Was Bitcoin Hijacked? How Institutional Interests Shaped Its Narrative Since 2015
Aaron Day argues Bitcoin was steered from a decentralized cash alternative toward institutional integration since 2015.Summary
Aaron Day, co-founder of Daylight Freedom, contends that Bitcoin's original mission as a decentralized alternative to state finance has been co-opted by institutional interests since 2015. Day, an early Bitcoin user in New Hampshire where it was widely accepted as spendable cash, observed a narrative shift around 2017 when transaction fees soared, rendering it impractical for everyday use. This coincided with the rise of Layer 2 solutions like SegWit and Lightning Network, which Day views as technical trade-offs that hobbled peer-to-peer cash functionality. He links this shift to changes in funding: after the Bitcoin Foundation collapsed, the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative, directed by Joi Ito (linked to Jeffrey Epstein), began funding core developers. Day suggests this institutional backing steered development toward the 'Bitcoin is digital gold' narrative, moving away from its peer-to-peer cash roots, culminating in today's integration via ETFs and centralized custody, suggesting crypto has been 'hijacked.'
(Source：BeInCrypto)