Early BTC Core Developer Has Some Advice for Bitcoin Maximalists

Matt Corallo – a long-time Bitcoin developer and one of Blockstream’s Co-Founders – thinks BTC maximalists are not helping their favorite cryptocurrency by calling all other digital asset protocols “scams.” Instead, those should respect some altcoins because many have significant use-cases.

Over the years, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has amassed numerous individuals as outspoken supporters who believe that BTC is the only digital asset worth discussing and investing in. Such examples are Max Keiser and Michael Saylor.

‘Bitcoin Maxis Are a Dying Breed’

In a series of tweets, Corallo opined that bitcoin maximalists should stay loyal to their dearest digital asset and keep praising its unique nature. However, they should also refrain from attacking all other projects and labeling them as scams. He added that in the last couple of years, money has been flowing to all kinds of protocols as some of them are clearly not pump-and-dump schemes.

1/ Bitcoin maxis are a dying breed. While there was a time where ~everything except Bitcoin was basically a scam, that hasn’t been true for a long time, and the smart money has moved on to figuring out which projects are going somewhere, and which are straight pump-and-dumps.

— Matt Corallo (@TheBlueMatt) August 8, 2022

The adverse stance from bitcoin maxis towards the alternative coins could create a “narrative war.” The one group would claim that Proof-of-Work and BTC are the only meaningful things in the industry, while the other would maintain that PoW is so harmful to the environment that it “boils the ocean.” This hate between the two sides is completely unnecessary and will halt the progress of the crypto sector, Corallo stated.

Despite being the ultimate leader in the crypto universe, bitcoin has lost some of its supremacy in the past few years. In 2017, the capitalization of the primary cryptocurrency encompassed nearly 70% of the total market. Nowadays, though, it represents 41%. The second-largest digital asset protocol – Ethereum – has been gradually catching up and currently makes up about 19% of crypto’s entire market cap.

It is also on its way to shifting from a Proof-of-Work mechanism to Proof-of-Stake. The transition is expected to boost Ethereum’s development by making it less harmful to nature, more scalable, and more secure. It is yet to be seen how BTC maxis will react to such a positive change fueled by the shift from PoW to PoS.

Prominent Bitcoin Maxis

When speaking of people who display their support toward BTC all the time and reject every altcoin, it is worth starting with Max Keiser. The American broadcaster and filmmaker often praises the largest digital asset as the best financial tool that exists. He also supported El Salvador authorities’ decision to make it a legal tender inside its borders.

MicroStrategy’s Executive Chairman – Michael Saylor – is part of that club, too. He believes bitcoin is the best monetary instrument that people could hold. In his view, it is much better than fiat currency and could serve as a successful hedge against inflation during times of economic collapse (like nowadays).

For his part, the author of “The Bitcoin Standard” – Dr. Saifedean Ammous – claims bitcoin is the better version of gold as people do not have to worry about whether the coin has base metal inside it. The asset is also fully transparent, and everybody can see every single transaction. Touching upon inflation, Ammous said:

“Bitcoin is essentially the most powerful defensive technology against inflation. It’s an enormous quantum leap forward in the technology of money as protection of value against inflation. I think it’s a natural fit to anybody who is productive and wants to save their value into the future.”