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Michael Saylor's decades-old software development firm MicroStrategy blazed the path for corporate bitcoin purchases beginning in 2020. Through massive securities sales, he's managed to fund the purchase of billions of dollars worth of bitcoin for his company. Tesla and Block dabbled in the strategy in years past. After the ugly crypto winter put a damper on that, in 2024, other publicly traded companies like Semler Scientific copied the idea. Is it a fad like adding "Blockchain" to corporate names in the 2010s to juice stock returns, or is hoarding bitcoin on balance sheets ( including the U.S. government's ) something enduring? Saylor has bought the original crypto through thick and thin, so the test will be whether the trend persists beyond the current red-hot moment following Donald Trump's election. But there's no denying Saylor's laser eyes sparked something.

This profile is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year's nominees, click here .