Just a few years in the past, I made an unlikely wager: to construct a Bitcoin round financial system within the coronary heart of a fishing village in Brazil’s Northeast. No enterprise capitalists, no “crypto,” no empty guarantees. Solely nodes, satoshis, in‑individual training and loads of sidewalk conversations.
That’s how Praia Bitcoin Jericoacoara was born: a radical experiment in monetary sovereignty constructed with open supply instruments and toes within the sand.
In 4 years at Praia Bitcoin Jericoacoara, we turned a seashore city right into a residing Bitcoin classroom: We onboarded households, shopkeepers and road distributors; taught self‑custody in small teams; put in dependable Lightning routes and level‑of‑sale instruments; ran social packages paid in sats; and hosted meetups that made Bitcoin a part of day by day life.
Residing on the Bitcoin customary, I started to see what is de facto occurring on the technological edge.
In August 2025, I printed 4 quick articles on X. Totally different in kind and tone, they converged on the identical query: What function ought to Bitcoin play, and what function ought to we play in constructing it? They got here in fours:
- a area report on our work with the Bitcoin Group Financial institution in Jericoacoara
- a critique of bitcoin maximalism’s rigidity
- a diplomatic letter inviting Bhutan’s prime minister to think about the satoshi as a unit of account, and
- a public enchantment to maintain Bitcoin a peer‑to‑peer money system.
What they share is the will to align follow, idea, and a future‑dealing with imaginative and prescient.
Within the first piece, I shared the challenges and classes from an actual experiment: constructing a Bitcoin‑based mostly round financial system in Northeast Brazil. Impressed by Bitcoin Seaside in El Salvador, we rooted the Jericoacoara venture in training, inclusion and native infrastructure. We put in servers, onboarded retailers and neighbors, created social packages and sought institutional recognition as a Group Bitcoin Financial institution.
We had been rejected by the native authorities. Even within the face of the state’s authorized and political unpreparedness, we moved ahead with conviction. We imagine that when Bitcoin is rooted in place, it may be greater than cash; it may be a instrument for neighborhood transformation. But authorities struggled to grasp this, they usually denied our request to register what would have been the primary Bitcoin neighborhood financial institution.
Within the second piece, I confronted an ideological rigidity throughout the neighborhood itself. Maximalist rhetoric, which defends Bitcoin as the one official venture and treats the remainder of “crypto” as scams, had its historic function. It helped defend the integrity of the ecosystem, uncovered frauds and accelerated market maturation. However does it nonetheless serve the aim of enormous‑scale adoption? Does it assist talk Bitcoin’s worth to newcomers? I caught myself ignoring related technological options just because they had been outdoors the maximalist bubble.
After revisiting the dialogue and studying each reply and quote, my conclusion was that different initiatives find yourself serving as funnels, sandboxes or distribution channels that drive individuals towards actual Bitcoin adoption. Stablecoins, altcoins, memecoins, and centralized cryptocurrencies are transferring towards Bitcoin, absorbing inflation and even serving to to ascertain the costs of different commodities. Maybe it’s time for a brand new posture: not abandoning ideas, however embracing a Bitcoin that retains the give attention to the essence whereas remaining prepared to have interaction with a world in fixed transformation, with skepticism and an open thoughts; by educating regulators that Bitcoin is the decentralized cryptocurrency and that every one different initiatives are centralized cryptocurrencies.
Within the third piece, I took this imaginative and prescient into the diplomatic area. I wrote an open letter to Bhutan’s prime minister suggesting that the nation contemplate adopting the satoshi as its nationwide unit of account.
The proposal, extra symbolic than technical, had a transparent aim: to think about how Bitcoin can have interaction with various growth fashions that don’t depend upon the IMF or the greenback and that respect native tradition and sovereignty. The response to the letter revealed one thing vital: even throughout the Bitcoin ecosystem there are ideological lanes: conservatives, centrists and progressives, every attempting to interpret the protocol by means of a definite worldview.
This text is due to this fact some extent of convergence. It ties collectively these three experiences (sensible, ideological and diplomatic) to suggest a recent take a look at what we’re actually attempting to construct. Greater than repeating dogmas, this second requires discernment. Greater than speaking about freedom, it’s time to follow it the place it’s most wanted — on the bottom, in our language, in our establishments and in {our relationships}.
Within the fourth piece, I distilled my open be aware to Bitcoin Core right into a easy level: preserve Bitcoin a peer‑to‑peer money system, not a generic information host.
I argued that loosening default information‑carrying settings invitations bloat, authorized danger and reputational injury, and requested builders to suppose in centuries, not launch cycles. I additionally famous that current Core releases, v29 and v30, revisited how a lot additional information transactions might carry by default. That lives on the technical fringe of the protocol — software program defaults, not the financial guidelines. Bitcoin is cash. Like a banknote you possibly can scribble on however not use to publish a guide, transactions can embody small notes however shouldn’t be hijacked for unrelated content material.
This context raised an even bigger query: What do we would like Bitcoin to be? The trade made the fault strains clear: totally different teams love Bitcoin for various causes and settle for totally different commerce‑offs. Within the subsequent part, I identify these lanes and present how they match collectively.
Watching Bitcoin Knots achieve visibility relative to Bitcoin Core, and listening to builders complain about its pull‑request course of, jogged my memory of the First Follower lesson. Knots is essentially maintained by a single developer.
Actions don’t scale as a result of a lone chief is sensible. They scale when early followers make participation seen and straightforward, decreasing social danger and exhibiting others precisely learn how to behave.
