Has Wall Street taken over Bitcoin?

Institutional adoption is threatening Bitcoin's revolutionary mission, says Ben Hunt, founder of Second Foundation Partners.

Ben Hunt, founder of Second Foundation Partners and lead author of the Epsilon Theory blog, is convinced institutional adoption poses an existential threat to Bitcoin's identity as an instrument of financial freedom. 

As investment funds, banks and tech companies continue getting involved in the space, Bitcoin's (BTC) fundamental properties — permissionless access and censorship resistance — are becoming increasingly marginalized, Hunt told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. 

“What we are seeing is the Facebook-ization of Bitcoin. And it becomes absolutely controlled and in service to Wall Street and the government,” said Hunt.

According to Hunt, institutions have created  “securitized,” “permissioned” versions of Bitcoin, allowing investors to get exposure to the world's largest cryptocurrency without holding it directly.

In Hunt’s view, governments are encouraging Wall Street’s co-option of Bitcoin, as it will make the leading cryptocurrency easier to control. As Hunt points out, financial institutions in the United States are required to disclose their customers’ identities and transaction information according to the Bank Secrecy Act.

“If you put money into a Bitcoin-related private fund, there's no more revolution, there's no more resistance associated with that,” he said. 

But is it really too late to preserve Bitcoin’s revolutionary identity?

To find out, watch the full interview on our YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe!