‘Fire and Brimstone’ Bitcoin Maxis Are Unrealistic: Dan Held

Prominent crypto influencer Dan Held believes Bitcoin followers could benefit from being more open and less dismissive of others’ choices of cryptocurrency.

Held, a marketing consultant for Trust Machines and former head of growth and marketing at crypto exchange Kraken, refers to himself as a long-time Bitcoiner, but no longer a “maximalist” — someone who believes Bitcoin is the only digital asset worth investing in in.

Having been involved in the crypto community since 2013, Held says he remembers a time when the culture around Bitcoin was oriented around radical freedom and associated with events like Burning Man, which are based on principles of self-reliance and self-expression.

On the last episode of Decrypthis gm podcast, Held said he has since seen a divergence among Bitcoin advocates on two different sides.

“One rejects more any kind of identity outside of a very conservative one,” he said. “And then the other one, it’s just more permissive – let’s build new things on top of Bitcoin, and we shouldn’t demonize people for owning other assets.”

Noting that Bitcoin is a permissionless network – meaning that participants’ involvement is not controlled by a centralized authority such as an administrator – he sees the current tone of Bitcoin maximalism as somewhat antithetical to its original ethos.

“I see one side becoming more and more conservative, where they are demanding purity tests that are somewhat impossible to achieve,” he said. – I think it is unrealistic.

According to Held, a segment of Bitcoin’s biggest advocates today behave more like members of a religion than investors, with a degree of intolerance for people who are not amenable to investing only in Bitcoin. He believes a softer approach in advocating Bitcoin as a digital asset will ultimately be more productive.

His logic is that Bitcoin was built around ideals of economic freedom, and that telling people how to invest in crypto without some degree of permissiveness isn’t the best way to go – although Held still believes that Bitcoin is the best store of value as a digital resource.

“Some of these more hardcore conservative types are akin to a preacher outside a casino,” he said, describing Bitcoin maximalists trying to dissuade people from buying other coins. “The preacher isn’t wrong, they just seem a little annoying.”

Held believes it’s more important to emphasize arguments for Bitcoin’s long-term success rather than simply championing the cryptocurrency as fervently as possible, specifically trying to convey potential trade-offs between it and other digital assets.

He said. “I guess it’s a fire-and-brimstone versus a more accepting, we’re-all-sinners kind of vibe.”