Bitcoin Ekasi founder Hermann Vivier delivered a stark warning about Bitcoin's future at the BTC Prague conference on Thursday. According to reports from The Block, Vivier stated that 'there is a fundamental clash between the thing that Satoshi built and released in 2009 and the current system'. He emphasized that 'power does not want self-custody, self-sovereignty, and privacy. Power wants control'. Vivier described Bitcoin as a 'quiet revolution' that avoids violence by simply removing power from oppressive entities.
Trezor Chief Commercial Officer Danny Sanders warned that exchange-traded funds pose significant risks to Bitcoin's core self-custody principles. Speaking at BTC Prague, Sanders argued that more bitcoin investors relying on ETFs instead of holding their own private keys would be detrimental to the industry. According to The Block, investors have poured more than $53 billion into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds since launching in the U.S. in early 2024. Sanders emphasized that 'The goal is to match the web2 experience over time. We're not there yet, but I think that's the hardest thing that we all need to keep on focusing on and not saying, 'Okay, let's just put it in an ETF.' That's kind of the worst outcome, I think, for the industry.'
Despite Bitcoin's growth, self-custody adoption remains limited across the industry. According to The Block, the crypto industry now counts roughly 600 million users globally, but only around 10% self-custody their assets. Of those who do self-custody, only 12 million to 13 million use hardware wallets, which are generally considered the most secure method. Trezor, founded in Prague in 2013, helped pioneer the crypto hardware wallet sector and introduced the mnemonic seed phrase standard known as BIP-39. Sanders noted that 'It sounds so scary, but it's actually not. Once you do it, it's not that hard.'
Bitcoin Ekasi has demonstrated significant growth in its community-focused approach to Bitcoin adoption. According to The Block, the South African project gives 180 people direct exposure to bitcoin through staff and associated merchants, with 500 to 600 people using bitcoin regularly when counting secondary exposure. The project, established in 2021, aims to build a 'little, small economy based around bitcoin' as a proof-of-concept rather than scaling to thousands of users. Vivier noted that 'some of the participants have saved life-changing amounts of money through bitcoin'.
The grassroots Bitcoin movement is expanding beyond Bitcoin Ekasi's operations. As reported by The Block, around six circular economies are organically growing on the Garden Route of South Africa, with Vivier describing this as 'unseen in most other parts of the world, except for El Salvador and Kenya'. The founder emphasized that 'Bitcoin is not the end. Bitcoin is a means to an end, and for me, the end has always been freedom'. He noted that 'there are many ways to get there, and there are tools that you employ to get there. Bitcoin is one of those tools'.
