Michael Saylor & Congressman Byron Donalds Talk Bitcoin, Free Markets, and Florida’s Future

Congressman Donald's. Michael, how you doing?  Michael, what do you have going on in here?  

This is like a the party inside the conference.  What is happening? Well, you know, Florida was  

always the sunshine state and and it was all about  oranges and uh Bitcoin is the orange movement. So,  

it's only fitting that we should have a flooridian  here uh to discuss Bitcoin in Florida. Um,  

I've known you for a while, but I think everybody  here would like to know you. So, maybe you could  

start by just telling the audience uh how you  got into politics and uh what your current  

uh what your current plan is. Well, first it's  great to be here with everybody. Thanks so much  

for coming out to this. I'm Byron Donald's, member  of Congress. Uh, I represent Southwest Florida,  

Naples, Fort Myers, Marco Island. Um, so I know  there's a lot of there's a lot of Naples people  

here. I know I'm originally from Brooklyn, New  York. Born and raised. Uh, finance background.  

That's kind of how I got into business. I spent  17 years in financial services. Uh, banking,  

insurance. I'm a I was a frontline financial  adviser. I'm securities licensed. And I got  

the political bug out of the financial collapse in  '08. uh really because I was watching members of  

Congress talk about the financial collapse and  they didn't know what they were talking about.  

And so it it pissed me off as somebody who was  young and in his career and I'm like, you know,  

who are these guys? What are they talking about?  They don't know what really happened in banking  

to cause the collapse. And so I got motivated  and I got hungry about politics. Got involved  

locally and you know, one thing leads to another.  I go from giving speeches, people asked me to run  

for office. I started doing that. I spent four  years in the state legislature. I got elected to  

Congress in 2020. I'm now a member of Congress  and uh I'm running for governor. And so this  

time next year, you know, there we go. [Applause]  Um, so as the as the future governor of Florida,  

perhaps you could share with the group your  political views and your economic views. Well,  

so this is a this is actually a great question. My  economic philosophy really is born out of reality.  

Like I'm a city kid. I I came up from nothing. and  I understand what it is to have to raise capital,  

what it is if you're going to go and start a  business. I own wrote just about every business  

you can think of when I was in commercial  banking. Um, you can you to generally say  

it. I am out of the Austrian school of  economics. That's my economic theory.

Um, you know, uh, Hayek is right. uh Milton  Freriedman is right in the way they view economic  

policy, the way they view monetary policy. And so  that has always guided my political thinking was  

my economics. And then what I layered into  that was really having a a a true rever,  

the documents that the framers were reading  when they wrote the US Constitution. Um,  

and so those are the types of things that kind  of kept me going along the path I am politically.  

One of the first books I ever read was The Law  by Frederick Bosian. If you haven't read it,  

read it. It's an excellent book. It doesn't  talk about um Republicans versus Democrats.  

It talks about the purpose of law and how  the law is supposed to be stable for all  

people to be able to operate on. And essential  premise is that before the French Revolution,  

the law was written in 1850 by Frederick Boschiat.  That before the French Revolution, you had  

politicians who were maneuvering the law to favor  certain interests and it ended up collapsing the  

entire society. So that's the book that spoke  to me politically. Couple that with my economic  

uh thoughts and backgrounds and you have who I  am now. I'm a conservative. I believe in free  

markets. I believe in free people. I believe in  setting the rules to the road and in basic and in  

getting out of the way and letting people thrive  and innovate and succeed. [Applause] What What do  

you see as the political divide uh in Florida?  If you're governor, what policies would you  

champion? And what do you think is the direction  of Florida if your opponent is elected governor?  

So, a a couple things. One, in Florida, and I got  to give full credit to Governor Dantis on this,  

you know, he his governorship was really a battle  of the culture wars, if you will. And in Florida,  

he was decisively successful. He won those. And  so, in our state, Republicans not only control the  

state, we have dominant control over the state. So  to the second half of the question, I think it's  

uh I think it's uh David Jolly is running as  the Democrat. I think that's who's running. You  

would have a situation where the entire political  philosophy uh of David to a degree would unwind a  

lot of what Florida has become. Um there would  be new impediments to economic in innovation,  

to academic innovation. uh you wouldn't have  the the the same I would say I would say the  

same innovative spirit and freedom spirit that you  have in Florida today if Dave Jolly were to win  

um with me we're going to continue the stuff that  the governor has done Governor Dantis but then  

we're going to layer on the next wave of Florida's  future what does it mean to be an economic not  

just an economic engine but to be the economic  power in the country to be the financial center  

of the world in Florida and and then all of the  offshoots that come from that whether it's healthc  

care, tech, education, um, etc. All of it at the  at its core really begins with capital formation,  

capital movement. And so with me, Florida's going  to become the financial hub of the world. Florida,  

financial hub of the world. We like that. So  speaking of finance, maybe you could share  

with the group how you discovered Bitcoin  or became interested in this community. So  

I got to apologize to you. The first time I heard  about Bitcoin was 2015. It was like about what 11  

$1,200 at the time, something like that. And I had  clients that came to me and they go, "Should I buy  

Bitcoin?" And I looked at them in the meeting.  I'm like, "What the hell are you talking about?  

