A controversial take on Bitcoin BTC/USD self-custody by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor has riled up privacy advocates, prompting disagreements and counter-arguments.
What happened: During a recent interview, Saylor called the narrative a “myth and trope” propagated by “paranoid crypto-anarchists.”
Taking a contrarian position, Saylor said that there was a higher risk of seizure if Bitcoin was held by unregulated entities that don’t have trust in the government and traditional economy.
Jameson Lopp, a popular technologist and Bitcoin advocate, took strong exception to Saylor’s stance. Citing the example of gold, Lopp stated that most seizures in history happened at financial institutions that held gold on behalf of clients, as opposed to those held in self-custody.
Lopp even reminded everyone of Bitcoin’s fundamentals, as outlined in the whitepaper, which was rooted in a lack of trust in the third party.
These positions were also backed by pro-cryptocurrency senate hopeful John Deaton.
“In today’s world, it is difficult to think of anything more American than a person’s inalienable right to self-custody custody his/her own assets, whether those assets be gold bars, silver coins, art, or Bitcoin,” Deaton, who is running against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said.
Why It Matters: While self-custody wallets offer several advantages, they do not provide a foolproof solution against the risks of hacking.
In December last year, crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger became the target of a sophisticated attack, which led to the theft of approximately $484,000 in assets.
While having ownership over one’s private keys provides a sense of security, it also requires greater responsibility.
Consider the bizarre case of James Howells, who accidentally put a hard drive containing 8,000 BTCs in the trash while cleaning his office. The discarded stash is worth hundreds of millions of dollars today.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $66,962.86, down 0.51% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Michael
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