Bitcoin for Corporations Opens With Michael Saylor, MARA and Semler Doubling Down on BTC Adoption

Key Takeaways

• Strategy and executive chairman Michael Saylor launched the Bitcoin for Corporations conference with a call to arms for CEOs.
• Leaders from Semler Scientific and MARA shared how Bitcoin transformed their companies’ balance sheets and long-term outlooks.
• “The future is orange,” Semler Scientific’s Eric Semler told the audience.

In a business landscape shaped by tech monopolies and rising capital costs, Strategy’s Michael Saylor had a blunt message for executives gathered at the company’s annual Bitcoin for Corporations event: embrace Bitcoin, or get left behind.

Saylor’s keynote set the tone for the two-day gathering in Florida, where public company leaders shared how they’ve used Bitcoin (BTC) to reshape their capital strategies and navigate turbulent markets.

Bitcoin as a Lifeline for Corporations

In a packed auditorium filled with executives and investors, Saylor stepped on stage with a singular mission: to warn corporations about a quiet crisis and offer a solution.

“Let’s talk about Bitcoin for corporations,” he said. “Why should your company recapitalize with Bitcoin? Because if you don’t, the future might not include you.”

Saylor noted that the current economic model was broken. Tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google dominate the landscape, while thousands of smaller companies fight to stay afloat.

He argued that most are barely functioning “zombies” in the public markets, illiquid, underperforming, and stripped of meaningful upside.

“You think going public is the dream?” he asked. “That’s just the beginning of the nightmare.”

Saylor highlighted that 96% of public companies can’t outperform a Treasury bill, and only 4% generate real wealth.

While artificial intelligence is now a must-have tool, Saylor admitted it no longer offers a competitive edge. “Everyone’s using it. It’s helping the rich get richer. It won’t save you if you’re not already one of them.”

Then came his thesis: “Bitcoin is for the rest of us.”

Where AI is consensus, Bitcoin is still controversial—an asset Saylor calls misunderstood, volatile, and overlooked. And that, he argued, is precisely where the opportunity lies.

“It’s the last asymmetric bet,” he said. “Digital capital for those left behind.”

Understanding the New Capital Hierarchy

Saylor laid out what he called a “capital asset hierarchy,” placing Bitcoin firmly at the top, above fiat currencies, sovereign debt, equities, and even real estate.

While the S&P 500 typically yields around 10% annually, and top tech stocks may deliver returns of 30% through buybacks, Bitcoin has averaged a 79% return.

Saylor argued that this makes Bitcoin a solid store of value and the most compelling growth asset available to corporations today.

Even elite institutional investors haven’t kept up. Ivy League endowments and top-performing hedge funds regularly underperform the market and dramatically trail Bitcoin.

Since 2008, even Bitcoin’s worst 10-year performance outpaced every other major asset class, returning more than 50%.

However, Saylor said Bitcoin isn’t just an investment; it’s a business strategy.

Unlike traditional treasury tools like stock buybacks or bond purchases, which in some cases, such as Silicon Valley Bank, proved disastrous, Bitcoin offers a chance to create real shareholder value and institutional resilience.

He noted that regulatory constraints prevent most companies from holding equities or indexes on their balance sheets.

However, Bitcoin is different. It’s a capital asset that can be held directly, offering exposure to growth that other vehicles can’t match.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, made that move in 2020. With few growth options remaining, the firm pivoted to Bitcoin.

Since then, it has raised more than $37.5 billion in capital, watched its share price soar, and become one of the most traded stocks on Nasdaq.

Instead of returning capital to shareholders, it used Bitcoin to attract more capital. In 2024 alone, the firm raised $22.6 billion. Year-to-date in 2025, it has already pulled in over $10 billion.

As a public company, Strategy also has access to financial tools unavailable to individuals, such as convertible debt and preferred stock.

These instruments, backed by Bitcoin, often outperform the asset itself due to volatility premiums, giving investors asymmetric upside with more controlled risk.

In Saylor’s view, this is the future of capital strategy, and it starts with a willingness to rewrite the playbook.

From Zombie Stock to Bitcoin Trailblazer: Semler Scientific’s Revival

Eric Semler took the stage at Strategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations event to share how his company, Semler Scientific, once a low-profile company focused on diagnostics, now holds more than $350 million in Bitcoin.

It’s also the most leveraged among public Bitcoin treasury equities, positioning the firm to see outsized gains if Bitcoin continues to rise.

The company, founded by Semler’s cardiologist father, hit a wall when political pressure mounted against Medicare Advantage, a key revenue driver. The stock stagnated, and cash reserves piled up with nowhere to go.

That’s when Semler took control, reshaped the board, and went looking for a new strategy.

Inspired by Strategy’s own Bitcoin playbook, he led Semler Scientific to become the second U.S. public company to adopt the Bitcoin Treasury Standard in 2023.

The move marked a dramatic pivot, from risk-averse cash management to a high-conviction bet on digital sound money.

Since then, the company has steadily increased its Bitcoin holdings and secured financing to keep buying. With $500 million in authorized purchasing capacity still unused, Semler says the firm is just getting started.

The shift has paid off. The stock has roared to life, and the company’s radical new mission has reinvigorated its shareholder base and team.

Looking ahead, Semler summed it up in just four words: “The future is orange.”

MARA’s Twin-Turbo Bitcoin Strategy

Marathon Digital, now simply MARA, is no longer just the world’s largest Bitcoin miner; it’s becoming a vertically integrated Bitcoin powerhouse.

Speaking at Strategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations, MARA unveiled a new approach that blends two aggressive plays: expanding infrastructure and rapidly accumulating Bitcoin.

The company calls it a “twin-turbo” strategy—and it’s already transforming the firm’s balance sheet.

In 2023, MARA dramatically shifted from its previous asset-light model to owning most of its operations. It went from 0% ownership to controlling over 70% of its mining infrastructure, which now spans 16 sites across four continents with a total capacity of 1.7 gigawatts.

The result? Lower electricity costs per Bitcoin and greater operational control are key factors in surviving market downturns and maximizing upside in bull runs.

MARA didn’t stop at mining. It moved upstream into energy, acquiring a 100-megawatt wind farm in Texas and launching flare-gas-powered mining operations to tap into otherwise wasted energy.

The company is also investing in advanced two-phase immersion cooling to increase mining efficiency. However, the real headline is MARA’s Bitcoin balance sheet.

In 2023, it mined 9,500 BTC and bought another 22,000 BTC from the open market, bringing its total holdings to 48,000 BTC, worth over $4.5 billion at current prices.

With no debt and a low-cost model, MARA is positioned to keep stacking Bitcoin through any market cycle.

CFO Salman Khan called on other companies to seriously consider Bitcoin as a treasury asset, starting small if necessary.

“If large firms had allocated just 1–5% to Bitcoin five years ago,” he said, “they’d be looking at 30% to 90% annual returns.”