- Michael Saylor is reversing his position after facing backlash for advocating for big banks to oversee the custody of Bitcoin.
- There are concerns about Bitcoin’s centralization risk due to increasing institutional involvement.
After facing widespread backlash from the crypto community, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor walked back his comments suggesting that major banks should oversee Bitcoin. [BTC] guardianship.
This stemmed from ongoing concerns that such a move could lead to centralization and increase the risk of government intervention.
Michael Saylor is backing away from his previous position
Saylor addressed these concerns and clarified his position by claiming that individuals and institutions should have the autonomy to decide how to store and manage their BTC holdings.
In an October 23 post on X: Saylor stated,
“I support self-custody for those who are willing and able, the right to self-custody for all, and the freedom to choose the form of custody and custody for individuals and institutions worldwide. #Bitcoin benefits from all forms of investment by all types of entities and should welcome all.”
Saylor, once celebrated for his personal Bitcoin strategy and the massive investments of his company MicroStrategy, is now under pressure.
For those unaware, Saylor recently advocated that BTC holders trust large, “too big to fail” financial institutions, claiming that these entities are well equipped to safely manage significant assets like Bitcoin.
This comment openly challenged Saylor’s position, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin questioning the wisdom of relying on centralized institutions in a space built on decentralization.
Buterin said:
“I can happily say that I find Saylor’s comments insane. He seems to explicitly advocate a regulatory approach to protect crypto.”
Mixed community response
Despite his efforts to resolve the recent controversy, Saylor’s image appears to have taken a hit.
A crypto analyst noted the same thing about this:
Source: Max Keizer/X
Another X user joined the fray Joel Valenzuela who said,
“Capitulation. But you have shown your true colors.”
Needless to say, the fallout has raised concerns about whether its once solid pro-Bitcoin image can fully recover.
However, many came out in support of Saylor.