Bitcoin maximalists are real people who differ from other members of the cryptocurrency community in their rigid ideology in support of the first cryptocurrency. Although according to the concept of a Bitcoin maximalist, he rather supports not the first, but the only cryptocurrency.
The foundations of this ideology:
The only cryptocurrency that is truly decentralized and has value is Bitcoin.
Altcoins are parasites that interfere with the development of Bitcoin, but over time they will lose this struggle and devalue. Even popular projects such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Monero, or harmless Dogecoin are classified as fraud.
Anonymous transactions, smart contracts, decentralized applications, and other functions of other cryptocurrencies can be implemented based on the Bitcoin protocol — for example, by using sidechains or by improving source code.
Bitcoin maximalists are confident that over time the world will switch to the use of a single cryptocurrency and it will be Bitcoin.
For Bitcoin maximalists, BTC is not a "simple" technology. They compare the first cryptocurrency with the Internet, or the first car - that is, categories that have forever changed not only society but also cities, countries, and even the whole world.
Of course, its revolutionary concept is also connected with the value that people attribute to this asset.
It is no secret that altcoins are currently booming again. A number of them, for example, Tether and XRP, were criticized, including by the authorities. According to Bitcoin maximalists, shitcoins are dangerous only for those who are naive enough to succumb to the hype around them. Bitcoin is a separate phenomenon.
Nevertheless, some influential people in the crypto community think that things are different.
Principles of Bitcoin Maximalists
- Bitcoin is a truly decentralized cryptocurrency of real value.
- Altcoins are speculative assets that interfere with the development of Bitcoin.
- In the long run, all altcoins will devalue to zero, as the vast majority of them are outright fraud.
- Private payments, smart contracts, and blockchain applications can be implemented on the Bitcoin protocol (approx. - OMNI) or scalable sidechains.
- The whole world will use Bitcoin as a means of paying for goods and services.
Thus, Bitcoin maximalists do not care about the new technologies used in altcoin networks. Even if one altcoin or another is tens of times more technologically advanced than Bitcoin, all the same, Bitcoin maximalists will not prefer it to BTC.
The Main Arguments Of Bitcoin Maximalists
1. Maximalists believe that Bitcoin is the only global digital alternative to a state-run economy that, by its design, can withstand attacks from governments. This is the only one among money systems that offer truly neutral money.
Maximalists believe that other cryptocurrencies are less likely to stand this test of time and should be criticized, and their differences from Bitcoin should be understood by everyone.
2. Bitcoin maximalists believe that making technical changes to the network should be a slow and deliberate process that can only be achieved with almost universal consensus.
This is because Bitcoin maximalists recognize the right of all users to run and use the software at any time and oppose any attempts to make changes to the software that would require users to upgrade to a new version that is incompatible with their current version.
Maximalists believe that anyone who needs to use Bitcoin software cannot be deprived of this opportunity due to a lack of availability.
They believe that cryptocurrencies that update their software, forcing users to do the same without fail, risk depriving users of access to their funds. Accordingly, they criticize the developers, indicating the difference between their software and Bitcoin.
3. Even the most radical Bitcoin maximalists agree that new services and products have appeared in the crypto sector and that the result of these efforts can help Bitcoin get better.
However, they believe that these crypto assets and services benefit from the current short-term limitations of Bitcoin, and therefore their use should be discouraged to inspire and finance the development of similar proposals created in the Bitcoin network.
Examples of this can be stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, such as Tether, and even the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which, before scaling for payments, tried to replace the dedicated crypto protocols that were allegedly developed for this purpose.
In Conclusion
The above principles of Bitcoin maximalism will undoubtedly find their critics, and there are probably those who generally consider them unnecessary. That's their right. No arguments on the part of Bitcoin maximalists will make the crypto economics sector or the world of fiat money disappear in an instant.
In the end, the current events in the world and the crypto market will judge Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
