I feel there is a need to clarify what a Bitcoin Maximalist (or maxi for short) and a Toxic Maxi means, because it’s not used with the same meaning by all. 

A common misconception is that a maxi is a blind Bitcoin believer. And a toxic one is the same taken to a whole another level. This is not the case.

Naturally, what follows is my take on the subject, but it’s strongly influenced by the ideas of important personalities in the space.

Before we get into the meat of the article, it’s interesting to note that the terms maxi and toxic were originally slurs coined (no pun intended) by altcoiners to describe bitcoiners. Just like in many other areas of culture (ex. cavalier, yankee, jew, impressionist, etc.) the name-calling fallacy backfired and the slurs were boldly reappropriated to become positive terms, and even badges of honour in some contexts where intellectual rigour and integrity are implied associated meanings. 

Bitcoin being the object of maximalism is a matter of circumstance and not some fetish of a specific brand or persona. It’s just the recognition of the state of affairs and the dynamics at play.

A maxi understands that an altcoin can offer a better feature for a certain time by sacrificing other properties. For example trading decentralization and privacy for speed and low fees. But the discovery aspect and age will always favour Bitcoin, which will result in Bitcoin eventually reclaiming the leading spot in every measurable metric, and subsuming any potential ideas, thus forcing it to become the one and only that truly matters.

For example, for a while Bitcoin had high fees and blocks were full which according to casual observers was a critical issue threatening Bitcoin's dominance. Altcoins were rushing to capitalize on this perceived issue by offering various tokens of their own benefiting the creators. However, thanks to the work of many talented bitcoiners working in multiple teams the Bitcoin’s Segwit upgrade, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and other side chains like Liquid solved this issue in due time. Now, we have multiple solutions to the transaction fee and speed issue. As a bonus, we also managed to increase decentralization levels by encouraging and incentivizing the running of significantly more full nodes with economic activity. As a secondary bonus, we also increased privacy because LN transactions are not publicly visible on chain. Subsequently, Bitcoin’s ecosystem now not only offers the best store of value feature, but also the best payment network, while simultaneously making the network more decentralized and private.

As a maxi you understand this self reinforcing and unsurpassable dynamic and thus ‘believe’ in Bitcoin. You learn about Bitcoin, you invest in it, and work in the Bitcoin ecosystem if you can. Not necessarily because you believe that all properties of Bitcoin are best at all times, but because overall Bitcoin can’t be surpassed due to realities explained above. Bitcoin constantly draws in value and talent increasing its gravitational force over time.

As a maxi you understand that working on or investing in anything else is suboptimal on the long term, and it’s only a distracting gamble at most on the short term. You see altcoins as an unfortunate waste of time, energy, and capital with little to no utility in the grand scheme of things. At best, they only serve as test cases to invalidate ideas.

Also, maxis recognized that if maximalism was ever proven wrong, meaning Bitcoin were to be overtaken by another coin it would show that any coin can be and will be toppled by other newcomers over and over without end. The victory would invalidate the victor. Such an event would disprove the idea that a decentralized network can ever last long enough to build prosperity and stability upon it. It’s either Bitcoin succeeding or the entire grand experiment failed no matter who is on the top at the moment.

Most maxis at one point studied altcoins. Maximalism isn’t a position of ignorance. In fact maxis are often more knowledgeable about alts than the altcoiners themselves because they looked at the properties of various projects critically without a positive bias.

You are not a maxi to begin with. You become one as you learn and understand more. You can’t help it, you come to the inevitable conclusion eventually if you put in the time and energy to educate yourself by reading books and code, by listening to accomplished and well informed people. By actively participating in the network by running a node, working on a project, educating on the subject, or accepting Bitcoin at your business, etc.

You become a Toxic Maximalist when you realize the widespread distraction and scamming of a significant number of victims by altcoiners. To encapsulate this destructive nature, altcoins are often called shitcoins or cleptocurrencies. I welcome shitcoiners to bravely embrace the slur word shitcoiner just like bitcoiners embraced the slurs used to label them. No takers? I guess the reappropriation technique doesn’t work when the slur describes reality. 

You develop into a toxic maxi when it dawns on you that we have one shot at making this once in a lifetime discovery work, and change the world to the better. We hope the Bitcoin standard will bring equality and opportunity to billions, reduce wars, and bring about unprecedented prosperity. Bitcoin is bigger than us. We owe it to our future generations to try to make it happen. We don't want to sacrifice this opportunity by wasting resources on distractions like endless number of shitcoins, fixing failing fiat, or trying other provably futile detours.

I don’t blame the victims of shitcoiners. I know it takes time to dig yourself out, and potentially grow into a maxi. Many maxis are exceptionally smart people. It took them little effort to grasp maximalism. But, others like me, are less gifted. We can get distracted by superfluous things. It’s harder for us to filter out the noise and takes us longer to internalize complex ideas. 

Thus, I’m willing to educate shitcoin victims when they show an interest to learn. I want to help them free themselves from the grip of fiat and shitcoinery.

However, if you are one of those scammers, you will have no mercy. You should expect your ‘project’ to be scrutinized and exposed for what it is by toxic maxis, who are an essential part of Bitcoin’s organically evolving immune system, defending against corruption and misinformation.

Bitcoin maximalism is a passive state of understanding. Toxic maximalism on the other hand is activism that fends off toxic concepts in this intellectual battle of ideas.

Photo Credit: Danilo Alvesd