Strategy Pitches Plan to Become Bitcoin Bank
CEO Phong Le outlined the company's plan to act as a Bitcoin bank at the Money20/20 fintech conference.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Business Strategy
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Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, which holds 845,000 BTC, outlined a plan to become a Bitcoin bank at the Money20/20 fintech conference. CEO Phong Le discussed Bitcoin as digital capital, the company's STRC preferred stock and the merging of traditional and decentralized finance.
Why it matters
The pitch reflects Strategy's push to position Bitcoin as a financial asset banks should hold and lend against, a stance Michael Saylor urged in September. Saylor repeated the Bitcoin bank goal on November 6 and shared Le's interview on X.
Strategy holds 845,000 BTC, and the Bitcoin blockchain grew from 0.3 GB in 2011 to 780 GB in 2026. Between July and September 2026 the chain grew by roughly 85 GB a year, and the source does not detail how the company would turn these holdings into banking operations.
The players
Strategy
Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, is a business intelligence and enterprise software company that has become one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin.
Phong Le
Phong Le is the chief executive of Strategy who has discussed the company's Bitcoin strategy and financial products publicly.
Michael Saylor
Michael Saylor is the executive chairman of Strategy and a prominent advocate for holding Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset.
The details
At Money20/20, Phong Le discussed Bitcoin as digital capital and Strategy's STRC preferred stock, which pays a 12% dividend. Le also discussed the merging of traditional and decentralized finance, and the company's stock has rebounded from its June low.
Timeline
2011: The Bitcoin blockchain was 0.3 GB.
September 2026: Saylor urged banks to hold and lend against Bitcoin.
November 6, 2026: Saylor repeated the Bitcoin bank goal and shared Le's interview.
2026: The blockchain reached 780 GB.
Market Landscape
Strategy's bank pitch places it in a race among companies seeking to build Bitcoin into mainstream finance, with Saylor urging banks in September to hold and lend against the asset. The blockchain's growth to 780 GB, with a 1TB drive still sufficient for a full node, shows the infrastructure cost of running Bitcoin remains modest.
Anyone with a 1TB drive can run a full node, so individuals can independently verify the Bitcoin blockchain at modest cost. Strategy's plan to lend against Bitcoin would matter most to customers of any bank that adopts it, though the source does not say when or whether that would happen.
The takeaway
Running a full Bitcoin node now requires only a 1TB drive, a figure that shows the network remains accessible to individual participants. Whether Strategy's bank plan gains traction will depend on regulators and banks responding to proposals like Saylor's September call.
Further reading
For more on corporate strategy moves like this, see Business Strategy.
Source note: This article includes information reported by BeInCrypto.
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