Strategy CEO Calls Proof-of-Reserves Risky and Misleading

Crypto News Blockchain

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: May 27, 2025

Key Takeaways

Michael Saylor says proof-of-reserves weakens security and exposes firms to unnecessary risks;
He argues the method only shows assets, not liabilities, which gives an incomplete financial picture;
Publishing wallet addresses, Saylor warns, allows outsiders to track activity and target companies.

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Strategy CEO Calls Proof-of-Reserves Risky and Misleading

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The CEO of Strategy, Michael Saylor, shared concerns about how companies handle proof-of-reserves, a common crypto industry practice.

Proof-of-reserves is a method often used by crypto exchanges and related services to confirm they hold enough digital assets to match customer deposits. It is meant to help users trust that the company is not hiding financial issues.

Speaking on May 26 at an event during the Bitcoin BTC $89,537.21 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Saylor stated that the usual way of publishing on-chain reserve data is not safe.

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He added:

It actually dilutes the security of the issuer, the custodians, the exchanges and the investors. It’s not a good idea, it’s a bad idea.

When asked whether Strategy itself would provide a proof-of-reserves, Saylor did not give a clear answer. The question came from Mitchell Askew, lead analyst at Blockware Solutions.

However, Saylor argued that it only shows what a company owns, not what it owes. He also said, "No institutional-grade or enterprise security analyst would think it's a good idea to publish all of the wallet addresses, such that you could be traced back and forth".

He warned that making these details public allows outsiders to monitor and track activity, which could lead to targeted attacks. Saylor suggested using artificial intelligence (AI) to explore the risks further by asking it, "What are the security problems of publishing your wallet addresses?" and "How might it undermine the security of your company over time?".

Meanwhile, Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, shared his thoughts on handling spam on the Bitcoin network. What did he say? Read the full story.