Original Author: Michael Saylor, Founder of MicroStrategy

Original Translator: CryptoLeo, Odaily Planet Daily

Michael Saylor delivered a speech at the Bitcoin conference titled "21 Ways to Wealth," which actually aimed to emphasize the importance of buying Bitcoin now. The content also covered Bitcoin inheritance, the easy operation of corporate Bitcoin, and its wealth effects.

Saylor used 21 words to describe what one needs to do to access wealth today. His key point is the compounding cycle of funds via corporate Bitcoin reserves and enterprise valuation, which is a bit aggressive. However, leaving Bitcoin as an inheritance for future generations is also a good way. You can refer to Saylor's previous speech: "Michael Saylor Crypto Summit Speech: Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, Becoming a Source of Eternal Prosperity for American Descendants."

Below is the full speech, translated by Odaily Planet Daily.

I'm delighted to be here at Bitcoin 2025 today, mainly because this speech is for all of you. Over the past few years, I have talked about Bitcoin all over the world and explained to many countries why they need Bitcoin. I have also explained to institutional investors, boards, companies, and CEOs why Bitcoin is necessary.

I have had dialogues with the soul, discussing why our descendants need Bitcoin (a rhetorical device with a somewhat religious color, emphasizing the importance of Bitcoin in a supernatural environment). But today's speech is for the 8 billion people on Earth. This is the way to wealth for everyone, every family, every business, and every entrepreneur. Bitcoin is not only suitable for multibillion-dollar listed companies but will also benefit everyone. I have been focusing on Bitcoin for a long time, so today I am giving a speech to you on the "Many Ways to Wealth" (21 Ways To Wealth).

1. Clarity (refers to the transparency and tamper-proof nature of Bitcoin, the code "transparent" everything)

Bitcoin has the characteristics of transparency and tamper resistance. When you realize that Bitcoin is perfect capital, programmable capital, and incorruptible (cannot be manipulated by humans) capital, your mind will be clear. This means that every wise and thoughtful person wants to own perfect capital no matter where they are. Every one of your enemies needs incorruptible capital, and all AIs will want programmable capital. The demand for this is immense. How much is Bitcoin worth? It's worth half of the global economy.

2. Conviction

Bitcoin will appreciate faster than any other asset because it is designed to outperform other assets. It will outgrow the S&P 500, gold, and sorry, Peter (Peter Schiff), it must outgrow gold, real estate, collectibles, or anything else you can think of because that's how it's designed.

3. Courage

This brings us to the third way to wealth. If you are to get rich on Bitcoin, you need courage, meaning wealth favors those who take the risk of cryptocurrency. Satoshi's "fire" (Bitcoin) was kindled on the internet, and fearful individuals shied away from it. Fools toyed with Bitcoin without taking action, only the faithful ignited the flame, dreaming of a better world under its glow. This means that many who pay attention to Bitcoin are afraid of it, they will never buy and benefit from it. They will lag behind. They create derivatives around the "fire," make smoke and mirrors, and create trinkets. But those who truly understand it will ignite this fire. How do you light the fire? By buying Bitcoin. By selling fiat, long-term capital, bonds, low-quality equities, real estate, and buying Bitcoin. By using it to ignite the fire, what will happen? Under the explosive power and spread of the network, you will buy a ticket to prosperity.

4. Cooperation

Cooperation is crucial. You will become stronger with the support of your family. If you understand Bitcoin, you can act as an individual, but when the whole family understands Bitcoin, you become stronger. Your parents have credit and capital, you have skills and beliefs, maybe even courage. Your children have enough time and potential. Your 80-year-old grandfather can withdraw funds from retirement accounts, borrow from banks, have an investment portfolio, and the key is to transfer capital to the hands of the children. Your next generation will have access to wealth earlier than your previous generation. When you transfer capital from the past and convert it into future funds, it is a generational thing. So, think family, work together.

5. Capability

In this part, I could list many technologies to explain, but upon reflection, the most important thing today is that you need to master artificial intelligence. If you want to be wealthy by 2025, you want to have access to a group of accountants, lawyers, professors, historians with collective wisdom. You want to have all the knowledge great entrepreneurs need, then go find AI, put it into deep thought mode, present all your situations, hopes, visions, and problems, and start interacting. I tell all my executives, before asking a lawyer, banker, or any expert, go to AI first, ask AI, let it think, and break through technological barriers through effort.

This is very important because much of the advice I'm about to give goes beyond the capabilities of the average employee, and even beyond the capabilities of mid-level leaders.

