Important facts:
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BitGo’s Joaquín Sastre says mass adoption of Bitcoin will come with custodial services.
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The hardware wallet developer SeedSigner assumes that self-management will increase more in the future.
During the Bitcoin Amsterdam event taking place in the Dutch capital this week, various experts discussed the custody of Bitcoin (BTC), both in the hands of third parties and by the users themselves.
Jameson Lopp, one of the most well-known Bitcoin developers in the ecosystem, he claimed that BTC self-custody will be massive and widespread among users when Start earning in this currency and stop buying it on exchanges or broker.
As he explained, outsourced custody services are currently the route for many customers to access Bitcoin and its ecosystem You enter the market from a financial investment perspective.
However, Lopp emphasized the values of Bitcoin self-custody in terms of financial sovereignty, noting that one way to stop people from outsourced custody of funds stops promoting the purchase of Bitcoin.
For him, it is preferable to promote the idea of people earning from Bitcoin, because if they get the crypto asset in this way and not by purchasing, “They are much more likely to receive the Bitcoins in a self-custody wallet.”
With a self-custody wallet, the user has full control over the funds deposited there. The person who creates one of these wallets has the seed phrases and is fully responsible for the financial movements and protection of their funds.
The responsibility that comes with Bitcoin self-custody, in the words of Jameson Lopp, is: contrary to human nature. In his opinion, people “tend to choose the most comfortable and practical option regardless of anything else.”
That is, if the alternative is to remove the burden of the obligation to self-custody, then The trend is towards outsourced servicessuch as stock exchanges.
Bitcoin self-custody tools will be improved in the future
SeedSigner, the developer of the hardware wallet software of the same name, took part in the conversation. The Bitcoiner clarified that BTC users are not an entity, but people “very different, in different political environments around the world,” Therefore, his interests in Bitcoin and its technology are diverse.
“Whether they are trying to escape inflation or live in a repressive political regime, Bitcoin is a lifeline for them to organize or resist a government.” So it is definitely important that we have all of these different Having tools available according to people’s needs,” he said.
SeedSigner, which offers its products over the Internet, predicted that there will be Bitcoin self-custody tools They will “improve” in the future. “And I think the reason for people to own their own Bitcoin will also increase over time,” he said.
For this reason, “governments are increasingly intervening in various areas of our lives” and taking advantage of technology. “to gain more control over others, especially financially.”
“But the tools are coming, even if it takes time. Bitcoin itself is 15 years old. There are tools in space that have only been perfected for a few years. So there are solutions, and I think over time they will become stronger enough to make them easier for people,” SeedSigner noted.
In defense of outsourced custody
As part of the debate, BitGo business developer Joaquín Sastre took part spoke out in favor of outsourced Bitcoin custody. For him, if you want really quick BTC adoption, “there’s not much chance that self-custody will be the key in the next 5 to 10 years.” “In fact, in our opinion, it will be quite the opposite,” he suggested at.
That’s why he remembered it Bitcoin already has regulated escrow custodians“just as there are regular guardians of the traditional financial world.” These, he assures, “offer the customer protection and are very easy to use.”
Although he acknowledged that adopting outsourced custody services to protect Bitcoins, means a direct abandonment of the fundamentals of network decentralizationbased precisely on the non-interference of a trusted third party in financial transactions and operations.
“Of course, outsourced custody also has disadvantages. But you have to give something up. We believe that true adoption occurs through the custodian,” the BitGo representative emphasized.
In any case, and for those who support the idea of decentralization and prefer to keep their Bitcoins in their own custody, there are important tips that Jameson Lopp himself revealed to spread this trend. One of them, for example, is to protect the seed phrase in metal supports.