Bitcoin OG Willy Woo believes that Bitcoin (BTC) is “the perfect asset for the next 1,000 years,” yet cautions that it will never rival gold or the U.S. dollar unless it attracts far more investment.
Speaking at the Baltic Honeybadger Conference in Riga, Latvia, Woo emphasized that BTC’s true potential lies in becoming a world reserve asset—but only if enough capital flows in.
“You don’t get to change the world unless this monetary asset — in my opinion, the perfect asset for the next thousand years — gets big enough to rival the U.S. dollar,” Woo said.
Currently, Bitcoin’s market cap is around $2.42 trillion, which is less than 11% of gold’s $23 trillion and well behind the U.S. dollar’s $21.9 trillion money supply.
Bitcoin Treasury Firms: A Double-Edged Sword
Woo noted that Bitcoin treasury companies are boosting adoption but warned of hidden risks in their debt structures. Without transparency, these firms could face collapse during market downturns.
“The weak ones will blow up… and people can lose a lot of money,” Woo cautioned.
He compared this to the altcoin treasury boom, which risks creating another speculative bubble.
The ETF and Pension Fund Risk
Woo also warned that the growing reliance on spot Bitcoin ETFs and institutional custody solutions—instead of self-custody—could centralize BTC under government control, potentially enabling a nation-state rug pull.
While ETFs and institutional products bring in massive capital flows, they also mean most investors aren’t holding their own keys, leaving them exposed if governments decide to act against Bitcoin.
The Self-Custody Evolution
Max Kei, CEO of Debifi, said self-custody adoption will spread from large custodians to corporations and, eventually, to individuals.
“It’s just going to spread out massively,” Kei said.
Meanwhile, Blockstream CEO Adam Back argued that corporate adoption remains the most logical starting point, advising companies to compare their ROI against Bitcoin’s long-term returns:
“If a company can’t beat Bitcoin, they should close up shop and buy Bitcoin.”
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Bitcoin may be designed for the next millennium, but Woo’s message is clear — it will only reach that potential if capital flows grow and true decentralization via self-custody takes hold.