Bitcoin Maximalist: Definition, Toxic Beliefs & Critiques (2024)
Level: Beginner
We’re absolutely for Bitcoin, this much should hopefully obvious to all readers by now! We also strongly encourage everyone to exclusively focus on Bitcoin, Not Crypto. This is because from our extensive reviews, experience, testing and discussions we’ve seen that the vast, vast majority of other altcoins are at best inferior and at worst, outright scams. But does this make us, or anyone else who champions Bitcoin a Bitcoin maximalist?
Contents
What Is Bitcoin Maximalism?
What Backs These Beliefs?
Fixed Monetary Policy
Truly Decentralized Nature
Network Security
Verifiable, Free, Open And Permissionless
Fully Sovereign
Critiques Against Bitcoin Maximalists
The Athena Assessment
What Is Bitcoin Maximalism?
A Bitcoin Maximalist, generally speaking, believes that:
Bitcoin is the only real cryptocurrency that matters
Bitcoin is superior to all other cryptos, “alts”, tokens etc
Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that is a true store of value
Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that can become the worlds reserve currency
That being said, just like Bitcoin itself, the exact ideals established by Bitcoin Maximalists, Bitcoin Maximalism or a “Bitcoin Maxi” isn’t a set thing. Bitcoin has no single source of centralized truth controlling it, this means Bitcoin Maximalism has no official formal definition.
As a result, the above points are general in nature and depending on who you speak to or read, there may be more qualifiers or things that they insist a Bitcoin maxi needs to be or believe in. For example, many also state that Bitcoin Maximalists should adhere strictly to the philosophy and principles set out in the Bitcoin Whitepaper.
Some go even deeper insisting that a Bitcoin Maxi should agree with all the things Satoshi Nakamoto said or wrote. Others agree with some parts, but not all and others again have different levels of viewing certain points above such as whether a fiat money or Bitcoin will dominate as the global reserve asset.
What Backs These Beliefs?
Don’t Trust, Verify
So why do so many people define themselves as a bitcoin maxi? More to the point, why do so many people study Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, only to then focus solely on Bitcoin? There’s been numerous examples of people starting out either promoting altcoins or attacking cryptocurrencies in general, only to entirely reverse course and bet everything on Bitcoin.
To fully understand why Bitcoin Maximalists insist that Bitcoin is the only “real” or valuable cryptocurrency and that it’s superior, let’s dive into a number of core points that most Bitcoin Maximalists would focus on.
Fixed Monetary Policy
Bitcoin has a fixed supply as set out by Satoshi Nakamoto and is the scarcest monetary asset in the world. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins as defined by the monetary policy which for all intense and purpose, will never be changed.
This is in stark contrast to all other cryptocurrencies that have everything from unlimited supply caps to ones that are changed constantly by their creators. One of the core breakthrough characteristics that makes Bitcoin so amazing is this fixed supply. Humanity has never before had a money with a fixed supply!
This capped supply and utterly unwavering, unchangeable monetary policy is absolutely core to a Bitcoin maximalist. It’s also what makes Bitcoin a new asset class and an incredibly popular investment. While other cryptocurrencies may have more complex smart contracts, there’s distinct advantages to having your investment be rock solid stable and unchanging for over a decade.
Truly Decentralized Nature
No one owns, runs or controls Bitcoin. Instead the system is changed using bottom up agreement called consensus. From Bitcoin Miners to node operators to developers, all are free to accept or reject any new proposal.
All Bitcoin transactions are also saved to the Blockchain (a database if you will). A copy of this Bitcoin blockchain is voluntarily stored on tens of thousands of computers called “nodes” all across the world. With so many copies in so many places (even in space!) it’s one of, if not the most distributed and decentralized network ever created.
This is again in stark contrast to all other cryptocurrencies that may only have a mere handful of full nodes, leaving the network exposed to capture or censorship. Even Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency, only has about 6,500, a full 90% less than Bitcoins.
Network Security
The worlds biggest supercomputer, made up of millions of independent and globally distributed networked computers called “miners” protect every Bitcoin. This network hasn’t been hacked since its inception and continues to grow in size every year thanks to its huge first mover advantage.
