Are we repeating history with Bitcoin?

So here's the deal: some folks are still backing Bitcoin ETFs, which just gives more power to the top 1%. The truth is, we should be the ones managing our Bitcoin, not relying on anyone else. Self-custody is key, especially now that institutional players are shifting from Bitcoin to Gold whenever the market gets shaky. This wasn’t the situation a few years back before ETFs came around. It feels like we're on the brink of something unprecedented. Just look at the low buying power, weak investments, and high unemployment rates. Are we really making the same mistakes our ancestors did? Investing in stuff designed to fatten the wallets of the elite while trapping the average person? Satoshi created Bitcoin to free us, not to put us in chains. Did he not know what he was doing by making Bitcoin a trustless system that cuts out the middlemen? We’ve got something amazing in BTC. Let’s not ruin it by jumping into Bitcoin ETFs when we could easily just grab a solid self-custodial wallet and hold our coins ourselves. Also, a huge factor to consider is that institutional investors have poured $2.05 trillion into global AI this year. Honestly, I think every dollar that goes into that will push more Bitcoin miners to stop mining, since AI mining is on the rise. This could lead to job losses, a drop in spending, and ultimately a crash in tax revenues. Something HUGE is coming, and it's scary to think that the same institutions that built the system are the ones who will end up enslaving us all.

Investing in Bitcoin ETF is not the same as bitcoin investment, people should know this and if you are more interested in making profit and control your assets in your own way I'm maximize every opportunity to be in control of your asset, then go for Bitcoin and don't give a third party your fund to invest and share you a certain percentage from the profit they are making, I hope by now many already understand the difference between the two.

I took the test. ETN's is unregulated and you cant raise claims if the provider goes bankrupt. Got some fresh Cardano ETN's now. Who cares if they go bankrupt?

When people complain about how ETFs are accumulating Bitcoin, my question is, what can be done to stop them? Let me guess that Bitcoiners should increase awareness about the dangers of investing through third parties. And encouraging people to adopt self-custody. I have always told anybody who wants to know about  Bitcoin to buy directly and I have never considered investing in ETFs. The majority of those who invest in ETFs are avoiding the responsibility of self-custody, or they have confidence in the providers. People will never learn until they become victims.

The "you can take a horse to the river but can't force it to drink" still exist and people know it, people knows what they are signing up for, while to you, you think they are stupid but you can not force people do what you like, you can't make them do what they feel is not safe for them 🤷‍♀️, as they believed that bitcoin ETF is low risk to the real Bitcoin, they should experience what comes by such decision. They have done there research before investing on ETF and at the end of the day, it's just profit they want which they will likely get as long as Bitcoin value appreciates.

True, everyone has a different risk comfort level. Some choose ETFs because they feel easier and safer, even if it means not holding real Bitcoin. At the end, both are just trying to profit, and if Bitcoin keeps growing, both can still win.

True, ETFs can’t really be stopped. The only thing we can do is keep educating people about self custody and why holding your own keys matters. Some will always choose convenience, and many only learn the difference later.

What do you mean by who cares? People who don't have a lot to risk should care, they must risk only what they can afford to lose, if you don't care that you can lose alot on any investment choice you are a reckless investor. Even popular rich investors won't advice you to invest alot simply because they are sure about what they are investing money on, nothing is guaranteed, every investments only deserves some percentage of your money.

I don't know if individuals who will only be buying a few amount of bitcoins will be resorting to ETFs. Most are probably company owners who may have millions to spare. If there's any I hope they realize that the fees and the sacrifice of once again giving power to a third party is not worth it. Owning bitcoin ourselves is the best we can do for ourselves and our family.

No initiative or government policy that can centralize bitcoin for any purpose, the network has been built on such a way that does not permit for centralization, that is why when we look at the element of blockchain we are going to see a lot of futures that does not support what a third party can control or tamper with, all this make it a complete trust we had on the Bitcoin network for our safety.

The problem is that most of those people buying bitcoin from ETFs are the people who cannot be in self custody of their bitcoin. Bitcoin ETFs gave some the confidence to start buying bitcoin because they believe ETF will be in full responsibility of their coins. This wasn't how bitcoin was designed. Currently, most investors are only after making profit from bitcoin which has made them neglect the importance of being in control of their bitcoin. This is why they don't bother about keeping their bitcoin with a third-party.

Most in the Bitcoin universe have contradictory goals: they want Bitcoin to be a strange and religiously pure realm that only hardcores can understand, but they also want the investment money from mainstream investors so their Bitcoin value moons and they can retire comfortably from the profits. For almost all users of Bitcoin today, it's defacto centralized. That ship sailed a long time ago. If you use any kind of bank, app, any of the ETFs, any L2, any investment app, or anything that provides you custody of your Bitcoin (which isn't really "your Bitcoin" in these cases, it's just an entry in an Oracle database entry with your name and the # of sats you own), then that's centralized. And easily 95% of individuals who invest in Bitcoin today do so in one of these ways. That's what started happening to Bitcoin starting 10+ years ago. This is nothing new. The minute Bitcoin and digital currency became defacto legal, it was no longer necessary to have a decentralized infrastructure, so people started moving away from it since decentralized architectures cannot possibly scale to mainstream use. That's also why subsequent cryptos--who collectively have roughly the same market value as Bitcoin--are almost all defacto centralized from an architectural standpoint (i.e. the proof-of-stake model). And now many major cryptos don't even pretend to be decentralized like XRP and Hedera, which doesn't even use blockchain. The only thing people care about with Bitcoin is that the price goes up after they buy it. Centralization helps the price go up by expanding access to more investors. Therefore Bitcoin will become more centralized. It's as simple as that.