If you are new to bitcoin, you might be surprised to learn that many people the bitcoin community once considered kings that would help lead us to the promised land; have time and time again disappointed us. Just to name a few there have been Eric Voorhees, Jihan Wu, Roger Ver, Gavin Andresen, and Elon Musk and the list goes on. The bitcoin community is one of the most passionate groups of people you will ever find. When you are in their favor, they will love you to the end of the earth and treat you like a God. But, if you do something that they don't agree with, they will turn their backs on you and sent you into bitcoin exile.
Many people who are fans of other blockchains will call these types of people "toxic bitcoin maximalists," and that they are the very worst part of the cryptocurrency market. That they scare off many potential buyers, and also give this industry a bad reputation. To an extent I would definitely agree with this sentiment. The bitcoin market is a market that is completely new and foreign to money people just joining in, and it is our responsibility to pass on our knowledge to the next person in hopes of reaching mass use. And this toxic behavior will keep many people away.
But.
This toxic behavior is actually key to bitcoin's survival and without it, the coin would have long ago died.
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency coin that came into popularity and it paved the way for everything that you see today. Without bitcoin, none of this would exist. Bitcoin has seen constant attacks of FUD from the government, foreign governments, celebrities, hacks and rival coins. But perhaps the most difficult battle that bitcoin ever had was to come into popularity. It was the first of its kind.
Do you remember the first time that you heard of bitcoin and cryptocurrency? Most likely the first time you heard about it; you thought that it was some sort of fake internet money and was definitely a scam that would never go anywhere. To battle through this type of thinking, bitcoiners had to be incredibly stubborn and passionate. If they weren't and had given up, bitcoin wouldn't have survived until this day. So while it is unfortunate that bitcoin maximalists do scare people away, or rub them the wrong way. It is important to understand what has made them so important and valuable to bitcoin.
And in the they will be needed again. Many people believe that bitcoin will rise dramatically in price and compete to be the world reserve currency. If that is to come to fruition; then governments will begin an onslaught of attacks on bitcoin. This FUD will be unlike any FUD you have ever seen before. Governments will do anything to bring down the value of BTC in hopes that you will sell. Only the strong will be able to survive. People who are so stubbornly in love with bitcoin and what it could do for the world, that they would go against the government, hold their bitcoin and continue to preach to others how great it is. This is the future that is coming, and these are the type of people that will become bitcoin's biggest ally.
Throughout the years, people in bitcoin believed we needed a "superstar" that would give our cause some respect and help reach even more people. You can find a small list of some of those people at the beginning of this article. The moral of the story is that time and time again; these people were bitcoin's "chosen one." Call it a good thing, or a bad thing, but bitcoin maximalists believe bitcoin is the only legitimate coin out there. The only coin that is worth your time. And all of the people above began as bitcoin only. But, eventually they would turn their attention to other coins, and this caused bitcoin maximalists to forever send these people into exile. The most recent example of this is with Elon Musk. He was hailed as the person that would bring corporate adoption even further and push the price of bitcoin over $100,000. But now they are saying he is what is wrong with the market and the reason the price of bitcoin has completely tanked.
Time after time, bitcoin has showed that it doesn't need these incredibly influential people. The longer that bitcoin survives; with each passing block, bitcoin becomes stronger and stronger. The thing that makes bitcoin so strong is its passionate user base that isn't afraid to stand up to arguably the most influential person in the world. That is what makes bitcoin great, and that is what makes bitcoin strong.
Bitcoin has one remaining "king" at the current moment and his name is Michael Saylor. At the moment, he would definitely be considered one of the most bullish people for bitcoin. He is credited with starting corporate adoption for bitcoin, and perhaps even more importantly; continuing to have his company purchase more and doing whatever he can to spread the importance of bitcoin to as many people as he can. He is the person is can do no wrong at the moment. But if you have learned anything from this article; we need to be wary to put anyone on that great pedestal, that could turn and scar us even further. Who knows if Michael Saylor will be into bitcoin forever. He is more than welcome, but it shouldn't be an expectation.
As for me. I consider myself to be an open-minded bitcoin maximalist; which is probably an oxymoron. Bitcoin is by far the project that I like the most, believe in the most, and am the most passionate about. But, I do still like other projects such as ethereum, and think there are some great use cases for them in the market. I understand why people hate bitcoin maximalists and often sympathize with those people as well. But, I also understand why they are so important and vital to the past and future survival of bitcoin.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!
https://twitter.com/johnwege
How about you? What you think of bitcoin maximalists? Are they the worst thing about cryptocurrency, or perhaps a secret strength? Which bitcoin "king" has let you down the most?
As always, thank you for reading!
