An Argument Against Bitcoin Maximalism and For Support of Altcoins and Alternative Blockchain Projects.

I've never been a one coin to rule them all kind of guy. As a matter of fact, whenever there is one of anything to rule them all, we tend to get in trouble. Ultimate power corrupts!

Back in my early ST--M days I was surprised to discover the number of people I met that were getting into cryptocurrency for the first time through our blogging platform. Most of them were bloggers that were looking for a way to monetize their content and they discovered ST--M / Hive through a friend or internet acquaintance. I wondered how many people I hadn't met that had gotten introduced to crypto and blockchain technology through ST--M / Hive.

I hosted Tuesday's HiveChat on CryptoTwitter the other day and the person that asked me to host it thought it would be interesting to compare HIVE to Bitcoin. The idea intrigued me but I dreaded the thought of arguing with MAXIS all day.

If a bitcoin maximalist gets a new house do we call it a Maxi-Pad?

JK, sorry I just couldn't resist.

I did think it would interesting to approach the HiveChat from a crypto traders perspective though. I also thought it would be a great way to ask the community how many people were introduced to BTC and crypto through HIVE.

NOT TO MY SURPRISE, many people answered that they did indeed get introduced to crypto through our blockchain project. You can find the thread here.

I think this is a great argument against toxic bitcoin maximalism. The crypto industry is growing all the time and is becoming huge. I've never been a maxi and said from the start that I think there's room for everyone. On top of that BitcoinFixesThis works for a lot of things, but bitcoin can't blog like HIVE does!

My point to all this is that HIVE fixes an issue for a lot of people, it fills a need and serves a purpose. Through dApps and interfaces like LeoFinance, Peakd, dBuzz and others we have a unique way of monetizing content and building communities. This in turn introduces new people to... dare I say it Bitcoin, exchanges, and of course with their curiosity peaked, other crypto projects. See how this works, HIVE is responsible for on-boarding many new bitcoin and crypto people into our industry.

This is why maximalism is toxic. There is room for everyone. This is also why we should be supporting one another's projects. Honestly, those maximalists that slam HIVE should apologize and realize this blockchain project is responsible for bringing a lot of new people (bloggers) into the crypto space! These are people that had no interest in learning about bitcoin but because of the "blogging platform" they discovered, they are now hodlers in the cryptospace.

I agree we don't need a blockchain for everything. However, we've only scratched the surface of what this technology can be used for. Every new usecase is an opportunity to introduce new people to the love and joy of cryptocurrency. There is room for everyone and we need to support projects that help support our industry. We can create a crypto economy and it won't be one coin to rule them all! It will be one community, the crypto community that introduces the world to this life changing technology.

So how did you get involved in crypto? Was Hive your introduction? Have you introduced any non-crypto peole to HIVE as a blogging platform and way to reward their content?

Would love to read your thoughts! Thanks for reading and HIVE on brothers and sisters! Hive On!

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Very well said.

You know I'm quite a fan of Antonopoulos as he's always raved about the money aspect of BTC being just the beginning - BUT it transpires that it's impossible to really 'programme' anything into BTC besides it functioning like pure BIG money, and then came ETH, and the carnage of GAS rendering that dysfunctional, and so the altspace is where all of that 'exciting revolutionary programmable' stuff is happening - NOT with BTC!

So yes, the alts are a BIG THING I think. Where crypto realises its potential.

@tipu curate

I agree, I think a lot of the altcoin space is where the real innovation is happening. Bitcoin opened the door and showed us the way. It has it's place and purpose but isn't a skeleton key for all things blockchain.

I am no fan of maxi's because I do think they do a disservice to the space not because I think other cryptos are great I just believe if you care about a free market solution, you won't care about other cryptos you've picked your solution and if you're confident in it you won't have to preach or holla

99% of crypto projects are decentralised theatre and offer very little value for their market cap, I mean really let's be honest how many even in the top 10 are doing anything that the market needs. They're just a sign of the times, of experimentation and I get that, its money everyone wants to be in the game and become the best "money"

Bitcoin has one that race already, it solved the double-spend problem, it's to me the only network that is actually decentralised and it's hard cap/distribution model solves the problem we need of a measuring stick for value, both in and outside crypto.

I think the word crypto does a disservice, Bitcoin and crypto are 2 different things. for example, HIVE is a niche application, to me its more like equity in a company, where Bitcoin is more like a treasury bond, yes they both have value in the market but they do COMPLETELY different things.

All altcoins are to me is rehypothecation of the value of BTC and a potential promise that you can get Bitcoin for it.


