- Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, said gold remains more convenient than Bitcoin for everyday transactions, bringing renewed attention to the debate over Bitcoin’s practical use as a payment asset.
- Gerber also issued a warning about Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR), arguing that its leveraged Bitcoin acquisition strategy could contribute to a severe market selloff if the company is eventually forced to unwind its position. His comments were cited in a note shared with Benzinga.
- Gerber’s comparison between gold and Bitcoin centers on accessibility. He argued that gold can still be exchanged across more physical locations worldwide than Bitcoin, despite the crypto industry’s long-running push to establish BTC as a payment method.
- Trader Scott Melker countered that Bitcoin-linked Visa and Mastercard cards already allow users to spend their crypto at nearly any location that accepts card payments.
- However, these card systems generally involve an intermediary converting Bitcoin into fiat currency during the transaction. This means the merchant does not necessarily receive Bitcoin directly on the blockchain.
- Gerber’s stronger criticism is aimed at Strategy’s capital-raising model, particularly its use of stock sales to finance additional Bitcoin purchases. He questioned the logic of buying Strategy shares when the company trades at a premium to the value of its BTC holdings, with the stock currently valued at roughly 1.61 times its Bitcoin reserves.
- Gerber argued that issuing shares at an elevated valuation to purchase Bitcoin can create an unfavorable proposition for shareholders, effectively asking investors to pay $200 for $100 of Bitcoin exposure.
- He also warned that a sharp Bitcoin downturn could place pressure on Strategy’s debt-supported structure. If the company were forced to sell Bitcoin during such a downturn, Gerber said the resulting liquidation could trigger significant damage across the broader crypto market.
- Strategy has argued that its use of perpetual preferred stock, which carries no maturity date, helps shield the company from forced liquidation even if Bitcoin were to suffer an 80% decline.
- The company reported 629,376 BTC in its latest disclosure, worth more than $72 billion, after purchasing another 430 BTC for approximately $51.4 million. Despite its continued Bitcoin accumulation, Strategy shares have underperformed BTC during the same period.
Bitcoin miners redirect capacity to AI
- Gerber also raised concerns about the future of Bitcoin mining as major miners increasingly allocate infrastructure to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
- The trend is already evident, with several publicly listed mining companies repurposing their facilities for AI data centers and entering AI hosting agreements. Riot Platforms’ recent AI leasing arrangement is one example.
- Core Scientific is similarly converting a 300-megawatt Texas facility previously used for Bitcoin mining into an AI data-center campus. Revenue from its colocation operations has already surpassed that generated by its self-mining business.
- CoinShares estimates cited in industry coverage indicate that Bitcoin mining could account for less than 20% of revenue by the end of 2026 among miners with substantial AI contracts, compared with roughly 85% in early 2025.
- The shift toward AI does not necessarily signal the decline of Bitcoin mining. Rather, it reflects changing economics in the data-center sector, where AI hosting can offer more attractive returns than dedicated mining. While the trend reinforces some of Gerber’s concerns, it does not prove that the migration of mining infrastructure to AI will permanently restrict Bitcoin’s upside.
