I hear some people talk about how they hate the term Bitcoin Maximalist for various reasons - either because Vitalik Buterin came up with the term, or because of the "toxic" stigma attached to it.
I was suprised to see that Swan CEO, Cory Klippsten, said in a recent Tweet that he hates the term so much he has the word on his Twitter banned word list. He also said that the term Bitcoin Maximalist is "a diminutive of an epithet, created by a shitcoiner with the purpose of slandering Bitcoiners.
This is what ignited this question from me.
What do you think? Do you class yourself as a Bitcoin Maxi, or do you hate the word? Why and what do you use instead as a better alternative?
I call myself a Bitcoin Maxi🧡44.0%
I don't use the term🙅🏼♂️40.0%
Hate the term (explain why)😤6.7%
I use another term (explain)👀9.3%
75 votes \ poll ended
Why does it matter which person came up with a term?
Not using a word because of this actually gives this person you apparently hate so much power over you.
Reclaiming a word for yourself is the power move.
Absolutely! I call myself a Bitcoin Maxi I've never seen it as a negative thing
Agreed!
Relevant scene from Game of Thrones: https://youtu.be/7St9TtLzoLk
Vitalik's original definition is fair:
Unfortunately "maxi" has since come to be associated with the lowest common denominator on Twitter, and is mostly a stereotype peddled by influencers manufacturing drama for engagement.
Due to this baggage I don't find the term helpful and so avoid using it.
there's nothing fair about the definition of that pseudointellectual snake. Here's my two cents:
There are so many snakes shitting on maximalism these days that people start to forget what's actually underneath it. The fiat/shitcoin brain rot is real.
Wrong. Please listen what Bank for International Settlements is telling you: "Fragmentation means that (...) [Bitcoin] cannot fulfil the social role of money" (source)
How did you type out exactly what I was thinking?
It is not veey smart to be maxi of anything. Too much of one thing is never good. Balance my friends, balance:)
Indeed balance is important. But being a bitcoin maxi is a protection against bullshit. For more you know / learn about Bitcoin, more you became a bitcoin maxi.
That is true indeed. But it could also lead to a path where you start having a blind fold which is never good.
Bitcoin maxis always win.
Mm, I don't really agree with the balance idea. Balance in what? Ethereum? Pepe? Other shitcoins?
If Bitcoin is far superior than literally all 23,000 other cryptocurrencies, why would balance be important?
I am a Maxi, and Bitcoin-only. To quote the great Saylor "There is no second best"
Of course, btc is the best. Balance in terms of keeping an open mind.
Sounds like what a shitcoiner would say, now go take your "balanced" dose of daily cyanide.
Golden mean fallacy
Would you say that you're a balance maxi, then?
Hehe. I would not call myself a maxi at all. I do support Bitcoin and think it has a bright future, however, not because of an idology, but because of technology. And as we know, with technology, if another, better, faster and more user friendly option which does a better job at infecting the minds of the masses to switch from fiat comes along, people will switch in a heartbeat.
No, they won't. If something is good enough, people will not switch. It has be orders of magnitude more good.
It is bad to be an anti-theft maxi? Maybe support a little theft here and there, balance :)
exactly :)
as a kid i was bullied,
kids like to use names to try and insult people.
this is no different, embrace the insult and it holds no meaning.
i am a maxi, not afraid to say it.
Agree 100%
Look, I don't go around saying "I'm a bitcoin maximalist", but if someone asks "Are you one of those toxic bitcoin maximalists" I say yes. I know they're saying it like that to as a way to get me to say "no" which would indicate I'm accepting of shitcoinery. Its a social shaming tactic. So instead I say "yes" because I want to indicate that I believe strongly enough that shitcoins are company scrip, stock, or outright scams that I will fight someone if I see them trying to scam other people with it.
Great answer!
Labels are a hack. Their meaning varies per person, place and time. They're a lot like emojis and to some extent words themselves, however at least with words it's common to select synonyms and say things in multiple ways to clarify.
I hate labeling myself, because you're just inviting people in to fight you, or call you a fake
<x>
if you don't believe<y>
.People shouldn't box themselves in. Mental flexibility is good.
personally think of myself just as a Bitcoiner - used to describe myself as an enthusiast, but have since dropped any qualification - the toxic maximalists are right (with a few inevitable bad takes along the way), and have been a guiding light from the start for me - which is some way back now - using it as an emotional slur indicates a lack of counterargument to their positions.
lots of great labels started as insults. they are a testament to the human spirit! Thick skin wins the day every time.
Great response!