I don't know anything about Bitcoin. I I don't  know. I didn't know. A lot of us didn't know."  

In the in the financial industry at the time, we  would get guidance from the firm. The firm didn't  

even know what Bitcoin was or what blockchain  was. They really couldn't conceptually explain  

it to us who were trying to give advice. So, I  would tell clients, look, if you got two grand  

to spare and you want to go do it, go do it. just  don't mess up our plan and what we have going on.  

I was wrong. I should have just went and bought it  myself. It would have been great. That being said,  

what I what you see is that Bitcoin truly has  become the holder of value that everybody desires  

it to be. and not just desires it to be. The  fundamental structure of Bitcoin allows for the  

value to be able to to be to be stabilized over  time because you cannot manipulate the amount of  

tokens that are going to be in circulation.  That's critical. That manipulation is what  

happens in central banking all across the world. I  mean, in the United States, we like to talk about  

how the Chinese manipulate their currency. um we  we deficit spend and we borrow from the future to  

pay for today and the byproduct of doing that  diminishes the purchasing power of the United  

States dollar. That's what we're doing today.  Bitcoin has given Americans and frankly the  

world an ability to step out of the game that is  central banking a as we do it today politically.  

and you actually have a a a commodity, a currency,  a a asset that holds value over time. It's it's  

critical stuff. It's this is amazing. There was a  time before we knew what before nations actually  

knew how much gold could actually be excavated.  Gold had value because people decided it was  

precious and would hold value. So to the naysayers  out there, they say, "Well, this Bitcoin thing  

isn't real." I say, "That's not true because if  you were in Vegas, you would know that." People  

have decided it has real tangible value, not just  today, but over the long term. That is a major  

change. That's really what opened my eyes to it  is really the technical aspects of the creation,  

but then all of this. If you say it has value, it  has value. And not just one person saying it. You  

now have an entire ecosystem that has not just  said it, but they're now building infrastructure  

around it. They're building capacity around  it. That is how you actually have something  

of value that now has a a a value that can  be transmitted at your personal choosing or  

on a broader scale. I think it's a phenomenal  movement. I'm happy to be supportive of it.

Well, speaking for everybody, um I'm sure we'd all  like to thank you for coming and being part of our  

community and taking such an interest. Um the next  question, the logical one that follows is what are  

your thoughts about the proper role of a governor  uh with regard to Bitcoin policy or how could  

Bitcoin help Florida? Do you have any thought  about the role of states in u in adoption of  

bitcoin or or digital assets more generally? So I  I think governors in particular can really lead in  

this space. Um obviously I think the first one the  easiest step is having a reserve a bit a strategic  

uh bitcoin reserve. I know President Trump is  going to make that happen federally. There's no  

reason we can't do that in every state. No reason  we don't do that in Florida. And so I think that's  

step one is having a strategic reserve of Bitcoin  in Florida. The question is how do you finance  

it? Is it a part of pension plans in Florida? Can  there be a portion where um employees can actually  

make direct investment in Bitcoin? Could it be a  part of the state's actual uh surplus? In Florida,  

we do um I think we have about a two billion  dollar surplus. It could be more. I don't have the  

number committed to memory. Could a portion of our  surplus be in Bitcoin? I think that's step one.  

Step two to to the broader ecosystem. I I think  this is much more where blockchain technology  

comes in. It with blockchain really allow really  taking blockchains to the next level. It it's  

not just about the Bitcoin itself. It's about  uh tokenized exchanges. It's about fractional  

ownerships. It's about smart contracts around  like title deeds for people's homes. Like title  

fraud is a thing. people have to buy insurance  associated with it. Well, what if the title  

for your home was actually tokenized and on the  blockchain and so you actually have direct access  

as the owner to that where nobody else can corrupt  that title that has been perfected. I think these  

are the areas that state governments can really  step into uh to protect citizens to give citizens  

more access um to not just contracts and assets  but a way to also build wealth and to transact.  

I I think that um the applications could be in  education, they could be in healthcare. Um I  

just talked about real estate. There are many  applications that can be done. Bitcoin is the  

thing that brought everybody to the environment  and now the ecosystem is what states can leverage  

to to to actually make life simpler, easier,  more efficient, more responsive uh to people. So,  

um, if Florida is going to be the financial  capital of the world, then presumably we want  

to do everything we can to bring, uh, companies to  Florida, technology to Florida, and, uh, Bitcoin  

holders, Bitcoin, Bitcoin companies, Bitcoin  investors, Bitcoin tech companies to Florida. Um,  

do you have any thoughts about how much power does  the governor have to do that via executive action  

versus legislation versus any other uh particular  technique? What what are the levers in order to  

attract crypto capital to Florida? Well, I I think  the number one lever we want to use is legislative  

power. Working with the legislature to make sure  we craft out the regulatory framework in Florida.  

