- Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), published an essay outlining a “bill of digital rights.”
- Saylor frames digital property rights as a foundation for prosperity in a future economy built on digital assets.
- He sets an ambition of enabling 10 million new companies to raise capital.
- The proposal arrives as bitcoin, the asset most associated with Strategy’s corporate treasury strategy, trades well below its 2025 record highs.
Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy, has published an essay proposing what he calls a “bill of digital rights,” arguing that clearly defined rights over digital property are a prerequisite for broad-based prosperity in an economy increasingly built on digital assets. In the essay, Saylor writes that the ambition should be to “enable 10 million new companies to raise capital,” positioning capital formation, rather than trading or speculation, as the central economic goal of the framework he describes.
The proposal lands at a moment when digital-asset markets are under pressure. Bitcoin, the asset most closely tied to Strategy’s corporate identity, has fallen sharply from the record highs it set in 2025 and is trading in the mid-$80,000s, down roughly a third from its peak. That drawdown has weighed heavily on Strategy’s stock, which has historically functioned as a leveraged proxy for bitcoin exposure because of the company’s large holdings. The timing is notable: Saylor is advancing a long-horizon policy argument precisely when the near-term market narrative around his company has turned defensive.
From Corporate Treasury to Policy Framework
Strategy’s transformation from a mid-sized enterprise software vendor into the largest corporate holder of bitcoin is well documented. The company has funded much of that accumulation through convertible debt and equity issuance, a structure that amplifies both gains and losses for shareholders. Saylor has consistently framed the strategy in ideological terms rather than purely financial ones, describing bitcoin as a superior store of value and a form of digital property. The “bill of digital rights” essay extends that framing from a corporate capital-allocation decision into a broader claim about how economies should be organized.
The core of the argument is that individuals and businesses need enforceable, predictable rights over digital assets for capital markets to function at scale. Without clear rules on ownership, transfer, and custody, Saylor suggests, the cost of raising capital remains high and the pool of potential issuers stays small. His stated target of 10 million new companies able to raise capital implies a world in which tokenized or digitally native issuance dramatically lowers the barriers that currently restrict access to public and private markets.
What the Essay Does and Does Not Say
The essay is a statement of principles rather than a legislative draft. It does not specify a jurisdiction, a timeline, or a mechanism for enforcement, and it does not address the regulatory questions that have dominated digital-asset policy debates in the United States and Europe, including how existing securities laws would apply to new forms of issuance. Readers looking for concrete proposals on custody rules, disclosure standards, or tax treatment will not find them here. What Saylor offers instead is a framing document intended to shape how policymakers and executives think about the underlying issue.
For investors, the practical read-through is limited in the near term. Strategy’s equity continues to trade primarily on the price of bitcoin and on the market’s assessment of its debt structure, not on policy essays from its chairman. Still, the essay is a reminder that Saylor’s influence extends beyond his company’s balance sheet. He remains one of the most visible advocates for treating digital assets as a legitimate asset class, and his arguments carry weight with a segment of the corporate and political audience that has yet to be convinced.
Whether the “bill of digital rights” becomes a template for actual policy or remains a rhetorical exercise will depend on whether it attracts support from legislators and regulators who currently have little incentive to move quickly. For now, it stands as a statement of intent from an executive whose company’s fortunes remain tightly bound to the asset class he is trying to legitimize.
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