Something frustrating about this poll is at a glance it looks like "I call myself a bitcoin maxi" is winning- but if you had only made two options, one which says "I call myself a bitcoin maxi" and another which says "I dont use the term" the "I dont use the term" one would've gotten more votes.
You actually need to add up the bottom 3 to see the full number of people who arent using the the term bitcoin maxi, and it ends up being over 50%, while the people calling themself bitcoin maxi are below 50%.
That is true & a fair point!
However, the poll doesn't really mean anything significant - it's only 75 votes, so a tiny sample size and not large enough to make any meaningful conclusions on the Bitcoin community as a whole
I don't use the term, I don't believe you have to "live and breathe" bitcoin (or anything to be honest) to be able to accept and adapt to it. If anything, the cult like approach some people have to bitcoin and crypto in general scares people away.
The word has negative connotations
Also difficult to know what exactly is a maximalist (beef, later eyes, ball sunning etc)
I'm a shitcoin minimalist
I love this - top reply!
bitcoin purist
No, the term has lost all its meaning. I just call myself a Bitcoiner.
Nope. I think people are tired of hearing about Bitcoin this bitcoin that. So i dont use the word ever. But if people ask i will say of course idiot
I am a bitcoin maxi. If you say you aren't but you are orangepilled, I don't know what you are. Christians embraced a slur and consider it an honor to be called a christian. Embrace what you are, don't internalize shame from the deceived
Agreed!
I don't like the term becuase it is a bit demeaning imho. and it does not give enough credit to the maxis which fight day and night to get bitcion into the hands of the masses.
In my mind, It is a derogatory term which is meant to show that someone is a bit out there removed from reality. So, if someone calls you a bitcion maxi, they usually do not mean it in a nice way and laugh at you behind your back. Which of course, I personally might not care about, but to others it does not give a good image if they learn that the word bitcoin maxi has a negative meaning.
No, there is no such thing as a bitcoin maximalist -- there are simply those who understand bitcoin and those who do not. When you dignify maximalist as a valid point, you are conceding the point to shitcoiners and letting them set the frame, no different from the pussies who acquiescently try to argue that "bitcoin is actually good for 'green' energy" or similar nonsense.
I identify as a bitcoin berserker: I understand bitcoin, and I am also unhinged. All our welcome to understand bitcoin while being "well-adjusted" or whatever it is you normiecoiners identify as.
I'd argue that nobody completely understands Bitcoin. I believe that once you fall down the rabbit hole, you never stop falling.
Understanding does not mean understanding everything, it only means understanding the very obvious facts that monetary Schelling points are winner takes all, that the winner is the first to come of with difficulty adjusted proof of work to ensure the supply cap in perpetuity, and finally, that this is the mathematically/thermodynamically optimal solution that can never be displaced for the continuation of a species' existence on any given planet.
This is like the e=mc^2 of bitcoin.
I usually say that I'm a bitcoiner, or that I'm exclusive to bitcoin. "Maxi" is a short hand I use from time to time since it's familiar to most people, especially when I mention the days I've shitcoined. Knowing its origins, "maxi" is kinda pejorative, like saying "mumble rap." I find it amusing that bitcoiners have taken that term back, though
I prefer the term Bitcoiner, as it is far less threatening and exclusive rhetorically, although a lot of my beliefs would be described as maximalist
Good answer! I still class myself as a Maxi, but I like the term Bitcoiner also
It's clearly a riff on "toxic masculinity" meant to subconsciously stick to that emotional response in people's minds. It is embarrassing and slightly gross (evokes "maxi pad").
Basically it's off-putting, sjw, and dorky.
I call myself whatever the prevailing term for Bitcoin Maximalist is, don’t really care what the term or phrase is or who came up with it
I am bitcoin maxi, because I am freedom maxi I am freedom maxi, because I am life maxi.
I don't care if people call me a maximalist but I don't tend to lead the conversation with it. It's more important to be educating people on the core principles that Bitcoin stands for.
Nice guy
The real point here is not if, but: why.
"Fragmentation means that (...) [Bitcoin] cannot fulfil the social role of money. Ultimately, money is a coordination device that facilitates economic exchange. It can only do so if there are network effects: as more users use one type of money, it becomes more attractive for others to use it." (Bank for International Settlements) https://www.bis.org/publ/bisbull56.pdf
You only need to know why you are Bitcoin Maxi, and where Maxi goes from: from maximising chances for crap fiat money replacement in our Cantilloners' world.
I don't see any epithet in the most reasonable approach to this matter. Maxi is Sexy! ;)
https://blog.lopp.net/history-of-bitcoin-maximalism/