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MicroStrategy founder, Michael Saylor has retracted his statement encouraging large banks to hold Bitcoin, now suggesting individuals should self-custody if possible. His previous comments sparked disagreement within the crypto community, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Despite the backlash, Saylor stated that Bitcoin should welcome all types of entities and investments. Following the controversy, discussions sprouted about the safety and logic of self-custody. Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger, argued that cryptocurrency wouldn’t exist without self-custody, despite the associated risks highlighted by Ledger’s 2020 hack and subsequent data breach.

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The founder of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, has backtracked on his previous statement suggesting that large banks should hold Bitcoin after causing quite a stir in the crypto community. He’s now saying that individuals should have the right to self-custody, or hold their Bitcoin independently if they can and want to. He also feels that everyone should have the freedom to choose their preferred form of custody and custodian globally.

The crypto community wasn’t happy with Saylor’s earlier comments, which called out “paranoid crypto-anarchists.” He had also suggested that Bitcoin holders should trust their assets to massive banks that are “engineered to be custodians of financial assets.” Saylor received some sharp criticism, including from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Despite the controversy, Saylor believes that “Bitcoin benefits from all forms of investment by all types of entities, and should welcome everyone.” His opinions received mixed reactions, with some agreeing it’s common sense, while others accused him of revealing his “true colors.”

Following the uproar, a lively debate sprang up about self-custody and whether it was sensible and secure. Some Bitcoin enthusiasts even made fun of the “crypto-anarchist” label. Max Keiser hit back at critics, saying Bitcoin was designed to fix the very problems caused by centralized banks.

Meanwhile, in Dubai, Pascal Gauthier, CEO of hardware wallet maker Ledger, said essentially that there would be no cryptocurrency without self-custody, making a case for his products. However, a word of caution, self-custody does carry risk. Ledger experienced this firsthand when they were hacked in 2020, leading to a data breach and numerous phishing attacks on their clients.

Source: Cointelegraph