MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor seems to have a change of mind about the concept of crypto self-custody after recent criticism from the crypto industry. But what exactly has made him take a 360-degree turn from his previous stance?
Michael Saylor earlier endorsed the idea of regulated crypto custody, which sparked a hot debate among the crypto community. Backtracking from his earlier stance, Saylor took to microblogging website X to make it clear he supported the right to self-custody for all crypto users.
Michael Saylor: What Sparked the Change of Mind
It was the massive backlash from the crypto community that apparently influenced Michael Saylor to come up with a 360-degree change in his earlier stance. The criticism was not confined only to traders and enthusiasts but Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also joined the bandwagon in opposing Saylor’s stance.
Michael Saylor tried to clear the air surrounding his earlier remarks in an X post on Wednesday. The post stated, “I support self-custody for those willing and able, the right to self-custody for all, and freedom to choose the form of custody and custodian for individuals and institutions globally.”
Saylor’s Original Stance on Crypto Self-Custody
Michael Saylor denounced the idea of self-custody in his recent interview with NZ Herald. Answering a question from senior Kiwi business journalist Madison Reidy, Saylor stated backed the idea of holding Bitcoin tokens with regulated firms like BlockRock and Fidelity. As per his views, it was a much safer option to have cryptos on these firms because it would have lesser volatility and risk of loss.
When asked about concerns regarding increased centralization and government control, Michael Saylor labeled people with these views as “paranoid crypto-anarchists.” He further pointed out that these fears were a piece of exaggeration.
Vitalik Buterin Slams Michael Saylor Over Centralisation Advocacy
Following Saylor’s interview with the NZ Herald, a number of crypto enthusiasts took to X and other social media platforms to voice their concerns and opposition to his stance. Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin was one of them.
In his post on X earlier on Wednesday, Buterin stated, “I’ll happily say that I think Michael Saylor’s comments are batshit insane. He seems to be explicitly arguing for a regulatory capture approach to protecting crypto. There’s plenty of precedent for how this strategy can fail, and for me it’s not what crypto is about.”
Buterin actually joined the hot debate with these comments as a reaction to Casa Co-Founder and CTO Jameson Lopp, who said that crypto self-custody was crucial for maintaining decentralization, improving network security, preserving governance participation, and promoting continued innovation and scaling with third-party reliance.
Another key figure in the Bitcoin space, Max Keiser, reacted to Saylor’s remarks, saying, “The recent comments attacking self-custody demonstrate a regressive tendency to favor the legacy, centralized banking crooks that Bitcoin fixes.”
Michael Saylor Backtracks Eventually
After a serious backlash from the crypto community, Michael Saylor came up with a revised version of his earlier stance on self-custody. In his X post, Saylor also stated, “Bitcoin benefits from all forms of investment by all types of entities, and should welcome everyone.”
The 360-degree retraction from Saylor’s earlier views also shows how democratisation is a key issue for the crypto community and how particular they are about decentralisation.
Bitcoin’s Traditional Investment Products Achieve Key Milestone
Amid hot debate in the crypto community, Bitcoin’s traditional investment products, i.e. Spot Bitcoin ETFs, achieved a key milestone. As per the local media reports, the 12 Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States received inflows worth $20 billion, which according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, is one of the “most difficult” metrics to achieve in the ETF world.
The Final Thoughts
Simply put, decentralization is one of the central aspects of cryptocurrencies. This is where the cryptocurrencies and blockchain industry resonates with the general public, who is looking to discourage centralization in the global financial system.
The massive opposition to Michael Saylor’s original comments clearly indicates how particular crypto enthusiasts are about decentralization and self-custody. It forced Saylor to backtrack from his original thoughts about self-custody and rhyme with the overall tune in the crypto world.
Stay tuned for more updates on the phenomenon of crypto decentralization and self-custody, as Spot Bitcoin ETFs are making a huge splash in the United States by breaching the iconic milestone of $20 billion.
