Bitcoin Fans Salute Billionaire Saylor, $0.006 at a Time

Michael Saylor has netted literally dollars’ worth of bitcoin ever since MicroStrategy adopted the Lightning Network

article-image

Chim/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Michael Saylor’s firm MicroStrategy recently activated a special Bitcoin “Lightning Address” mapped to his corporate email.

Rather than QR codes or complicated strings of characters, Lightning Addresses allow users to direct bitcoin (BTC) to standard internet identifiers, such as email addresses or usernames.

So, BTC can now be sent to Saylor via [email protected]

Saylor shared a screenshot showing a steady stream of bitcoin tips flowing from fans, each one 21 satoshis (the smallest bitcoin unit, otherwise known as sats).

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is a layer-2 scaling solution that makes BTC transactions faster and cheaper, although there are security trade-offs.

Lightning balances and transactions are somewhat private compared to Bitcoin mainnet. It’s not possible to reverse engineer either MicroStrategy or Saylor’s transactional history to determine just how “rich” Bitcoin fans are making Saylor (whose net worth is already valued at $1.2 billion).

Still, as of Monday evening, Saylor had netted 7,985 sats ($2.40), per his screenshot, and he’s almost definitely received more since then. Saylor’s MicroStrategy holds more bitcoin than any other public company in the world, with 140,000 BTC ($4.2 billion).

Loading Tweet..

Communicating through micropayments like these is common in crypto circles. Hacking victims have even negotiated with their attackers via on-chain messages tied to tiny crypto transactions.

Other instances involve sending BTC to fictional characters to break the fourth wall, as was the case when a BTC address tied to Elliot “Mr. Robot” Anderson briefly flashed on screen in season four.

Fans sent a total of 0.00443373 BTC ($134.14) to Elliot’s address over time, which was eventually withdrawn. Saylor may attract even more to his email-fused Lightning Address. 

But there’s a long way to go to cover Saylor’s potential losses resulting from his ongoing Washington, DC tax lawsuit. The former MicroStrategy CEO, now only executive chairman, is still on the hook for $25 million in unpaid taxes, ​​penalties and associated interest.

That works out to be 828 BTC at current prices, or more than 3.9 billion individual tips of 21 sats a pop.

Read more: The Best Bitcoin Loan Platforms of 2023

Updated Apr. 19, 2023 at 3:35 am ET: Added context about Saylor’s role at MicroStrategy.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from Blockworks Research’s Daily Debrief.


Can’t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible. Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.


Tags

upcoming event

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Digital Asset Summit (DAS) is returning March 2024. This year’s event will be held in our nation’s capital, where industry leaders, policymakers, and institutional experts will come together to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. […]

upcoming event

MON - WED, SEPT. 11 - 13, 2023

2022 was a meme.Skeptics danced, believers believed.Eventually, newcomers turned away, drained of liquidity and hope.Now, the tide is shifting and it’s time to rebuild. Permissionless II is the brainchild of Blockworks and Bankless. It’s not just a conference, but a call […]

recent research

The State of LSTFi

Research

There are five broad use cases for LSTs that are gaining traction alongside growth in demand: leverage farming, liquidity providing, LST baskets, stablecoin collateral, and interest rate derivatives.

/

article-image

The 7-day average trading volumes for bitcoin have dropped to their lowest level in two and a half years alongside a muted derivatives market

article-image

Alexander Vinnik’s lawyers aim to swap his freedom for detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

article-image

This latest update will introduce immutability to token metadata but ensure that its key characteristics are preserved, and it will also introduce network fees

article-image

In a blog post, partly directed at the forthcoming Eigenlayer protocol, the Ethereum co-founder cautions against overloading consensus

article-image

Hunting for victims in Ethereum’s public mempool, automated searchers prey on transactions as they are discovered in a practice called MEV

article-image

The crypto exchange that filed for bankruptcy last November would endure a long road to raise funds, clear debts and gain trust, law pros say