You might say, yes, those complex trusts or complicated legal structures are great, but I don't have the money. I can't afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers. Let me tell you a secret, I have dozens of lawyers working for me, who also spend money hiring other lawyers. When I encounter a problem, my first step is to ask AI, I argue with it, it tells me No, then I switch tactics—I threaten it, demand a solution, and I find a 95% solution, then I finalize the solution and send the link to my management team and lawyers, saying, 'Look, I solved the problem, this is what I want to do.' Then I give them 2 to 5 days to come up with an implementation plan. If they can't solve the problem within the set timeframe, they will be out of my team, I switch lawyers, and change everything.

The path to wealth depends on capability. By 2025, everyone is not a super genius, but a combination of 100 super geniuses. AI has read everything published by humans, so if you humbly seek help from AI, putting interests above self, your family will thank you in the coming years.

6. Composition

Build a scalable strategy and protect assets through legal entities. This means you can borrow from your 401k, maybe invest in an IRA, maybe build an effective insurance policy, maybe consider establishing a Dynasty Trust in Florida, which benefits your descendants for the next 300 years. You may find the 'Eternal Dynasty Trust' in South Dakota an ideal choice as it can exist indefinitely, protecting family wealth for generations to come. Odaily Note: Section 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code is a type of U.S. employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that allows employees to divert part of their salary into a tax-advantaged account for retirement.

A common response may be that you may not know how to proceed, so ask AI and figure out the process. By the way, I won't give you very specific answers because the situation is entirely different if you live in Dubai or Singapore. It's also completely different if you live in North Dakota. Different answers based on who you are. But what I can tell you is, go online and engage with AI, then start asking it. It will give you a customized answer so you can work hard and work smart. This is much easier than before. Ten years ago, someone would say this is too hard, it takes a year, and lawyers are too slow and too expensive. But this year, everyone should be as smart as the most sophisticated billionaire families. Maybe you can get the same legal advice as them, have the same efficiency.

7. Citizenship

Citizenship is very important. Choosing an economic nexus as your residence, where sovereignty respects your freedom, what does that mean for you? Everyone's situation is different, but let me give you a simple hint. Ask AI, which are the top 10 most Bitcoin-friendly states in the US? Now, go find some AI and ask, "Why not rank every country in the world based on my holding of Bitcoin or my intention to invest in Bitcoin?" Then describe your situation, and it will give you an answer. I encourage everyone to think about this because living in Florida is different from living in other states. We like Wyoming; we have Senator Cynthia from Wyoming.

But you need to figure out what attitude each state, county, city, and country has towards Bitcoin. Ponder deeply. This is not about this year; it's a century-long issue. What will you and your family become in the next 100 years? Your descendants will thank you.

8. Civility

Point number 8 is about civility, respecting the natural power structure of the world. For example, when you go to the zoo, don't wrestle with a lion. Don't try to fight market trends or economic realities. Don't fall off a cliff while taking a selfie on a hike. Respect the power of nature. I think everyone understands this. Additionally, what I want to say is if you want to create wealth in the Bitcoin universe, think about how the world is constructed. Remember, you don't have to overthrow a government you don't like, or change someone else's religious beliefs. You don't need to overturn any specific system that exists in the world.

You need to choose your battles, right? Respect societal norms. Avoid unnecessary arguments; they just drain energy. Every time I look at this world, I can think of 100 things I want to change. Then I realize the world probably only cares about my opinion on one thing. The chances of successfully changing the other 99 things are low, right? If you want to create wealth, figure out what you want to do, focus on it, and do it civilly. Most of the time, you'll encounter people with different religious beliefs, political beliefs, economic beliefs, and cultural beliefs. Work with these people to find common ground and move forward because stirring up conflict and distractions will only slow you down as you progress towards the future. So civility benefits you.

9. Corporation

The ninth way to attain wealth is through a corporation. A properly structured corporation is the most powerful wealth-creation engine on Earth. As an individual, my advice to you is to ask AI how you can create a company, whether it's a small business or a conglomerate. Companies have special privileges to access the banking system and have unique rights in every business. Companies have legal immunity. Companies can grow sustainably, have tax efficiency, various efficiencies, and more credibility. Companies can sell equity, raise funds for the future, and outline projects for the next 30 years and bring the economy back to the present for investment. Individuals cannot do this. Therefore, while being an individual is commendable, there's no need to feel ashamed of being a one-person company or a family business.

If we examine the hierarchy of the world and rank it, individuals are at the bottom, family-owned businesses, partnerships are more powerful, small to medium private enterprises are more powerful. Large private enterprises rank next. Following that are small publicly traded companies on the OTC market.

Companies listed on larger capital markets are larger than those listed on NASDAQ or NYSE. Then, in the U.S. capital market, there are experienced issuers. At the top of the pyramid are those well-known seasoned issuers. Globally, there are only a few hundred such companies. When you climb to the top of the pyramid, submit a registration statement, and sell a billion dollars' worth of securities in six hours, you can achieve this. This is something each of you can do, and I hope you all can fully realize your potential. And establishing a company is the first step toward this goal.

