The Bitcoin Battle Brewing Within

There is a battle brewing within Bitcoin. Have you been able to feel it? During the last few years, it has been commonplace for Bitcoiners to come out in defense of Bitcoin when compared to other blockchains, or even flat-out attack them. Claiming that Bitcoin is the only option and that all other cryptocurrencies are distractions. These people were called Bitcoin Maximalists. If you were enthusiastic about Bitcoin, they would leave you alone for the most.

However, this is time is different. Not since the blocksize wars that took place in 2017 has there been such in-house debate in Bitcoin. Back then the issue was whether to increase the block size of Bitcoin to help scale BTC. Something that would allow faster and cheaper transactions on Layer 1. This was deeply contested and eventually resulted in the fork of Bitcoin Cash. While Bitcoin (BTC) is now clearly recognized as the winner of that debate, there was real doubt back and controversy then.

Some would even argue that the blocksize wars caused the birth of “toxic” Bitcoin maxis. There was a real concern that the Bitcoin we have today was about to cease to exist. These maxis were fighting for Bitcoin’s survival. They won and were able to protect the Bitcoin protocol. But after this debate settled down, BTC maxis were forced to search for their next battle to protect Bitcoin. Perhaps that is why they have since attacked other blockchains.

As the years have passed, a certain group of some of the biggest Bitcoin maxis believed that true people must pass a purity test to be considered a real Bitcoiner. That BTC is sacred and must be used for a certain purpose. That purpose is to purchase it as a way to protect your savings, and sending transactions. The things that were happening on other blockchains such as NFTs, DeFi, token minting, airdrops, staking, and yield were all things that were against the Bitcoin code. They were distractions that stole your attention from the only goal that you should have in this market. To accumulate as much Bitcoin as you possibly can.

Throughout Bitcoin’s history, most of those features weren’t possible on BTC. This meant that Bitcoiners were always on the same team fighting against users of other blockchains.

But just last month, Ordinals, NFTs on Bitcoin were created and inscribed on the blockchain. All of a sudden, there was a huge battle brewing within Bitcoin. Between maxis who believe that BTC should be used for a certain purpose only and that NFTs are a waste of the precious Bitcoin block space. Against those who are interested in developing and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on Bitcoin. A group that has a very similar ethos to the cipher punks who originally were attracted to Bitcoin in the early days.

As a result of ordinals taking up a large amount of space in each block, it has caused the cost of transactions to soar over the last few weeks. Making it much more expensive to send Bitcoin from one person to another. This annoyed the Bitcoin maxis, but for them, the most upsetting component was that these “useless” NFTs were now being held on the Bitcoin blockchain forever. They were in effect vandalizing their pristine blockchain. That is where the real debate comes into play. The people who are against Ordinals are trying to tell other users what Bitcoin should and shouldn’t be used for.

Which is completely against the original ethos of Bitcoin. Where libertarianism was rampant and being able to do whatever you want with your own assets was vital. As long as you were paying the transaction fee, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing with it.

As you may have already guessed, I am on the side of the Ordinal users in this debate. While I’m still not a fan of NFTs and don’t see myself buying them anytime soon. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are all about freedom and not having to answer to anyone else. As I mentioned before, as long as the user is paying the transaction fee, it is okay in my book.

It also makes me excited about Bitcoin’s future. Ordinals and even more so, experimenting with Bitcoin has been something that has been sorely lacking in BTC during the last several years. It is a throwback to how it used to be. I believe that this will be a real turning point in Bitcoin’s history where development on the network was re-ignited, and when fun was re-introduced to Bitcoin.

How about you? Which side are you on in Bitcoin?

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