The following is a guest position and an opinion from Jeff Garzik, co-founder of Hemi Labs.
Since Bitcoin stopped being the one and only crypto, a group of its faithful faithful emerged called “maximalist bitcoin”, arguing that BTC is the only “real” digital asset. While the cryptographic industry evolves towards the interoperability of fully pervadent decentralized finances (DEFI), however, this state of mind quickly becomes not only out of words but even harmful for the sector.
Bitcoin maximalism really took shape at the start of the crypto, when Bitcoin was the only reserve of really decentralized value and without confidence, with a proven protocol and a clear concentration on the principles of solid money. When other cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, started to appear later, they were mainly considered as risky speculative bets or even scams – something that could not correspond to Bitcoin’s security, its strong network effects or the ideological purity it represented.
At the time, most of the maximalists would insist that BTC was the only legitimate crypto, considering all other digital currencies as distractions or, even worse, a betrayal of the original vision of Satoshi. With the infrastructure and interoperability always to their infancy, this state of mind had meaning – after all, Bitcoin was the only player in the city, and his domination seemed almost indisputable.
From isolation to collaboration
Quick advance until 2025, and the crypto world is completely different from these first days. The explosive growth and innovation of DEFI technology and the cross channel have changed isolated ecosystems with those interconnected. Now, cryptographic space is to allow smooth interactions between different blockchains, which makes the environment much more interconnected and versatile.
Today, a certain number of innovative projects still push this trend by integrating Bitcoin directly into the DEFI space – and not only as tokenized versions like BTC packaged, but as a real indigenous part of this interconnected world. This marks a huge change compared to the old ways and comes up against the maximalist view, which always maintains that Bitcoin isolation is actually a good thing.
Basically, Bitcoin maximalism has a defect – it refuses to adapt or follow the evolution of the cryptographic environment. He still considers Bitcoin as a closed ecosystem, ignoring the breakthroughs that occur around the larger cryptography industry. But this state of mind neglects a key point – most modern crypto users are not motivated by ideology; They want convenience and easy access to a variety of services rather than isolated platforms or island systems.
Unique opportunities emerge
Decentralized finance, or DEFI, has already opened incredible new opportunities – things like yield agriculture, loans and decentralized exchanges – which make capital more effective and put increased power in users.
So it is natural that Bitcoin, with its safety and high -level liquidity, is just at the center of this financial revolution, not pushed to the key. Bringing Bitcoin directly to Defi does not dilute its value – in fact, it stimulates it by making BTC the dorsal spine of this new financial era.
The figures support him, contradicting the arguments of the maximalists. For example, by 2025, the total value locked in DEFI exceeded $ 120 billion, the stablecoins adding additional $ 250 billion in market capitalization, and transversal bridges dealing with billions of daily transactions.
Meanwhile, solutions like BTC packaged are often clumsy and centralized, creating counterpart risks that go against Bitcoin basic principles. If these bypass solutions are deleted and Bitcoin can move freely through many different blockchains, it could become even more precious thanks to interoperability.
New crypto world
As this trend accelerates, maximalist ideas will seem obsolete. The future of the crypto does not concern the blockchains that are fighting, but rather by working together – each playing their strengths, creating a more powerful system than any individual channel. Bitcoin will always be a first value store, but its usefulness will develop enormously thanks to support for smart contracts, liquidity pools and transversal technologies. Maximalists who reject this as heresy may let themselves be left behind, like dinosaurs fixing a meteor stage through the sky.
The problem is that their unshakable zeal could actually remember Bitcoin, trying to keep it outside the modern and interconnected cryptography ecosystem. This attitude also repels users and developers who see crypto as a unified and interconnected network which must function smoothly and meet the needs of the real world.
Although the maximalism of bitcoin is not yet completely dead, it is definitely going out. While interoperability becomes the standard of industry, the idea of bitcoin as an autonomous and isolated giant will disappear. The Boom Defi is already there, and rather than destroying Bitcoin, it launches it in a new era. The big question is now whether the maximalists will adapt or become relics of a bygone era.
