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Years ago, when I started my cryptocurrency journey, I was a Bitcoin maximalist. For those who don't know, that means I only believed that Bitcoin was necessary in the cryptocurrency space. My thought process was that Bitcoin was functional and had the support of miners who supported the robust POW protocol. All the other coins were shitcoins to be pumped and dumped.
Slowly, I can around to accept other coins. Litecoin was my first altcoin, and I enjoyed the speed and low transaction cost. Litecoin had a community like Bitcoin, and Charlie Lee was a figurehead of the coin. I could accept Litecoin was a worthy addition to the cryptocurrency universe and so I purchased some. Bitcoin was seen as gold and Litecoin as silver.
My worldview was flipped when I discovered Ethereum. ETH was a coin with an ecosystem. My mind was blown when I found Metamask and the ERC-20 coins that each had their own community and functionality. I then became enamored with Defi and cryptocurrency trading. In my mind, this was the new banking system and a new microcap stock market I could play 24/7. I became absorbed into the cryptocurrency universe and was excited to see the evolution of the space. Bitcoin was essential a digital money order and all these coins were shiny and new. Decentralized wallets, exchanges and apps ruled the day.
I felt conflicted when in 2016, there were over 1,000 cryptocurrencies listed on Coinmarketcap. Why did all these shitcoins exist? I loved altcoins at the time, and felt that 99% of these coins were superfluous and possibly scams.
It is now my belief that digital money and cryptocurrency should not be limited. Every community can have their own coin and use it. If you're into music, art, finance etc. there is a community and a decentralized currency could serve each community. There could theoretically be an unlimited number of cryptocurrencies with their own ecosystem and the ability to convert them into Bitcoin, Ethereum, cash and more assets. Cryptocurrencies are commodities and thus they are products of protocols that make them. I think of cryptocurrencies like a can of Pepsi and equities as a share of Pepsi stock.
Bitcoin will always be one of my favorite coins. It is slow when many transactions are in the que, but the Lightning Network has changed some aspects of the asset. Cryptocurrencies including BLURT, ETH, LINK and the thousands more hold a place in the world, and their use as digital money orders can outshine Bitcoin. I think cryptocurrency is the money of the future and community.