Mircea Popescu and the Rise of Toxic Maximalism

"This was how more mainstream Bitcoin culture degraded from intellectual expressions of ideas (2017-era debates) to tribal recreations of the past. The old enemies were replaced with new enemies who were more convenient for the times, but we retained the "Bitcoiners against the world" ethos of the scaling era, which led to many newbies being overly defensive of their beliefs. It’s worth noting that this is a recurring cycle (and of course, a general trope of “the good ol’ days”) because in 2017 people were saying how much better the discussions were in 2014, and in 2014, people missed the discussions of 2011. This is a naturally occurring phenomenon as communities go from niche interest to mainstream." - Jameson Lopp Today we cover an amazing breakdown of the history, evolution, and current state of Bitcoin Maximalism as seen through the perspective of Jameson Lopp, an incredible beneficiary to the bitcoin ecosystem, and long time maximalist and OG. Lopp has been an incredible resource over the years, and brings us a thorough breakdown of his views on how the Bitcoin only ethos arose, and why he thinks its found itself where it is today. This is not to be missed. The other episode mentioned numerous times in this article covering the ideas around Bitcoin Maximalism, non monetary use of the timechain, how to define bitcoin and its culture, and the viability of token networks and "crypto assets" for other utility... Guy's Take #59 - We're Not Going Anywhere Only the Strong Survive: Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qqHSEmFr6B8kSjAWAGRpU?si=7a05972ff1984f8a Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/02VuP9RlAmhivBGhiUFNQZ?si=bd2e130558664310 Part 3: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GZmKFBcVhH500YyONWKIh?si=e10ad36fba8647f6 Chat #79 - The Spirit of Bitcoin with John Vallis Chat #77 - Stone Cold Storage in a Fiat World with NVK Guy's Nostr Pubkey: npub1h8nk2346qezka5cpm8jjh3yl5j88pf4ly2ptu7s6uu55wcfqy0wq36rpev Code BITCOINAUDIBLE gets 10% off your Bitcoin2023 tickets! Don't forget to check out our amazing sponsors: • The Swan IRA is live! Follow the link to find out how to get your tax free retirement funds, securely allocated to Bitcoin! The best place to onboard a true Bitcoiner - Stack sats automatically, withdraw automatically, and learn or get help from the best team of Bitcoiners out there with Swan Bitcoin. (https://swanbitcoin.com/guy) • Gets sats back every time you dump fiat at a store, to pay your bills, everything in your fiat life pays you sats with the Fold Debit Card and FoldApp. 20,000 FREE SATS! at (https://bitcoinaudible.com/fold) • Dive into the Bitcoin only wallet, the cypherpunk calculator, with the NEW Coldcard Q1! A company that has built secure Bitcoin products for nearly a decade. Code BITCOINAUDIBLE gets 9% off the ColdCard! (https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) ------------------------------------ “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”   ― Marcus Aurelius Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message