Brad Garlinghouse blasts Michael Saylor's bitcoin funding model

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse isn't buying the MicroStrategy hype. While he hasn't lost his appetite for Bitcoin, Garlinghouse says Michael Saylor’s reliance on preferred-stock funding is a distraction the industry doesn't need. He labels the tactic pure financial engineering, a move he believes muddies the waters for serious investors. The Ripple chief pointed to the recent slide in MicroStrategy’s stock as proof that the market is losing patience with these complex debt structures. It's a sharp critique coming from the man behind XRP, a token that competes directly for institutional attention. Garlinghouse argues that tying a company's balance sheet so tightly to BTC's volatility creates an unnecessary circus. Investors are left watching stock tickers instead of focusing on the underlying tech or utility. With MicroStrategy hitting record lows during the latest turbulence, the friction between the crypto OGs and the Wall Street engineers is only getting louder. Will other corporate giants follow the Saylor playbook, or is the era of debt-fueled accumulation nearing its end?