Tether Co-Founder Weighs In on Bitcoin Selloff

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 05, 2026 at 22:26  |  5:40  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
William Quigley — Co-Founder, Tether & WAX

Summary

Tether co-founder William Quigley joins Bloomberg The Close to discuss the crypto selloff and repeats his long-standing dislike of crypto treasury vehicles, arguing they typically trade below net asset value, that he would rather buy the ETF, and that the space should consolidate. He gives MicroStrategy credit for early adoption and a smart non-recourse, bitcoin-collateralized debt structure, but expects its stock to trade near or below the value of its bitcoin and flags its roughly 3% bitcoin holding as a potential overhang if sold. He prefers miners as a value-adding crypto-equity exposure and endorses Tether's gold purchases as good collateral diversification.

  • Quigley discusses the crypto selloff and the crypto treasury vehicle model.
  • He never liked crypto treasury vehicles and prefers buying the ETF.
  • He expects consolidation among crypto treasury companies.
  • MicroStrategy gets more credence for early adoption and non-recourse, bitcoin-backed debt.
  • He expects Strategy to trade near or below the value of its bitcoin holdings.
  • Strategy's roughly 3% bitcoin holding is seen as an overhang if it must sell.
  • He views miners as a better crypto-linked equity because they add value by producing bitcoin.
  • He calls Tether's gold buying good diversification, with gold wanted in good and bad times.
Ideas
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 0:23
Avoid crypto treasury vehicles; buy the ETF
Quigley says he never liked crypto treasury vehicles and his answer has not changed: companies holding crypto in a corporate vehicle generally trade below net asset value, carry idiosyncratic stock risk versus simply owning the native crypto, and pitch services such as staking that investors can do themselves. Once spot ETFs existed the logic for these vehicles disappeared, so he would not own them, expects the field to consolidate to fewer players, and would rather buy the ETF.
Digital asset treasury vehicles (DATs) HIGH
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 0:23
Avoid crypto treasury vehicles; buy the ETF
Quigley says he never liked crypto treasury vehicles and his answer has not changed: companies holding crypto in a corporate vehicle generally trade below net asset value, carry idiosyncratic stock risk versus simply owning the native crypto, and pitch services such as staking that investors can do themselves. Once spot ETFs existed the logic for these vehicles disappeared, so he would not own them, expects the field to consolidate to fewer players, and would rather buy the ETF.
IBIT HIGH
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 1:05
Strategy should trade near bitcoin value
He gives MicroStrategy more credence than other treasury vehicles because it began buying bitcoin in summer 2020, before ETFs existed, and bought it smartly: the convertible debt is non-recourse, backed and collateralized by the bitcoin, so the corporation can surrender bitcoin if it cannot pay. Even so, he expects the stock to trade far closer to the market value of its bitcoin holdings, likely at a slight discount as other vehicles do, and says both ways to raise cash for bond payments, selling bitcoin or issuing dilutive equity, are bad choices.
MSTR MED
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 2:54
Strategy selling could dampen Bitcoin's price
Quigley flags a Bitcoin supply-overhang risk: Strategy/MicroStrategy alone holds about 3% of all outstanding Bitcoin, and if it were ever forced to sell to meet obligations, that would put a significant damper on the price of Bitcoin, making Strategy's debt-servicing choices a setup worth monitoring.
BTC MED
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 4:29
Miners add real value versus treasury vehicles
For investors who want crypto-linked equities, a miner is the better choice than a treasury vehicle: miners add real value by producing bitcoin, ideally at a cost below the spot price of the crypto they mine, though he concedes miners have their own problems.
WGMI LOW
William Quigley Co-Founder, Tether & WAX 4:57
Gold is good collateral diversification
He calls Tether's move to buy gold in size a good one: stablecoins are simply crypto collateralized by assets expected to hold value, and gold has historically been a reliable store of value and diversifier that people want in good times and bad, so holding gold alongside fiat currencies strengthens collateral backing, though the right fiat/gold mix is a judgment call.
GLD MED
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This Bloomberg Markets video, published February 05, 2026, features William Quigley discussing Digital asset treasury vehicles (DATs), IBIT, MSTR, BTC, WGMI, GLD. 6 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: William Quigley  · Tickers: Digital asset treasury vehicles (DATs), IBIT, MSTR, BTC, WGMI, GLD