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Ever wonder why your NFT degen buddy invests so differently from your 2017 bear market survivor, ETH hodler uncle? Why does Michael Saylor only buy Bitcoin and why is it funny that dog coins are still alive? This all comes down to people having different crypto ideologies. An ideology is a system of beliefs/opinions coming from different people. The beauty of crypto is that there are multiple ideologies, sometimes even clashing ones. We can all subscribe to at least one that fits us best. Let's go over some popular crypto ideologies! 

Maximalism 

Perhaps the most common stance in cryptocurrency would be maximalism. A maximalist is defined as a person who holds extreme views and is not willing to change them. With crypto, a maximalist usually refers to one who believes that there should only be one crypto and that all other coins are rather irrelevant. The most common of these would be the Bitcoin Maximalists who think that Bitcoin is the (most) superior digital asset. They are particularly adamant that every other coin is not as decentralized or secure as Bitcoin and that other coins simply copied it and are banking on its hype. Personalities like Michael Saylor, Max Keiser and Jack Dorsey could be considered to fall under this ideology. 

On the other hand, there is also an argument that although Bitcoin is very secure and decentralized, it cannot handle as many transactions. Ethereum maximalists think that a higher scalability coin like ETH, combined with its vast network of decentralized apps, is what will really pave the way to mass adoption. They believe the growth of the crypto space will be attributed to ETH due to applications that originated from it,  like Decentralized Finance and NFTs. Mark Cuban is a well-known self-proclaimed Ethereum maximalist. 

Lastly, there are also maximalists for specific altcoins, saying they will be the "ETH-killer", but these ideologies are significantly smaller in scale than that of BTC and ETH maxis.

Crypto Liberalism vs. Pro-Regulation 

Another controversial topic regarding crypto is whether or not it should be supervised. This is encapsulated in the ideological battle between crypto liberals and those who are pro-regulation. 

Crypto liberals believe that crypto should be free from governments and control. They believe the financial system must be "for the people and by the people". They subscribe to the motive behind the creation of Bitcoin, with it wanting to separate itself from the banks and traditional financial system after the 2008 financial crisis. After seeing the highly leveraged and irresponsible way banks managed consumer funds, BTC was made so that a peer-to-peer system of sending cash to each other without any intermediary could occur. Crypto liberals support this system and reject any form of government or bank entering the space. 

On the other hand, the pro-regulation stance is simply the opposite of crypto liberalism. They reject crypto liberalism in that it is too idealistic and they believe that guidelines and control by law are actually what will lead the crypto space to mass adoption. They acknowledge that there are a huge amount of scams and bad actors in the space with it being so new and that the way to combat this is by regulation. Pro-regulators also generally want most traditional institutions like banks to enter the space since it will significantly increase the market capitalization of crypto, or in other words, most coins will go up in value. To them, crypto is the wild west of the investing space, and they want rules and clear guidelines to keep it controlled and safe.

Pure Traders and Pure Investors

Here come some stances that aren't unique to the crypto space. All the way from the traditional investing realm, pure traders and investors have always been doing their own opposing strategies. Pure crypto traders simply do not care about the coin that they trade. They do simple research on the founder, fundamentals or read whitepapers. They are mostly only interested in price action to see if they can make a quick buck and move on. A number of traders do not even hold or store Bitcoin and other coins for the long term. They are almost always "in cash" since they want to stay as liquid as possible for trading. 

Meanwhile, pure investors do not care (much) about short-term price movements or volatility in general. They find a coin with solid fundamentals, do a lot of research, and eventually just accumulate what they believe is going to make them rich in the future. They tend to use strategies such as dollar cost averaging and seldom sell at a loss (or even at all) since they always appreciate a huge price drop for the discount it brings. 

Purpose of Crypto

Lastly, we'll quickly gloss over some other crypto views that denote each group's take on the purpose of cryptocurrency. 

Crypto Degeneracy is a stance held by a group commonly known as the "Degens". They tend to barely do any research, buy or "ape" into any coin that's trending, and often do not practice risk management. This group sees crypto as a way to gamble and "get rich quick". They often base their investing decisions on Twitter/Telegram/Discord communities and are usually into NFTs as well. 

The Traditional Finance stance tends to view Bitcoin and cryptocurrency just like any other risky investment. When the economy looks scary, they sell their crypto first along with other risk assets which is why crypto movement is generally positively correlated with U.S. stock indices recently. Bitcoin is treated like a highly speculative tech stock and is yet to be seen by the majority as a true store of value so they would rather dump it and go to more traditional inflation hedges like gold. This stance may change in the years to come as more people accept and adopt cryptocurrencies.

Understanding the Anti-Crypto stance is self-explanatory with its name. It consists of people who are against the concept of cryptocurrency. They believe it threatens governments, banks, and other legacy institutions so it should not exist. It is a common belief of anti-crypto people that all coins are just used for money laundering, tax evasion, and Ponzi schemes. Governments also believe that cryptocurrencies may threaten fiat currencies and some also state that they destroy the environment. 

Afterword

There are truly many different ideologies surrounding this new technological boom of crypto. Some may be extremists up to a point. Some may be more correct than others at times. Some may simply not make sense to you. Regardless, they all make the Web3 space vibrant with community and discussion. They comprise the digital ecosystem of cryptocurrencies. Which crypto ideology/ideologies do you subscribe to?