To answer your questions I found STEEM through a friend I was blogging on Medium talking about crypto and he said to check out STEEM back in 2016 and I've been here ever since. I've onboarded about 8 people, only 1 uses it regularly

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I've onboarded about 8 people, only 1 uses it regularly

I've had similar experiences with bringing new people to HIVE. It seems it's easy enough to bring people here, however, keeping them here or keeping them active is a whole other story. Any idea why the other 7 aren't active? Engagement? Low rewards?

This is another issue that fascinates me about HIVE. A lot of people blog for a month or two then leave or become inactive.

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Bitcoin can't do everything crypto could do and most coins are fairly limited. I like HIVE as it is fairly versatile and I can do various things with it every day. Staring at prices and charts is not my thing. HIVE, via ST--M is my main crypto by far. I just wonder how many of the hundreds (thousands?) of coins have much future.

I just wonder how many of the hundreds (thousands?) of coins have much future.

I think we're going to see A LOT of failures. Just look at all the stagnant coins from 2017 and the already failed ICOs. I really question a lot of what's happening in the DeFi markets too.

One of the first things I look at when analyzing or speculating on new coins is usecase and community. Does it have usecase and are people using it? If the answer to both those questions are yes, I'm intrigued.

Without usecase or community; alts are nothing more than instruments of speculation. Most coins are, but I think usecase will play a huge roll in the longevity of a project.

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My introduction was Hive indeed.

I'm still in the introduction process, actually. I'm very new to the whole crypto universe but I'm learning new things every day!

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That's awesome! Welcome to HIVE and welcome to crypto. I love the fact that Hive has introduced so many new people to crypto. I also love that our chain has helped a lot of people financial and help so many bloggers and content creators earn real money for their efforts!

Welcome aboard and thanks for joining us in our fight to change the world and social media!

!BEER

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It really is awesome!

Thanks for the warm welcome and for sharing quality content here! It's a great help for beginners like me!


Hey @tfranzini, here is a little bit of BEER from @the-bitcoin-dood for you. Enjoy it!

Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your BEER.

Tribalism in crypto is counter productive. I do understand though why people do it. I choose not to follow that path and I like that more people are starting to follow this line of thinking. In the end I think we are all trying to achieve the same goal of crypto changing the world. That's my two cents on it anyways.

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Absolutely. Tribalism, maximalism, it's all poison to the industry. There's nothing wrong with being loyal to a project you like, but there's no need to bash the competition either. In most cases everyone has something unique to bring to the table. Even subtle differences in code can make all the difference in future development considering most of our projects are open source and we're all sharing our work.

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Blockchain and cryptocurrency is a space for freedom and diversity. I understand that many of the coins on CMC are scams, that never release a product. But living on the shadow of fear, avoidin all things not-bitcoin blinds many people from discovering some great alternative ecossystems besides bitcoin. Hive is an example. but so is defi for instance.

Keep the good posting! Thank You!

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So many coins listed on CMC now. A lot of them are vaporware. I agree though, there are a lot of great products out there worth taking a look at. One thing about tech is, the first one to the party isn't always the last to leave. We currently have scaling issues on many projects, high tx fees, and many other issues that need to be addressed. Altcoin development helps to advance the entire industry with innovation and may find the solutions to many of the issues we currently face with development.

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Well, I met stm with a family friend, then over time I was introduced to Hive and Leo finance.

It is not easy for me to try to tell people what hive is because they are only looking for money and when they don't get it they get disappointed and call me a liar, so I gave up trying to teach my acquaintances about hive.

The only one that has always supported me is my wife, she has been helping me with different topics, when we manage to buy a pc she is also going to create an account and share with everyone here.

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It's funny. Those crypto rewards almost seem like an obstacle to onboarding new people. Everyone thinks you just post and the money comes magically flowing in. They don't realize it takes time and work to create a following and start to earn anything at all.

Bitcoin maximalism is not about neglecting the value of other blockchains, but taking a clear position in favour of BTC over fiat and stating that the primary objective of a blockchain based crypto currency is stability and resilence. As blockchain is in its infancy, all other aspects and application fields are not of the same importance - at least at the moment. Other blockchains and currencies are definitly valuable. Bitcoin maximalism is a clear statement in favour for crypto, it is about fighting fake coins, and it is about the prevention of a fragmentation of forces to follow long term goals, not the search for short time speculative gains.

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I get it. Most of the maxi's I've met on Twitter are pretty toxic though and really harsh on any project that isn't bitcoin. I too am against true shitcoins, but I'm willing to give any project the chance to prove themselves.

So, it's twitter. Tribalism at work.