Strategy CEO: 'We Are the Central Bank of Bitcoin'

On this episode of CoinDesk's Public Keys from the New York Stock Exchange, host Jennifer Sanasie is joined by co-host Tim Grant, CEO of Deus X Capital, to start off the conversation with Strategy President and CEO Phong Le. He explains why he expects Strategy to outperform Bitcoin in the next bull cycle, how its STRC product and "digital credit" framework aim to make Strategy the "JP Morgan of digital finance." Bitwise Asset Management Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen breaks down Q2 earnings from Circle, Galaxy, and American Bitcoin, arguing the market is mis-pricing Circle ahead of a multi-trillion-dollar stablecoin era. Plus, Jennifer and Tim unpack Bitcoin ETF flows, the best week since April at $853 million in net inflows, and Tim lays out his thesis on sovereign AI, data privacy, and where decentralization fits into the next wave of compute. - Learn more at bullish.com. - Register now for CoinDesk's Policy and Regulation event on September 22, 2026: policy-regulation.coindesk.com. - To get market moving news delivered daily, download CoinDesk’s mobile app: linktr.ee/coindeskapp. - Chapters/Timecodes: 00:00 Welcome to Public Keys 00:21 Sleepy Markets and 'Groundhog Week' With Tim Grant 02:08 The Coldcard Hack and the Self-Custody Debate 03:15 Strategy's Phong Le Joins Public Keys 03:46 Why Strategy Expects to Beat Bitcoin 04:20 Inside 'STRC' and the Digital Credit Play 09:38 $4.75B in Cash and the Preferred Stock Lesson 11:47 Strategy: 'The Central Bank of Bitcoin' 12:19 Where Strategy's Software Business Fits 14:55 Circle, Galaxy and American Bitcoin Earnings 15:12 Why Bitwise Says Circle Is Mispriced 19:37 Circle's Arc Mainnet and the GENIUS Act 21:07 Galaxy's Pivot From Crypto to AI 24:05 American Bitcoin and the Miner Shakeout 27:41 Trump Ties and CLARITY Act Ethics Risk 30:14 ETF Flows: Bitcoin's Best Week Since April 32:52 Tim Grant on Sovereign AI and Data Privacy