Just a few years in the past, I made an unlikely wager: to construct a Bitcoin round economic 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 seaside city right into a dwelling 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 every day life.
Dwelling on the Bitcoin customary, I started to see what is admittedly occurring on the technological edge.
In August 2025, I revealed 4 quick articles on X. Totally different in kind and tone, they converged on the identical query: What position ought to Bitcoin play, and what position ought to we play in constructing it? They got here in fours:
- a area report on our work with the Bitcoin Neighborhood 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 need to align apply, concept, and a future‑going through imaginative and prescient.
Within the first piece, I shared the challenges and classes from an actual experiment: constructing a Bitcoin‑based mostly round economic system in Northeast Brazil. Impressed by Bitcoin Seashore in El Salvador, we rooted the Jericoacoara undertaking in training, inclusion and native infrastructure. We put in servers, onboarded retailers and neighbors, created social packages and sought institutional recognition as a Neighborhood Bitcoin Financial institution.
We have been rejected by the native authorities. Even within the face of the state’s authorized and political unpreparedness, we moved ahead with conviction. We consider 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 know this, and so they denied our request to register what would have been the primary Bitcoin neighborhood financial institution.
Within the second piece, I confronted an ideological pressure throughout the neighborhood itself. Maximalist rhetoric, which defends Bitcoin as the one legit undertaking and treats the remainder of “crypto” as scams, had its historic position. It helped defend the integrity of the ecosystem, uncovered frauds and accelerated market maturation. However does it nonetheless serve the objective of enormous‑scale adoption? Does it assist talk Bitcoin’s worth to newcomers? I caught myself ignoring related technological options just because they have 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 folks towards actual Bitcoin adoption. Stablecoins, altcoins, memecoins, and centralized cryptocurrencies are shifting towards Bitcoin, absorbing inflation and even serving to to determine the costs of different commodities. Maybe it’s time for a brand new posture: not abandoning rules, however embracing a Bitcoin that retains the deal with the essence whereas remaining prepared to interact 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 take into account adopting the satoshi as its nationwide unit of account.
The proposal, extra symbolic than technical, had a transparent objective: 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 necessary: even throughout the Bitcoin ecosystem there are ideological lanes: conservatives, centrists and progressives, every making an attempt to interpret the protocol by 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 contemporary have a look at what we’re actually making an attempt to construct. Greater than repeating dogmas, this second requires discernment. Greater than speaking about freedom, it’s time to apply 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 observe 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 assume in centuries, not launch cycles. I additionally famous that latest Core releases, v29 and v30, revisited how a lot additional information transactions could 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’ll be able to scribble on however not use to publish a e book, 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 alternate made the fault traces clear: totally different teams love Bitcoin for various causes and settle for totally different commerce‑offs. Within the subsequent part, I title 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 good. They scale when early followers make participation seen and straightforward, reducing social danger and exhibiting others precisely the right way to behave.
From contained in the business, spending numerous hours analyzing geopolitics and future traits, I started to see Bitcoiners in 4 essential classes, with the extremes on each 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 file. It may well coordinate folks and software program. Cash is one highly effective use, not the one one.
What they prioritize: Time‑stamps and proofs; public information; identification 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 contemporary 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 house and invite controversy. New programs typically reintroduce trusted middlemen.
Angle to Lightning: Open, when it helps apps really feel instantaneous. 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. Worth 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 considering. Distribution can focus in a number of giant fingers.
Angle to Lightning: Pragmatic. Use it when it helps attain extra folks.
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 economic system).
What they prioritize: Easy, secure guidelines on L1; run your personal node; training on keys, UTXOs, and charges; miner and shopper range; very long time horizons.
What they get proper: Clear incentives and robust tradition. If cash is damaged, each value within the economic system is improper. Repair cash first.
Dangers and blind spots: UX and funds can lag. Newcomers could really feel gatekept. Adoption can gradual if on a regular basis use is ignored.
Angle to Lightning: Usually skeptical. Want 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, Software for Social Transformation
Core perception: Bitcoin must be digital gold for saving and digital money for spending, with the smallest potential belief floor.
What they prioritize: Save on‑chain with closing settlement; spend by way of noncustodial Lightning the place potential; 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 every 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. Want 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; simple withdrawals to keys; excessive fee success with out custodians.
Tagline: “Purchase, spend, substitute.”
Conclusion
Bitcoin’s tradition consists of 4 trustworthy defaults that usually discuss previous each other. Builders increase 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 pressure that retains Bitcoin helpful and resilient for actual folks.
After years of working in a round economic 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 folks, because it does in a round economic system. Assist Lightning solely when the exit to your personal keys stays clear and easy. I don’t help 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 bounds of the bottom layer. If we maintain to that customary, the lanes can complement each other and extra folks will share in the advantages of a free, impartial and credibly decentralized cash.
BM Large 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. If in case you have a submission you assume suits the mannequin, be happy to achieve out at editor[at]bitcoinmagazine.com.
