Custody vs. self-custody: who wins?

I often say here: keep your crypto in your own wallet, and if you need to swap one coin for another, use rabbit.io. But today’s news shows that sometimes a CEX can actually turn out to be the safer option. Not safer than swapping on rabbit.io, of course - but safer than self-custody.

Kevin Durant’s agent revealed that the NBA star bought bitcoin back in 2016. The coins have been sitting on Coinbase ever since, and the only reason they weren’t sold is because Durant forgot his account password. According to the report, Coinbase is now helping him regain access.

If I remember correctly, in 2016 Coinbase still allowed crypto deposits without full KYC. If that’s the case, the “help” from the exchange most likely means asking Durant to prove he’s the rightful owner of those bitcoins.

That’s not easy - but at least there’s a chance. With self-custody, if you lose your keys, there’s no way back. Even if Satoshi Nakamoto himself showed up, he couldn’t move his coins without the private keys.

Personally, I think Coinbase will restore Durant’s access. Now that the story has gone public, it would be hard for them to stall or refuse.

But there’s still one trick the exchange could pull: convince Durant not to withdraw, but instead to “reinvest” in something supposedly even more promising than bitcoin - the asset that has already brought him a 150x return for nine years.

What do you think: will he cash out, or will he stay in the game?