Bitcoin transactions, once confirmed in a block which takes on average 10 minutes, are irreversible and final. They cannot be clawed back via “charge backs” or other parties meaning you can be certain that the bitcoins you receive are truly yours.
As every bitcoin is precisely tracked by the Bitcoin Blockchain, which is distributed on tens of thousands of enforcing nodes all over the world, counterfeiting one is also impossible as it would be immediately detected and rejected by the entire network. In its entire life, there’s never been a single Double Spend on the Bitcoin network, a testament to its amazing security.
All of this combines to make Bitcoin the most secure network by a huge margin.
Verifiable, Free, Open And Permissionless
While other cryptocurrencies can be hard to verify unless you’re a trained IT expert, bitcoins are not only easy for anyone to verify using a cheap Bitcoin Full Node, but the process is entirely automatic and free meaning it can be set as the default for everyone, for every transaction.
Some other cryptocurrencies can be easy when it comes to verifying, but often require expensive and extremely complex computers to run the full nodes. The fact that you can spend about $300 and easily build your very own, private full node then use it to verify every bitcoin on the network is a very intentional and important distinction that has greatly helped Bitcoin popularity over the years.
>> Learn More: How To Build A Sexy Umbrel Node For $300
Fully Sovereign
The Bitcoin network exists independently of any country, government or company. No one controls, owns or runs it and as such, it is completely sovereign. Instead, decisions on how Bitcoin evolves are made through the Bitcoin governance.
This is a formal process that involves proposals being put forth by anyone, those proposals being reviewed and discussed by all, and then the users of the Bitcoin network “voting” on them by choosing to run that new software change on their computers.
Bitcoin can also be used without having to ask anyone for permission. You don’t need to created an account, sign up to a company or tell anyone who you are to use it. This is extremely important for billions of people who are not allowed to register with legacy financial institutions.
While many cryptocurrencies may be able to be used without permission, most have companies or individuals that control and govern them making them securities in the eyes of the law and not sovereign. This is especially important when it comes to adoption as a world reserve currency, as governments would never use a currency that’s owned by a company.
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Critiques Against Bitcoin Maximalists
There are some bad things about the general philosophy of Bitcoin Maximalism. For one, some tend to focus on Bitcoin and not just exclude other cryptos, but refuse to give them any quarter regardless of if they’re a legitimate project or have new, interesting ideas.
The main arguments for this is to stop people from getting scammed and losing money, but it can also lead to the crushing of innovation and new, future breakthroughs.
There’s a big difference between steering new comers away from wanting to invest in dodgy crypto businesses that end up using them as Exit Liquidity, and refusing to allow anything but Bitcoin to be discussed.
The Athena Assessment
We are not against other companies or people innovating and bringing new ideas or even cryptocurrencies to the market. This is especially true as the overall industry matures over the coming years, but right now, it’s pretty bleak and extremely hazardous to peoples wealth to invest in those new ideas.
We’re also excited to see the world zero in on a single, standard, global and online money just like we have standard Time and standard Length. But we would never exclude new inventions or ideas.
>> Deeper Dive: Bitcoin Unit Of Account: A Profound Shift For All Humanity
Science has always been about pushing forward by re-writing the old ideas with new, better ones. Bitcoin itself has done this to fiat currencies and while we currently can’t see any newer, better idea that might outshine Bitcoin, it’d be pure arrogance to declare it impossible.
Bitcoin is currently superior to all other cryptocurrencies in many extremely important ways. It is also currently the only cryptocurrency that is a true store of value and that has a shot at becoming the worlds reserve currency due to its unchangeable monetary policy, incredible decentralization, sovereignty, openness and security. If people want to call us Bitcoin Maximalists for agreeing with these facts, then so be it.
We support Bitcoin and Bitcoin only because it’s an astonishing invention that has the potential to lift all of humanity up in ways that simply weren’t possible before. Perhaps one day another technology will be discovered that will take humanity even higher. For now though, we focus on lifting up Bitcoin as best we can.
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