Bitcoin price not more important than financial independence: Trezor CEO

Amid Bitcoin (BTC) seeing a significant price increase so far in 2023, one industry executive stressed that some features of Bitcoin are far more crucial than its price.

Matěj Žák, the newly appointed CEO of crypto hardware firm Trezor, believes that Bitcoin-enabled financial independence is the top benefit of the cryptocurrency and is more important than its market price.

“The year 2023 will be marked by a consolidation of the market and for us,” Žák said in an interview with Cointelegraph, adding that now Trezor has an excellent opportunity to improve its products to prepare for the upcoming bull market.

Bitcoin’s ease of use is one of the primary directions Trezor will continue to focus on this year, as BTC and crypto are still often seen as complicated technical concepts, noted the CEO. “It’s our mission to make self-custody even more accessible for ordinary users,” he added.

Contrary to popular belief, Bitcoin is not a complicated tool but rather a “simple technology with huge potential,” according to Žák. That is because Bitcoin has unlocked unique features that could enable competition with rigid traditional financial systems, Trezor’s CEO said, adding:

“When you understand it in its broadest context, enabling financial self-sovereignty, for example, the price of Bitcoin becomes a secondary consideration. Philosophically this is where I am at.”

The news comes amid Bitcoin seeing solid gains over the past two weeks, returning to levels preceding the collapse of the FTX exchange in early November 2022. Since the beginning of 2023, Bitcoin has surged 14%, briefly hitting $19,000 on Jan. 13. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $18,900, up 3.6% over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.

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Trezor is one of few companies that benefited from the FTX collapse and the associated crisis of centralized crypto exchanges, reporting a 300% surge in sales by mid-November 2022. In January, the firm appointed Žák as the new CEO, taking over Trezor co-founder Marek Palatinus. The former CEO will remain at the company as an adviser to help guide the strategic and technical direction of the firm.