Early Bitcoin adopters are unlikely to shed their skepticism about institutional adoption anytime soon, asserts Preston Pysh, co-founder of Bitcoin venture fund Ego Death Capital.
“Part of that culture that brought it to where it is, is looking at where this is all going and saying no, no, no, no, this is all moving in a bad direction,” Pysh told Natalie Brunell on the Coin Stories podcast on Friday.
He noted that institutions engaging in “institutional-like things,” such as Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives, have raised concerns among Bitcoiners about the long-term viability of Bitcoin as a safe-haven asset.
Natalie Brunell (left) interviewed Preston Pysh (right) on the Coin Stories podcast on Friday. Source: Natalie Brunell
“Am I being scammed, like all the other scams that preceded this wave?” is a question some members of the Bitcoin community are voicing as institutional interest surges.
Bitcoiners who pushed it past $1 trillion worry about its direction
The remarks come amidst ongoing discussions in the Bitcoin community regarding whether increasing institutional interest is diverting Bitcoin from its original purpose.
“For those who have made Bitcoin what it is, getting it here, over a trillion dollars, involved individuals largely self-custodying Bitcoin, holding onto the keys for dear life through 70% and 80% downturns and still not selling them,” Pysh stated, adding:
“The term we like to throw around is we’re Bitcoin psychopaths.”
This follows nearly a month after a heated exchange on social media when crypto analyst Scott Melker, known as The Wolf of All Streets, stated that while Bitcoin “is amazing,” it has been in part taken over by the very entities it was created as a hedge against.
In the meantime, Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at Merkle Tree Capital, recently informed Cointelegraph that old Bitcoin being sold to new institutions marks its “integration with the financial system.”
Institutions will use Bitcoin “very differently” than individuals: Pysh
Pysh elaborated that the Bitcoin ethos is under challenge, and he anticipates it will continue to face scrutiny as institutional interest grows.
“I think that it’s going to move in a direction where many people will use Bitcoin according to their own preferences, especially institutions, which will utilize it in ways that differ significantly from individuals,” Pysh remarked.
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“That’s a difficult pill for people to swallow,” he noted.
“Overall, a significant part of the Bitcoin culture is to maintain skepticism and question everything,” he added.
According to a March 18 report by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon, 83% of institutional investors surveyed mentioned plans to increase their crypto allocations in 2025.
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