That's going to be essential for me. I I think  the best regulatory system in an industry like  

this is a sandbox is a regulatory sandbox. You  can have the agencies comment on the industry,  

but the industry regulates itself because the  truth is Bitcoin and all of the derivatives that  

are going to come off of Bitcoin, everything  associated around uh digital assets at large,  

it's going to move so fast because the  technology is going to move so fast and  

your innovation is going to move faster than any  bureaucrat could keep up with. So in my mind,  

you really want to have a regulatory sandbox  where you just plow the field and as long as  

people aren't being defrauded or harmed, uh then  you kind of have freedom to operate uh how you see  

fit. So I think that's the first step. You got to  do that legislatively working with uh we call it  

in Tallahassee the fourth floor. That's where the  house and and the and the senate is. And so you  

have to work with the fourth floor to get to get  that stuff accomplished. doing it that way. Now,  

it's the bedrock of Florida law and not just the  executive order of of the governor. And the beauty  

in the state legislature is you have legislators  that the governor can definitely work with. So,  

I don't think it's I don't think it's a  thing where I just write out orders to do  

it. We want to make sure that we cement this  legislatively so that if there's going to be  

a change, it takes an overwhelming move of  a future governor and a future legislature.  

orders can simply be changed by the stroke  of a pen as quickly as they get put in by a  

stroke of a pen. Um, are there any other  states that you've been inspired by or  

governors or leaders that you think set a good  example that you're that you're catalyzed by?

No. Florida's the best state in the country.

I'm sorry if you're not in Florida. You're missing  out, let me tell you. Um, I'm I'm I'm being a  

little facicious. Vav is a friend. I saw him  last night. I said, and I say this to Vav a lot,  

so I'll say it now on stage. It's about to go  viral. You ready? Here we go. I say, "Vav, I love  

everything you're doing, baby. Congratulations.  You get to be number two. It's great. It's  

great." Um, no. Um, one of the thing, one of the  innovations that I have seen, Texas does it. Um, I  

think North Carolina does it too. They have a they  have a Oh, somebody from North Carolina. You're  

happy. I Texas and they're number three. Anyway,  anyway, I'm just playing. But what what they do,  

which I think is important, they created a uh a  business litigation court that goes alongside the  

civil tort system. So, as you're moving companies  to Florida, you're innovating, you're doing all  

these things, it is going to be important that we  have a corporate business litigation court that is  

parallel to our civil justice system in Florida.  So, when you have some of these cases go through,  

at the end of the day, people just want to get  them adjudicated as soon as possible. You don't  

want to have a a churn and burn system because the  plaintiff may feel they're not getting their due,  

but you want to have a system that makes sense,  that is smooth, so business owners can actually  

plan their other operations around a lawsuit. It's  unfortunate. You've been in business long enough,  

you're going to be in court. You want to get the  case done. You don't want the the attorneys to  

be making all the money while you're pulling your  hair out trying to figure out how you're going to  

get past this deal. So, I think that's something  that Texas does that we need to bring to Florida.  

But other than that, Texas, we're just better.  Sorry, Texas. We're just better. Uh, how many  

people in the audience live in Florida? [Applause]  How many people in the audience have been through  

Florida, been to Miami? How many people would like  to see Byron as the Bitcoin governor of Florida?

taking all of you guys on the road. You guys are  coming with me. Well, well, Byron, I've seen you  

around the conference and you've you've talked to  a lot of people. Do you have any impressions of  

what you've seen here in Vegas from the Bitcoin  community you'd like to share with the group? I  

love the energy there. I was in a meeting about an  hour ago and I said from my vantage point if you  

take this industry you take Bitcoin you take this  industry and you put it in the life cycle of a of  

a human being you guys are like 9 months old like  you you're crawling around you can pick your head  

up and look you can grab at things some things  you shouldn't grab at that's okay um but it's  

so much energy and everybody's looking forward to  the future and I that that's a that's a wonderful  

thing to to see when you come to conferences. Some  conferences, you know, it's it's a little stale.  

People are thinking about their issue sets that  they got to fix and that, you know, so and so did  

this and this is a real problem or we have this  major pending litigation in front of the Supreme  

Court and what is Congress doing over here. Um  there may be asset issues. There may be some  

hyper technical issue that the entire industry is  having to face. And don't get me wrong, you guys  

are having those same conversations, but there's  just a forwardlooking optimism of not just about  

the possibilities, but even an excitement about  the unknown. And I'm telling you now, we'll come  

back a decade and do this thing. We're going to be  light years ahead of where we are today. A bunch  

of you are going to be like, we had no idea that  thing took off. Like somebody's booth out there,  

you're like, I don't think that's going to happen  in a decade. It's the it's the next big thing. You  

have no idea. To me, that level of excitement  is amazing. And you guys have that here at this  

conference. Uh let's give a hand to Congressman  Byron Donald's, the next governor in [Applause]

[Music]

Florida. [Music]

Heat. Heat. [Music]