Bitcoin maximalists believe that Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, is the only digital asset that will be needed in the future.

In 2017, a year when every single altcoin was either dead or dying and everyone had lost their minds over ICOs (initial coin offerings) — a new kind of fundraising mechanism for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Cardano, Stellar Lumens, etc. — the word “maximalism” came into vogue as an insult against those who were trying to build up blockchain-based projects on top of existing blockchains.

It wasn’t long before some people started using it to describe any project built upon another one, especially if they wanted to have more control over how things work. This might explain why many call Libra, Facebook’s upcoming stablecoin, “the first real Maximalist Project.” But what does this mean exactly, and why has there been such a backlash towards it? What makes something become a maximalist project?

Maximalism in Bitcoin

Maximalism can be defined both as a philosophy and a method of building software systems. It usually involves breaking down large tasks into smaller ones while keeping everything else consistent with each other. For example, instead of creating your own payment system, you could use PayPal, Venmo, AliPay, etc., all of them being different forks of Paypal but still compatible with it. If you’re running a website, you don’t need to write the code yourself, just buy hosting space somewhere. You can choose between multiple providers, but make sure they keep compatibility with each other. In general, anything that’s not broken should stay broken. That said, maximalism isn’t about doing nothing at all. Some people advocate the idea of starting small and growing big later on, perhaps by incorporating more users gradually. Others simply want to do whatever they feel like without worrying too much about other people’s opinions, even if it means sacrificing functionality. The latter group often refers to themselves as Bitcoiners since they hold strong beliefs in decentralization and freedom of choice. They also tend to think that others shouldn’t be able to dictate rules of the game unless they’re willing to pay a price for it.

This attitude is best exemplified by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, better known as “Mr. Money Mustache,” who runs his own blog where he shares stories of personal finance triumphs along with advice on how to live frugally and save money. He once wrote an essay called “Why I am a Bitcoiner,” outlining the reasons behind his support for decentralized currencies. One reason stood out because it reflected the mentality of Bitcoin maximalists:

I’m a maximalist because no matter what happens, bitcoin is here forever… And I’ll tell you why: Because nobody knows how it works. No government agency controls it. No powerful programmer sits around making decisions on what goes on in its core protocol. Nobody gets rich off the back-end fees. There is no central authority that says we’ve got to change our designs now ’cause someone wants us to.’ Bitcoin doesn’t care about any of that. That’s very important.

So far, the term “bitcoin maximalism” seems synonymous with libertarian ideals. However, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it actually comes from Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin, who used it to refer to himself. Also be sure to signup for free bitcoin cashback rewards.

So is Mr. Money Mustache really a bitcoiner then? Not quite. Although he believes that Bitcoin needs to remain true to itself and never compromise, he thinks it would serve …….

Source: https://www.bitrates.com/news/p/the-only-cryptocurrency-what-is-maximalism-in-bitcoin

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