictions—he is shifting his focus toward executive agencies. Over the next two years, he sees the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Treasury Department, and the White House as the most viable channels to craft functional rules for digital asset custody and credit.
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