What’s common to Michael Saylor and Andreas Antonopolous? Bitcoin Tech Talk Issue #206

Michael Saylor is the new darling of Bitcoiners, having put some $400M into Bitcoin over the past 6 months. This is a startling turnaround from 2013, when he dismissed Bitcoin and calling its days “numbered.” By contrast, Andreas Antonopolous has upset Bitcoiners with his newest contention that Bitcoin Maximalists are the biggest threat to Bitcoin. This is similarly a startling turnaround from 2013, when he was one of the few content creators who explained Bitcoin to noobs.

The contrast between these two people is interesting and speaks to a lack of hero worship in the Bitcoin community. No one is sacred and no one is irredeemable. One of the things I love about Bitcoin is that it is very much a meritocracy. You might be a core maintainer like Gavin Andreesen, respected by the whole community in 2013. His status was never higher than in 2013 when he was the face of Bitcoin Core. Then he started talking about becoming a benevolent dictator who would throw his weight around. He then got duped by a conman and in 2020, he’s essentially a persona non grata in the Bitcoin community. You can also be like Wences Cesares, who led an attack against Bitcoin in Segwit2x and tried also to take control in 2017. But apologizing and supporting Bitcoin development brought him back into the good graces of the community.