Once celebrated for its fiercely decentralized foundation and unwavering focus on individual freedoms, Bitcoin has found itself entangled with increasing institutional influence. Aaron Day, one of the cryptocurrency’s earliest adopters, reflects on this transition through the lens of his own journey. Day, a co-founder of the Daylight Freedom Foundation, has long championed financial sovereignty and personal liberty. As a former president of the New Hampshire-based Free State Project, he witnessed firsthand ambitious efforts to empower individuals to forge their own independent financial systems.
Questioning Bitcoin’s Founding Mission
In Bitcoin’s early years, its anti-censorship and decentralized ethos led the crypto community to nickname it “digital gold.” Over time, however, Day believes this label has lost its original meaning. Having started using Bitcoin in 2012, he argues that the system has become increasingly vulnerable to centralized control and the sway of large financial institutions. While his outspoken criticism on social media has sometimes earned him a reputation as a conspiracy theorist among detractors, Day’s background and his current research role at the Brownstone Institute add deeper context to his viewpoint.
Early Adoption and Transformation in New Hampshire
In New Hampshire—the state known for its “Live Free or Die” motto—Day experienced a unique period, 15 years ago, when Bitcoin was seamlessly used in daily life. Several local restaurants and shops accepted Bitcoin as direct payment. Through the Free State Project, Day encouraged individuals seeking financial independence to relocate and participate in a more autonomous community.
“At events in 2012, people talked about Bitcoin replacing central banks and enabling transactions without intermediaries. That was my first introduction to the philosophy,” Day reflects, explaining the initial appeal Bitcoin held for him.
Things began to change in 2017, Day notes, as escalating transaction fees and longer confirmation times made Bitcoin increasingly impractical for everyday purchases.
“Suddenly fees shot up. Confirmation times went from seconds to days, and its core promise of borderless, intermediary-free transactions faded away,” he recalls of that disruptive period.
The Shift from Everyday Currency to a Store of Value
Although Bitcoin was originally conceived as a digital currency for daily spending, it gradually came to be seen as a “store of value” or digital gold. Day argues that this narrative diverges sharply from Bitcoin’s intended purpose.
“No one thought of Bitcoin merely as something to stash away. The original white paper never defined it that way, and that’s not how it was used,” he insists.
This shift coincided with the advent of so-called Layer 2 solutions, including Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network, designed to reduce transaction costs and processing times. While developers justified these protocols as technical necessities, Day interprets them as steps that stray from Bitcoin’s foundational vision.
Institutional and Financial Influence Expands
In Bitcoin’s infancy, the U.S.-based nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation played a key role by supporting open-source developers. Internal disputes, however, soon diminished the foundation’s influence. As a result, the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative stepped in, offering financial support to Bitcoin’s core developers. While some in the crypto ecosystem saw this as a welcome opportunity, Day views it as evidence of deepening corporate oversight in Bitcoin’s development process.
“After MIT got involved, many of the same developers working on SegWit and the Lightning Network shifted Bitcoin from a peer-to-peer payments system to digital gold,” Day asserts.
Over time, Bitcoin increasingly became intertwined with traditional financial infrastructure, including exchange-traded funds, institutional custody, and national reserves. In Day’s view, this new trajectory marks a clear departure from Bitcoin’s initial ideal of decentralization.
“At this stage, it looks as if all of crypto has essentially been captured,” he concludes, summing up his apprehensions.
