One thing I have learnt as an investor is that patience pays. And Michael Saylor just reminded us of the same, especially when it comes to investing in crypto.
Bitcoin's latest pullback has rattled traders. At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $64,497.36, after briefly sliding below $63,000.
In a recent interview with Natalie Brunell, the Strategy executive chairman compared Bitcoin's current slump to the long "wilderness" periods endured by tech giants like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) before they became market darlings.
"It's been 137 days since the last all-time high, that's four and a half months, half the amount of time it takes to make a baby,"Saylor said,
He downplayed the severity of Bitcoin's nearly 50% drop from its October peak above $124,000.
Related: Bitcoin could reach $13 million in 21 years, says MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor
Bitcoin's 'wilderness' phase
According to Saylor, transformative technologies often go through long stretches where mainstream investors dismiss them.
He pointed to Apple's journey from 2007 to 2020, calling it a 13-year proving ground. After hitting record highs in 2012, Apple fell 45% and took seven years to fully recover. At the time, its price-to-earnings ratio collapsed from 30 to under 10, with many investors treating it like a "tired cash cow."
Amazon faced similar skepticism. For nearly a decade, traditional investors doubted its valuation. It wasn't until 2020, amid pandemic lockdowns, that the consensus shifted decisively in its favor.
Saylor believes Bitcoin is in a comparable stage where it is widely acknowledged as a potential global digital capital asset, but not yet fully embraced by mainstream capital allocators.
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Waiting for the Buffett moment
Saylor argues Apple's valuation didn't fully rebound until heavyweight investors like Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn publicly endorsed it.
He suggests Bitcoin may need a similar moment, an endorsement from a globally respected financial figure, before institutions assign it a premium status. Until then, volatility may persist.
While Saylor himself might not fit the bill yet, he still has an influential voice in the market, thanks to Strategy.
The once-software company is now the biggest publicly traded Bitcoin holding company. As of Feb. 25, Strategy holds 717,722 BTC, valued at around $46 billion.
Pain now, conviction later
Bitcoin has slipped to 13th place among global assets by market capitalization. Meanwhile, Apple and Amazon sit near the top, at fourth and fifth positions respectively.
For Saylor, that comparison isn't discouraging. He contends that the biggest gains often accrue before consensus forms.
Once the "icon of the world" endorsement arrives, he warns, the easy 10x or 50x volatility-driven opportunities may already be gone.
Related: Saylor calls Bitcoin a 'superpower,' urges U.S. to secure millions of BTC
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
