The Psychological Differences Between Bitcoin and Ethereum Governance
I’ll stick with Bitcoin and PoW but that’s the beauty of choice – this article tries to “bridge the gap” between Bitcoin and ETH advocates
The Psychological Differences Between Bitcoin and Ethereum Governance
“The majority of crypto users, investors and developers think multiple technologies can coexist. Some think bitcoin could be considered the hardest money known to humankind, while also acknowledging that Ethereum has creative capabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) and notable smart contract composability.
However, there’s a massive, exhausting debate between so-called ‘maximalists’ on both sides who are hypercritical of the other network. Bitcoin maximalists dislike the term ‘crypto’ itself because it conflates Bitcoin with scams and muddies the waters for new adopters. (Crypto derives from cryptography, the underlying security foundation that makes decentralized monetary networks possible.)
The practice of calling anything other than Bitcoin a scam (or, less artfully, a s**tcoin) is sometimes labeled ‘toxic maximalism.’ Online bitcoiners who defend the network against detractors and attack ‘imitators’ are what MicroStrategy’s former CEO Michael Saylor called a ‘cybernetic immune system.’ Historically, maximalism isn’t rare in tech – though it often results in embarrassment for any outspoken critics of, say, cars, planes, phones and the internet.
Whatever the technological differences separate Bitcoin and Ethereum, it’s clear both networks also have a strong cultural and psychological divide. These different ecosystems and different aims have an impact on how the networks will progress.”
