Michael Saylor says MicroStrategy stock is essentially serving as a spot bitcoin ETF as investors wait for the first one to be approved

• MicroStrategy's stock essentially doubles as a spot bitcoin ETF, CEO Michael Saylor told CNBC.
• "We're kind of like your nonexistent spot ETF," Saylor said. The SEC has yet to approve a spot bitcoin ETF.

Stock in MicroStrategy, the enterprise software company that's accumulated billions of dollars worth of bitcoin, essentially doubles as the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US, CEO Michael Saylor told CNBC.

"We're kind of like your nonexistent spot ETF," CNBC, in a report published Thursday, quoted Saylor as saying on the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami earlier this month.

Investors are still waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to greenlight numerous applications from companies seeking to launch a spot bitcoin ETF, which would track the cryptocurrency itself. The agency has approved bitcoin futures ETFs which gives exposure to bitcoin through futures contracts that speculate on how the price of bitcoin will move.

MicroStrategy has been adding bitcoin to its balance sheet since 2020 and Saylor told CNBC it has no plans to stop doing so. "As we generate cash flows, we think that the responsible thing to do for our shareholders is we convert currency which is devaluing, into an asset which is appreciating," said Saylor.

MicroStrategy said in a regulatory filing this month it is the largest publicly-traded corporate holder of bitcoin and with its subsidiaries has spent roughly $4 billion on bitcoin purchases. The company holds 129,218 bitcoins bought at an average price of $30,700.

Bitcoin on Thursday traded at around $42,590. It's lost about 8% so far in 2022 but has recovered from lows that pulled the cryptocurrency below $36,000. Saylor, who personally owns more than 17,000 bitcoins in addition to MicroStrategy's holdings, told Insider this month that bitcoin has been struggling recently during a "tug of war" between macro traders, tech investors, and bitcoin maximalists.

Shares of MicroStrategy have declined 16% this year, trading at around $453 during Thursday's session.

A recent Nasdaq survey found heavy support for a spot crypto ETF product among financial advisors, with 72% saying they would invest in crypto if such a product were available.