Strike CEO Jack Mallers dismisses idea that Wall Street threatens Bitcoin

Strike CEO Jack Mallers said Wall Street’s growing involvement in Bitcoin does not pose a threat or conflict to the asset itself.

“My one-word answer to that is no,” Mallers told Danny Knowles on the What Bitcoin Did podcast published to YouTube on Thursday, responding to a question on whether institutional involvement threatens Bitcoin’s core principles.

“If Wall Street getting into Bitcoin kills it, it was never going to be successful in the first place,” Mallers said.

Jack Mallers spoke to Danny Knowles on the What Bitcoin Did podcast. Source: What Bitcoin Did

“Bitcoin is predicated on this idea that it is money for all. And the all part should be explored. That means your enemies, too,” he said. “That means the ex-wife that cheated on you, that means your neighbor that's a fan of the opposing football club, that's everybody,” he added.

Bitcoin is competing for global capital: Mallers

Bitcoin diehards have argued that Wall Street’s presence threatens its ethos as it concentrates ownership, influence and custody of the asset in large financial institutions, with some worried it could give them too much influence over Bitcoin development.

Nic Carter said that major Bitcoin-holding institutions may eventually lose patience with Bitcoin developers for not addressing quantum computing concerns quickly enough. “I think the big institutions that now exist in Bitcoin, they will get fed up, and they will fire the devs and put in new devs,” Carter said in February.

Since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the US in January 2024, the 11 funds have collectively recorded $59.38 billion in net inflows, according to Farside data.

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Mallers said the “obvious implication” is that Wall Street and other major traditional investors would get involved in Bitcoin as the asset competes for global capital.

“Where wealth exists today, those things will be demonetized like real estate will be demonetized, fine art will be demonetized, government debt will be demonetized, and Bitcoin will be monetized,” he said.

Wall Street moves in on crypto platforms’ customers

Wall Street has accelerated its adoption of Bitcoin and crypto over the past few years.

Most recently, on Tuesday, it was reported that Morgan Stanley rolled out a cryptocurrency trading pilot on its E*Trade platform, charging lower basic retail fees than some of the largest US crypto and brokerage platforms. 

The Wall Street bank is charging clients 50 basis points on the dollar value of each crypto transaction, undercutting Coinbase, Robinhood and Charles Schwab on standard retail pricing. 

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