The Foolishness Of Blockchain Tribalism
Introduction
Whatever discussion forum you go to, you'll find fans of one blockchain dissing another. Because Bitcoin is the largest cap coin, Bitcoin maximalists are the most common type of blockchain tribalist you will meet. Each coin has their own tribalists. What I'm going to talk about in this post is blockchain tribalism is harmful and why it doesn't even make a lot of sense. There is not much of it on Hive let alone LeoFinance because here tend to be more forward-thinking than most. But if you read more mainstream forums, you'll notice that blockchain tribalism is pretty much non-stop.
By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0414-009 / Wolfried Pätzold / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5425468
Fans of FC Lokomotive Leipzig vs. SG Dynamo Schwerin
Cross-chain communication is key to higher value
There are about 8000 public blockchain projects listed on Coinmarketcap. For the most part, these chains are islands. There is little communication going on between them except for tokens being swapped on centralized exchanges.
That is about to change with the introduction of cross-chain protocols like Polkadot or Thorchain. Decentralized cross-chain communication protocols make it possible for applications and users to operate seamlessly on multiple chains without going through a centralized middleman. For example, the wrapped Bitcoin token that exists on Ethereum is relies on a centralized custodian as opposed to the solution Thorchain will offer.
With trustless cross-chain protocols different blockchains will merge into a larger network whose network effect has potential to grow into a size orders of magnitude larger than all the networks separately.
Cross-chain communication makes every new project an asset from the point of view of existing projects instead of a competitor.
Cross-chain communication puts the space even more ahead of the curve vs. regulators
Bitcoin attracts the lion's share of regulatory attention. The goal is to grow without interference from regulators. Cross-chain communication makes it possible for the long tail of small projects to join forces and build something much larger while Bitcoin is attracting most of the attention of regulators while Bitcoin's nascent institutional adoption and high degree of decentralization lends it a certain degree from protection from regulatory risks.
Protocols will be able to scale together through forking
For example, EOS forks keep cropping up. Without robust cross-chain communication, all that forking would only hinder the growth of their combined network effect.
Mass adoption requires both massive capacity and for the protocols to fade into the background
Again, cross-chain communication is one of the key facilitators of this. Chains created for different primary purposes can have different characteristics optimized for their main use cases will be able to communicate with and be part of larger networks.
Conclusion
The above are a few reasons why people in the space should stop thinking in terms of protocols being competitors. If you can come up with more, I'd like to hear them. If you think there will be clear winners and losers in the blockchain space, please come and tell me why in the comments.
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These sort of unhealthy competition exist everywhere. I don't mind it to a certain degree, it does get people talking. However, the objective fee see past these things. I am open to new ideas. If there is anything I have learnt in this space it is never be emotionally attached to a project to a point it crowds your mind. Blockchain maximalists are mostly trolls looking for engage in their posts/comments.
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I think it's a thing even on discussion forums where the participants are not doing so just to drive traffic. I certainly see a lot of it in the Finnish language Facebook group for cryptocurrency investors that I frequent.
Most people are sold this time of narrative and they go with it without any question--the nerd.
Certainly crypto maximalism is a thing. I have seen it a number of times and it irks me
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The problem is that it is not competition but rather cooperatives.
Few realize that and still bring the same mindset to crypto like they do the rest of the world.
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for what it is worth we are trying to do something different with crypto but i don't think we can curb this divisive forces. For those who seek true knowledge about crypto, they will find.
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It is akin to the early days of the internet before there were agreed upon protocols for web sites. Each was an island unto itself. It was only after standards were agreed upon that things start to took off.
We did see this starting with the Leo versus Hive bullcrap where people starting trying to degrade Hive by touting Leo (or vice versa). Stupidity at its best especially since they are linked together.
Ultimately, this is not EOS vs or ETH or BTC vs LTC. Instead, it is the decentralized world versus the centralized one. At some point the community will realize that the ETH people are not a threat to EOS but the present system where it is coming from.
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Last spring saw the rise of the oracle protocols. The summer was all about DeFi. Now Thorchain. Clearly, there is a push to increase the connectivity of a blockchain either to the physical world or other blockchains.
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