Bitcoin and Institutionalization 'Fundamentally Clash,' Says Bitcoin Ekasi Founder at BTC Prague

According to The Block, Hermann Vivier, founder of South African Bitcoin circular economy project Bitcoin Ekasi, said on Thursday at the BTC Prague conference that full institutionalization of Bitcoin would ruin its core value proposition. "There is a fundamental clash between the thing that Satoshi built and released in 2009 and the current system," Vivier said, adding that institutions seek control rather than self-custody and privacy.

Bitcoin Ekasi, established in 2021, has grown to give 180 people direct exposure to Bitcoin through staff and merchants, with 500 to 600 people using Bitcoin regularly through secondary exposure. Vivier noted similar grassroots circular economy movements are organically growing in South Africa and other regions, with six such economies on the country's Garden Route.