10. Focus

Point 10 is focus. The path to wealth lies in focus; just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I have done many things. I am 60 years old this year. One of the reasons I embrace Bitcoin with a religious zeal and fervent ideology is that I had the opportunity to do so in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. You will find that changing the world from an operational perspective is very challenging. I thought many of my great ideas were foolproof, but the results were not as I desired.

In fact, if you invent a new product, service, or thing, there is a 90% chance it will fail within five years. But if you invest in Bitcoin on a balance sheet, there is a 90% chance of success within five years, and if you look at a time frame of 30 or 40 years, the chances of success rise to 99%. Every operational idea has a 99% chance of failure, while every financial idea based on Bitcoin has a 99% chance of success.

So do not confuse ambition with achievement; remember that companies holding Bitcoin have an annual asset return rate between 30% and 60%. You are growing at a rate of 30%, 40%, 50% every year. If you do nothing now, think of every operating company, your restaurant, your hotel, or any store you opened at the beginning of the year, and then grow the business by 30% every year for the next 20 years. There are seven companies that have accomplished this; we call them the 'Magnificent Seven.' But in reality, more companies have tried this. So in this case, when you devise a strategy, you must focus, do not get distracted.

11. Equity

Point 11 is through equity. This means sharing your opportunity with investors willing to share the risk with you. A company can do this, but an individual cannot. Metaplanet has done this, and through collaboration with equity investors, Metaplanet's valuation has grown from $10 million to $5 billion. Without these equity investors, they would be nothing. My company has grown from a $1 billion valuation to a $100 billion valuation, also achieved with the help of our equity investors.

If you are a dentist with an annual cash flow of $200,000, you could buy $200,000 worth of Bitcoin each year for 20 years. This isn't a bad idea either. You would become the wealthiest dentist in your neighborhood, but you could register your dental practice as a company, valuing it at five times the cash flow at $1 million, selling a 33% stake for $500,000. With this $500,000, invest in Bitcoin, and a year later, raise another $500,000 for investment at double, triple, or quadruple the value. Then, wait another year, raise $3 million for investment. You would become the first millionaire dentist in your neighborhood. What did you do differently? You collaborated with others and shared a portion of the gains with them. This is what Strategy does, what Metaplanet does, and what many companies are doing.

12. Credit

Point 12 is through credit. What does this mean? Many people in the world are afraid of the future. Many want to protect their money or seek meager returns. The yield on Japanese corporate bonds is 50 basis points, while investment-grade U.S. bonds yield 400/500 basis points. As a company, by giving creditors certainty, fixed interest, fixed dividends, prioritizing them in your capital structure, you turn risk into return. You give them a secure return, while you receive capital. There are people like this everywhere in the world. I'm a retiree, I want a secure 8% return. I don't want to lose my money. If you provide them with such a proposal, you can get funding, and it will compound at a rate of 30% to 60%, with the worst-case scenario being a 22% spread, but all the funds are upfront, so credit is sometimes a bad word.

But ultimately, as an individual starting a company, you can create credit. If I want to be a millionaire dentist in the neighborhood, I would start a company, sell some equity. I sell some future earnings, let the stock rise, and then go borrow money or sell preferred stock, or sell some financial instruments to those who want lower risk, less return, more certainty. Repeat this process, the goal is not to receive $200,000 or $50,000 in cash flow each year and invest over 20 years, the goal is to use appropriate financing to get 100 times the capital for my company entity now and invest in Bitcoin.

13. Compliance

Number 13 is not always a lucky number, I use the word "compliance." You should create the best company you can within the rules of your market. Every market is different. For example, public companies have special rights; they can issue stocks and bonds. Trust companies have other special rights; they are more tax efficient. Insurance companies have special rights. They can reinvest annuities, take risks, and create very tax-efficient tools. Broker-dealer firms have special rights. Trading platforms also have special rights. Banks have special rights. Banks can operate with 20x leverage, printing $2 million in legal tender with $100,000 in capital—that's an advantage. Although compliance may sound like a complex term, if you create a company and understand the rules of your market, you can operate normally and create a highly efficient, very productive enterprise. Then you can use the power of this enterprise to raise money, invest in Bitcoin, and create wealth. So it gets more complex. But if you have this gift, you know it will make you go faster and further.

14. Capitalization

Point number 14 is capitalization. Your goal is to relentlessly raise funds and reinvest, at a fast pace and large scale, enabling the compounding growth of wealth. For example, if you start a small hotel, sell 10% equity, and then buy Bitcoin. As the price of Bitcoin rises, so does the value of the hotel. You sell another 20% of equity to buy more Bitcoin. The value of the business continues to rise. You borrow some money to buy Bitcoin. The value of the business keeps rising. You keep raising funds, using cash flows to buy Bitcoin, using government bonds to buy Bitcoin. You have a set of unencumbered houses; for you, if borrowing at 6% interest to invest in Bitcoin, which has risen by 80% in the past year, even if you see a 30% or 20% annual return and borrow at 6%, you can seize the interest rate differential, which is compound growth. This is a race using Bitcoin, and the person with the most Bitcoin at the end of the game wins.

15. Communication

Point 15 is about communication. If they don't trust you, no one will give you money, and creditors won't lend to you. They won't accept or give you a loan, buy your bonds, or preferred stock. Equity investors won't buy your stock. No one will do business with your employees, and suppliers won't trust you. You must be honest, act transparently, and need to repeatedly emphasize this using all modern digital channels. In the Bitcoin world, there is no need for complex strategies to accumulate wealth. You just need a simple and clear strategy; once others understand what you are going to do, they will support you, and then you will succeed.

16. Commitment

Point 16 is about commitment, don't let yourself be distracted. Before me, many people discovered Bitcoin. From 2011 to 2014, people discovered it, then they went after other coins, then went after other concepts, messing around with Bitcoin. Then they wrote books bragging about how smart they were to discover Bitcoin. Then they started companies, boards of directors, and the board of directors made them sell the Bitcoin. So commit to Bitcoin, the concept of Bitcoin is very good. When someone ridicules you online for being foolish, don't pay attention to those trolls. Don't argue with them. By the way, don't let yourself be distracted by your own good ideas, don't chase after your own good ideas, Satoshi Nakamoto gave you something worth half the global economy.

The most common mistake entrepreneurs make is falling in love with their own idea and then trying to make it happen. You have the greatest thing in human history, Bitcoin is right there, you live in an era where most people on this planet don't understand Bitcoin, all you have to do is figure out a way to use it now. There may be countless other ideas in the future, don't get involved in things that are doomed to fail. Resolutely choose your battlefield, don't try to solve problems that are beyond your capabilities. You may have your own opinions on this, that, and everything else, which may make you angry, you think it's all rubbish, that's reality, I agree with your opinion, but the fact is that the world may not care about what you think. Unless you can stop the "war", if you can stop the "war", then go ahead and do it. But if you can't, don't take your success for granted, avoid things that distract you.

17. Competence

Consistently, precisely, reliably execute. Don't take customers for granted, don't take security for granted, don't take success for granted. Focus like a laser. The world expects you to be perfect. When I first got to DuPont (Saylor was an internal consultant at DuPont), they said, "You can only make one mistake at most, but you can't make the same mistake twice." Maybe you think you can multitask, but your competition can focus like a laser, and the market will eventually turn to those who are as focused as a laser.

18. Adaptation

Over a long enough timeline, every counterpart will fail, including you. In 100 years, everyone, including every bank you trust, every company, everything, every well-functioning structure will fail. You need to adapt, wise people prepare themselves to set things down multiple times on the path of life, so be prepared. Make a plan. Start executing now, monitor it every quarter, every year.

When the path is no longer correct at some point, do not be ashamed to change course, have a succession plan, and arrange things in an orderly manner.

19. Evolution

Embrace your core strengths, leverage your strongest assets. Your goal is to evolve gracefully, not mutate aggressively. If you happen to have expertise in a particular culture, capital market, or field, then the business you desire should be built upon that expertise. When you lose balance or decide to venture into a completely unfamiliar new field, the execution risk increases a hundredfold.

20. Advocacy

Advocacy is also a key point, urging others to engage with Bitcoin and become advocates of economic freedom. The more individuals, businesses, governments, institutions, cities, and leaders embrace Bitcoin, the greater your chances of success, their chances of success, Bitcoin's chances of success, and humanity's chances of success.

21. Generosity

Finally, the last point is generosity. When you succeed, wake up every morning spreading joy, delivering hope. For those less fortunate than you, you have gone down this path first. You should spread goodwill. Make sure you pass this on to your employees, family, friends, customers, investors, and community. They will see your light, will respect and support you. They will be inspired by you and follow you, which benefits you, your business, Bitcoin, and the world.

Conclusion

I will conclude my speech with this statement:

「It has been 16 years since Bitcoin was born in 2009, two trillion dollars have proven its worth, who knows how much wisdom has been passed on to the world again, I can give this speech to you here, but Satoshi Nakamoto, who is much greater than me, said these 12 most important English words many years ago without any of this information, proof, so much time: It might make sense to get some in case it catches on.」

Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:

Telegram Subscription Group: https://t.me/theblockbeats

Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App

Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia