Michael Saylor's remarks about Bitcoin self-preservation led to a great outcry in the crypto community, after which Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also voiced his criticism. Saylor had labeled Bitcoin self-preservation as too fanatical and cited concerns that the U.S. government would take away this right "paranoid fear" spread by crypto-anarchists.

I probably did more than most to spread the "mountain man" trope (btw I consider those remarks of mine outdated; snarks and AA changed the tradeoff space completely), and I'll happily say that I think @saylor's comments are batshit insane.

He seems to be explicitly arguing for a…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 22, 2024

Saylor argued that large financial institutions, which specialize in managing assets, are better able to store Bitcoin than individual users with hardware wallets. This was a clear rejection of storing your assets yourself.

Buterin, on the other hand, called this vision "completely absurd". According to the Ethereum founder, this would make Saylor explicitly advocate a regulatory approach that protects crypto through institutional control, which he says is at odds with Bitcoin's decentralized ethos.

On Oct. 23, however, Saylor backtracked on his statements. He stated that he supports self-preservation for those willing and able to do so.

I support self-custody for those willing & able, the right to self-custody for all, and freedom to choose the form of custody & custodian for individuals & institutions globally. #Bitcoin benefits from all forms of investment by all types of entities, and should welcome everyone.
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) October 23, 2024

Michael Saylor is known as one of Bitcoin's biggest proponents. MicroStrategy, the company he is CEO of, owns more than 250,000 BTC, making it the publicly traded company with the largest Bitcoin stock in the world. In the future, MicroStrategy plans to increasingly position itself as a Bitcoin bank.