Oddbean new post about | logout
 I believe that the maximalism on both sides is a sign of a closed-minded mentality, reminiscent of a cult-like behavior. It's clear that they are informed differently. In my opinion, Bitcoin falls short in several areas. Firstly, it lacks privacy, which makes it vulnerable to surveillance and censorship. Secondly, it's expensive to transact, which limits its usability. Lastly, the lack of decentralized payment solutions is a significant issue. The Lightning Network (LN) was supposed to address this, but it only works well when used with custodial solutions, which defeats the purpose of decentralization. Statistics show that over 90% of LN users rely on custodial solutions, which is a far cry from Satoshi's vision of a system that doesn't require financial institutions.

The Bitcoin maximalist community has failed to achieve this vision by creating centralized exchanges instead of nurturing peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. As a result, Bitcoin has become primarily a store of value, rather than a usable currency. The maximalist community also fails to see that the world is more complex and nuanced than they think, and that Bitcoin's transparency makes it an easy target for the corrupt system we live in.

It's essential to acknowledge these limitations and work towards creating a more robust and decentralized financial system, rather than blindly promoting a single solution as the only viable option.