Using something does not mean you own it. Anthropic was using its own model. It was selling it to its customers. It was generating its own revenue. Yet one day, access was cut off. Because although the model was theirs, the plug wasn’t. Most people think this is an AI news story. It’s not. The same mechanism works at banks, on stock exchanges, and in crypto. The balance you see on your screen may be yours. But if access to that balance depends on someone else’s permission, what you have is not ownership—it’s access rights. You only understand the difference when the door shuts. Anthropic objected. It provided technical justifications. It said the decision was wrong. None of it mattered. Because the party pulling the plug wasn’t them. That’s exactly where self-custody begins. Is your asset truly in your possession? Or are you merely being shown it?