From contained in the business, spending numerous hours analyzing geopolitics and future tendencies, I started to see Bitcoiners in 4 major classes, with the extremes on either side clearly outlined so let’s break them down.
The 4 Archetypes of Bitcoin
Bitcoin Database, Coordination Builders
Core perception: Bitcoin is a impartial public document. It may possibly coordinate individuals and software program. Cash is one highly effective use, not the one one.
What they prioritize: Time‑stamps and proofs; public information; id attestations; new media on Bitcoin; social protocols like Nostr; constructing most options on higher layers so L1 stays secure.
What they get proper: They entice builders and new customers with recent concepts and on‑ramps. Extra experiments imply extra probabilities to seek out lasting utility.
Dangers and blind spots: The highlight can drift away from cash. An excessive amount of nonmonetary information can waste block area and invite controversy. New techniques typically reintroduce trusted middlemen.
Angle to Lightning: Open, when it helps apps really feel prompt. Additionally discover different rails. Hold L1 easy.
North Star checks: Helpful apps with actual customers; energetic builders; low, respectful footprint on L1.
Frequent examples: Casey Rodarmor and Ordinals; Muneeb Ali and Stacks; Burak and Ark analysis; Maxim Orlovsky and RGB; fiatjaf and Nostr; OpenTimestamps. (Word: that is illustrative, not endorsements.)
Tagline: “Bitcoin is a database.”
Bitcoin Central, Market Pragmatists
Core perception: Bitcoin is cash and an asset. Value and liquidity drive adoption at scale and assist fund safety and growth.
What they prioritize: ETFs and treasuries; compliant on‑ramps and off‑ramps; deep, wholesome markets; training for buyers and establishments.
What they get proper: Liquidity brings the subsequent wave of customers and pays for builders, mining and training.
Dangers and blind spots: Comfort custody and quick‑time period pondering. Distribution can focus in a number of giant arms.
Angle to Lightning: Pragmatic. Use it when it helps attain extra individuals.
North Star checks: Market depth and volumes; hashrate safety funds; ETF and retail participation.
Frequent examples: Michael Saylor; iShares and Constancy Bitcoin ETFs; market makers; on‑chain analysts. Edge Case: Excessive leverage and over‑reliance on company treasuries.
Tagline: “We care about value.”
Bitcoin Conservatives, Financial Purists
Core perception: Bitcoin is cash. Shield the bottom layer. Shortage, neutrality and self‑custody are nonnegotiable. Save first, then spend (e.g., in a round financial system).
What they prioritize: Easy, secure guidelines on L1; run your individual node; training on keys, UTXOs, and charges; miner and consumer variety; very long time horizons.
What they get proper: Clear incentives and powerful tradition. If cash is damaged, each value within the financial system is incorrect. Repair cash first.
Dangers and blind spots: UX and funds can lag. Newcomers might really feel gatekept. Adoption can sluggish if on a regular basis use is ignored.
Angle to Lightning: Typically skeptical. Choose on‑chain finality and warn about complexity and custodial drift.
North Star checks: Extra cash in self‑custody; wholesome node rely; decentralized mining; rising lengthy‑time period holder provide.
Frequent examples: Saifedean Ammous; Pierre Rochard; proof‑of‑keys fashion campaigns; full‑node tradition and chilly storage. Edge Case: By no means promote. Deal with each altcoin as a rip-off.
Tagline: “Bitcoin is digital gold.”
Bitcoin Minimalists: Digital Gold and Digital Money, Device for Social Transformation
Core perception: Bitcoin ought to be digital gold for saving and digital money for spending, with the smallest doable belief floor.
What they prioritize: Save on‑chain with remaining settlement; spend by way of noncustodial Lightning the place doable; use ecash mints like Cashu for privateness with easy exit to keys; service provider flows that settle to self custody.
What they get proper: Align financial savings and day by day use with out giving up sovereignty.
Dangers and blind spots: Friction and slower distribution; reluctance to undertake UX abstractions; fragmentation throughout minimal stacks.
Angle to Lightning: Sure, however strict. Choose noncustodial or minimally trusted setups. Be cautious with giant custodial hubs.
North‑star checks: Customers who each save on‑chain and spend by way of non‑custodial L2; straightforward withdrawals to keys; excessive cost success with out custodians.
Tagline: “Purchase, spend, change.”
Conclusion
Bitcoin’s tradition contains 4 sincere defaults that always speak previous each other. Builders develop the floor space, market pragmatists show on a regular basis utility, financial purists scale distribution and minimalists defend the bottom.
Collectively. they create a productive rigidity that retains Bitcoin helpful and resilient for actual individuals.
After years of working in a round financial system and writing publicly about these debates, my view is easy. Bitcoin is cash. Hold the bottom layer easy. Save in bitcoin on-chain. Spend in sats when it serves individuals, because it does in a round financial system. Help Lightning solely when the exit to your individual keys stays clear and easy. I don’t assist the “Bitcoin as Database” path, as a result of turning Bitcoin right into a basic information host distracts from its financial mission and invitations waste, confusion, and reputational hurt.
The best way ahead is sensible and principled. Decide concepts by whether or not they develop self custody, make funds dependable with out custodians, deepen liquidity that funds safety and training and respect the boundaries of the bottom layer. If we maintain to that customary, the lanes can complement each other and extra individuals will share in the advantages of a free, impartial and credibly decentralized cash.
BM Massive Reads are weekly, in-depth articles on some present subject related to Bitcoin and Bitcoiners. Opinions expressed are these of the authors and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal. In case you have a submission you suppose matches the mannequin, be happy to succeed in out at editor[at]bitcoinmagazine.com.