“Especially paranoid crypto anarchists say that.”
With these eight words, released in the podcast “Markets with Madison”, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor sparked the anger of almost everyone in Bitcoin.
The shinobi called him “the spokesman.” Carvalho was confused. Svetski said this will start the next Fork Wars.
Simply put, Saylor says something bad. He broke the taboo. He said that you’re better off trusting your Bitcoin in a state vault than holding your private keys, then went ahead, calling out all the businesses involved in the latter projects effectively calling them bullshit sellers.
It’s, if we can say, “big oof,” “the gun,” the scene in the cartoon where the hero gets hit with an anvil.
Here’s Adam Simecka’s clip from the full video:
Saylor thinks you’re a paranoid crypto anarchist if you hold your keys and don’t trust the government. 😏 pic.twitter.com/6owj7LzrdM
— Adam Simecka (@AdamSimecka) October 20, 2024
Ironically though, I’ll admit, maybe the most interesting thing Saylor ever said?
For years, Saylor and the Cyber Hornets were “Grut and the Minions,” with Saylor using his pulpit to spew whatever bullish nonsense was in vogue, without adding anything of his own.
Other people said things, and then Saylor said them again. He was a “champion of the people,” a “man of the plebs,” a role even his regular AI generated tweets seemed to insist on tagging artists, invariably a random pseudonym.
So, anger aside, I have to say, at this point, I’m not serious. Of course, as someone who lived through the Fork Wars, I find Svetski’s position romantic (It’s nice to think we’re in the middle of a great struggle), but maybe it’s too early to cry wolf.
Instead, I find myself (for once) actually trying to understand what Saylor is saying.
As far as I can tell, there are three ideas at play here:
- This is a new thesis on how to improve Bitcoin adoption using public markets – Saylor frames the defense question as a problem to be solved through innovation, but an issue that needs to be addressed. His opinion: It doesn’t matter if people have Bitcoin, only that they have it. It’s his vehicle of choice in this stock market, and he seems to want to choose it as a major vehicle for buying Bitcoin and selling exposure.
- This thesis can actually solve the problem of how to fight the crypto market – This is also one of the most compelling things about Bitcoin “Season 2,” the idea of ”the crypto machine you can choose from” as a way to engage in sales. Here, Saylor seems to want to gather his army of Bitcoin stocks with a purpose, his sales view will start to buy Microstrategy and Metaplanet, instead of memecoins, chasing as they always do, beta in Bitcoin.
- It is a novel thesis to convince the government to use Bitcoin – A world where Bitcoin is the preserve of regulated entities seems like one where restrictive laws no longer apply. After all, in this world, Bitcoin will have a direct link to the US economy (at least the version that most politicians care about). You have to admit: “You can’t block Bitcoin, it will hurt the stock market,” has a nice ring to it.
Well, maybe the commentators are right. Saylor’s benefits seem to come from networking. Perhaps he’s putting his company and its desire to accumulate Bitcoin above all else, and it’s fair to question his motives at this point.
Some say that self-control, if nothing else, is the core of Bitcoin, the fact that you can’t rely on anyone but yourself to hold and protect your wealth.
Then again, in Saylor’s view, inflation is the real boogeyman, the reduction of purchasing power, the biggest problem.
Could it be that this is a big government psy-op, that Saylor flew too close to the sun, and there’s an army of regulators twisting his arm to say this?
Sure, Microstrategy works with intelligence agencies, but even so, intelligence agencies and their pension funds need some place to invest. The hyperbitcoinized world is certainly one where these funds will buy Bitcoin.
But I have to say, as someone who never found Saylor very interesting… for now, at least I’m paying attention.
I’ll start there.
This article is a Take it. The views expressed are entirely those of the author and do not reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.