TLDR
- Michael Saylor named Solana and Ethereum as future distribution rails for Bitcoin-backed digital credit at Strategy World 2026
- He described credit becoming tokenized and programmable, delivered across blockchains, ETFs, and brokerages
- Strategy’s STRC preferred stock held its value during Bitcoin’s 45% drawdown and paid 4.5% in dividends
- Solana jumped over 13% within 24 hours of his comments, pushing its market cap near $50 billion
- XRP was not mentioned in Saylor’s framework for digital credit infrastructure
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, used his keynote at Strategy World 2026 on February 25 to lay out a new financial framework built on Bitcoin.
BREAKING: Michael Saylor says the future of programmable digital credit will be deployed on Solanapic.twitter.com/F4scOmDaU3
— Solana (@solana) February 25, 2026
His message was clear: Bitcoin is the capital base, and digital credit is the product built on top of it.
Saylor described Strategy’s core business as “converting capital into credit.” He said the company takes Bitcoin, strips away volatility, and delivers yield to investors in a more predictable form.
That product is Strategy’s STRC preferred stock. Saylor said STRC lost zero percent of its value during a period when Bitcoin fell 45% from its all-time high. It also paid 4.5% in dividends during that same drawdown.
He argued this makes STRC a viable yield instrument for investors who want exposure to Bitcoin economics without holding the asset directly.
Saylor walked through several forms of leverage before arriving at variable preferred credit. He said it offered the best balance of optionality and protection during market downturns.
He also outlined three internal metrics Strategy uses: BTC rating for collateral coverage, BTC risk for the probability collateral falls below required levels, and an implied credit spread to compensate investors.
For context, investment-grade bonds currently sit at 78 basis points and high-yield debt at 288 basis points. Saylor argued that if Bitcoin compounds at 30% annually, digital credit could compete with or beat those benchmarks.
Solana and Ethereum Enter the Picture
The most watched part of his keynote came when Saylor described digital credit as programmable and listed the platforms it could run on.
“I put it on a platform — the NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange, Solana, Ethereum, Binance, Coinbase Base,” he said.
He was clear that Bitcoin remains the capital base in his model. Solana and Ethereum are distribution rails, not the foundation.
Saylor said once credit is packaged as a modular product, issuers can adjust volatility, liquidity, payout frequency, and currency exposure directly in the asset.
XRP was not mentioned in his framework at any point during the keynote.
Market Reaction
Markets responded quickly. Solana rose more than 13% within 24 hours of his comments, with its market cap approaching $50 billion.
Ethereum also saw renewed buying interest as traders read Saylor’s comments as a form of institutional validation.
Both Solana and Ethereum have long competed to become the backbone of decentralized finance. Saylor’s comments added weight to that positioning at a time when institutions are actively exploring tokenized assets.
Strategy’s stated intention is to deepen STRC liquidity and scale its Bitcoin asset base while partners build additional digital yield and digital money products around it.
