The Bitcoin Maximalist Movement has turned toxic. Bitcoin Optimism is a better way.

As a believer in Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, I hope to see it continue to flourish and eventually become the backbone of many facets of daily life, from banking, ownership to gaming. But a toxic movement, mostly on Twitter, of Bitcoin Maximalists threatens this vision with its extremism.

For maximalists, which include some of Bitcoin’s early miners and users, Bitcoin is the only true cryptocurrency, and all others are distractions and/or scams. Now, possibly out of complacency, or out of habit from the older days of the block size wars, they have settled on an argument that Bitcoin should strictly stick to being a digital asset, and not become an ecosystem that enables blockchain applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT) – tools that enabled the emergence of competing blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana.

I should state bluntly that there is nothing inherently problematic about being a “bitcoin maximalist.” After all, the dictionary definition of a maximalist is someone who isn’t prepared to compromise, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But the maximalist movement has been hijacked by a small vocal minority of poisonous maximalists. The silent majority of Bitcoin holders want to see Bitcoin grow and for the premier cryptocurrency to be more than just “digital gold.” Ultimately, however, there is a limited market value for gold. The ceiling for an asset that can serve as the foundation of an entire digital economy is significantly higher.

Bitcoin’s future should neither be threatened nor held hostage by toxic maximalists. Most people I talk to, whether online or at developer conferences, want Bitcoin to be more productive, and they want to see more innovation, with decentralized apps built on top of the trusted and secure blockchain. Why should Bitcoin be left out of the kind of capital and talent influx we see in other ecosystems?

Failure to take control of the narrative will hinder Bitcoin’s potential. Despite the beliefs of these poisonous maxis, Bitcoin will not magically keep growing more and more valuable. Although these maximalists believe that other projects will never overtake Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization, data shows that people are already using Ethereum more, as revealed by transaction fees and settlements.

Why does Ethereum have higher usage? It has been easier to develop for. (That changed over the last few years for Bitcoin with the launch of the Stacks’ main grid, Lightning networkand RSK.) Bitcoin has historically lacked developers, and this has created a self-fulfilling prophecy where Bitcoin projects lack funding, leaving potential improvements to Bitcoin in the research and development phase rather than being sent to production. Bitcoin developers within the Stacks ecosystem have told us that toxic maximalists are pushing them to work with other blockchains.

We need to be open to what data around blockchain use tells us: that a blockchain like Ethereum, which invites more innovation, more developers, more use cases and more applications, helps it grow and stay competitive with other projects.

I like to think of myself and others who agree with me as “Bitcoin Optimists.” An Optimist (a concept I learned about from angel investor and entrepreneur Balaji S. Srinivasanice) is open and curious, and seeks constant growth and improvement. They ask questions like, “How do we increase the GDP of Bitcoin? How do we get more builders?” Diversity is better, not worse. We need more ideas about Bitcoin, not less. History is full of once-successful companies that went bankrupt because they stopped innovating. “Optimalism” is also different from just “optimism” – you can be optimistic about Bitcoin’s future, but an optimist is more pragmatic and action-oriented.

This is not an unrealistic concept. Zest, Satoshiblesand StackerDAO Labs shows that DeFi, NFTs and decentralized autonomous organizations can not only be built on top of Bitcoin, but thrive.

The ideas behind Bitcoin and crypto in general have gone a long way based on people’s beliefs – that the world benefits from a currency that cannot be manipulated by central authorities and moves at the speed of information. But the Bitcoin maxi community must continue to evolve and embrace innovation, or risk becoming irrelevant. Society needs to get behind the idea that Bitcoin will continue to grow in value just because it popularized cryptocurrencies – optimists need to keep pushing it forward.

As Bitcoin optimists, we need to take back the narrative of a toxic minority that constantly stands in the way of Bitcoin’s progress.