Strike CEO Jack Mallers: Wall Street won’t kill Bitcoin

Strike founder Jack Mallers told the What Bitcoin Did podcast on Thursday that Wall Street participation does not threaten Bitcoin’s core principles. “My one-word answer to that is no,” he said. “If Wall Street getting into Bitcoin kills it, it was never going to be successful in the first place.”

Mallers said Bitcoin was designed to be money for everyone, including people you disagree with. He illustrated the point with an example: “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.”

Institutional interest has increased since U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched in January 2024. The 11 spot ETFs have attracted $59.38 billion in net inflows as of Friday, according to Farside data.

Mallers framed the trend as part of Bitcoin’s competition for global capital, noting that assets that hold wealth often move into tradable forms. He said, “real estate will be demonetized, fine art will be demonetized, government debt will be demonetized, and Bitcoin will be monetized.”

Some community members have raised concerns about concentrated influence from large holders. Nic Carter, a venture capitalist and bitcoin advocate, warned earlier this year that big institutional holders could pressure development teams and replace developers if they disagree with technical priorities. “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.

Practical signs of Wall Street entering crypto include a recent Morgan Stanley pilot on its E*Trade platform that offers retail cryptocurrency trading at 50 basis points per transaction. The pilot charges a lower basic retail fee than several major crypto and brokerage platforms.

Debate over custody, governance and development priorities faces new scrutiny with additional capital and traditional financial firms entering the market.