Vitalik Buterin Brands Michael Saylors Bitcoin Remarks as Insane
Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has strongly criticized MicroStrategy chairman, Michael Saylor, for his comments endorsing the use of big banks for Bitcoin custody. Buterin referred to Saylor’s remarks as “batshit insane” and disagreed with his suggestion that regulated public entities should hold digital assets. Saylor’s approach implies that regulators and law enforcement would be more likely to invest in these institutions, potentially leading to the dominance of major financial institutions in the Bitcoin market. Buterin’s view was supported by other prominent figures in the crypto industry, such as Jameson Lopp, the chief security officer of Bitcoin custody firm Casa, and Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift. They argued that relying on third-party custodians contradicts the decentralized nature of crypto and could have negative consequences. Buterin emphasized that this strategy has failed in the past and is not aligned with the principles of cryptocurrency. In a recent interview, Saylor criticized non-regulated entities in the crypto space, referred to as “crypto-anarchists,” and suggested that Bitcoin holders should trust “too big to fail” banks for custody. This contradicted his previous stance that emphasized self-custody. Self-custody allows individuals to control and protect their own assets without relying on banks or exchanges. In a previous interview in 2022, Saylor stated that most individuals and small to medium companies prefer holding their own private keys or using a multi-sig arrangement rather than entrusting their funds to large banks. It is worth noting that Saylor’s comments came shortly after the collapse of FTX, where users lost billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin left on the platform. MicroStrategy currently holds the largest Bitcoin reserve owned by a corporation, with 252,220 BTC. Saylor himself revealed that he personally owns over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin as of August 2024.
