Former ‘Bitcoin maximalist’ Dan Held sees a future in DeFi for the digital resource – TechCrunch

by James · July 21, 2022

As crypto markets continue to tumble, a major industry player’s beliefs are also taking a turn as he shifts from being a “Bitcoin maximalist” to what he calls a “Bitcoin rationalist.” The reason for this change appears to be that he sees a future for the coin in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Longtime bitcoin supporter Dan Held exclusively told TechCrunch that he has stepped down from his role as director of growth at crypto exchange Kraken. He will take an active role in building DeFi products on top of Bitcoin, starting with a marketing partner role at Bitcoin-focused ecosystem and platform, Trust Machines. A source familiar with the matter also said Held is expected to take on a role as a brand ambassador for Kraken.

“Bitcoin is what I care about. Nothing changed there,” said Held, who has been in the business for over ten years. In his view, the stakes for Bitcoin are increasing as the narrative in the crypto industry shifts toward decentralized finance (DeFi) from centralized finance (CeFi ), and as market participants “find more sense in building on top of DeFi.”

The crypto industry, and Bitcoin, is at an inflection point, he said. “I think there’s going to be this renaissance in the Bitcoin DeFi world. Right now, DeFi is not synonymous with Bitcoin, and most people think those two words don’t really go together.”

I don’t think it’s going to be a single chain world. It’s going to be a multi-chain world. Dan Held, Marketing Partner, Trust Machines

DeFi has long been the playground for alternatives to Bitcoin that maximalists have largely written off, such as Ethereum. Bringing DeFi concepts to Bitcoin could be seen by some as heresy, although it could be a needle to thread to bring the popular area of crypto development back to its original chain.

If Bitcoin is to succeed in the long term like the blockchain, it will need as much developer attention as possible, which makes bringing DeFi, and its legions of programmers, a way to strengthen the blockchain’s market position.

Well-known (former) Bitcoin maximalists, such as Nic Carter, Pete Rizzo and Alex Gladsteinhave also taken more moderate stances to open up discussions about other use cases across the crypto industry, whether it’s building Ethereum infrastructure, finding utility in stablecoins, or something else.

“This has been going on for a while,” Held said. “A large group in Bitcoin [maximalist] place is moderately skewed.”