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The community the size of the crypto-space cannot be easily killed from the outside, hence the easiest way for the enemies and skeptics to break us apart is by "Divide et Impera" (divide and conquer) - a strategy as old as civilisation itself. We have to stop before the damage goes beyond the point of no return. Below are ways in which we hurt ourselves and betray Satoshi's vision of the future.
Coin Tribalism
Archaic aspects of human instinct has found a new way to express itself - coin tribalism. A large subset of crypto-enthusiasts adopt certain pet projects and then, like in Pokemon, pit them against each other in infinite arguments about TPS, TX fees, scalability, and a myriad of other parameters in toxic online arguments. Harmony, Tezos, Fantom and many other platforms' communities hate Cardano for being so high in market cap without smart contracts (for now). Bitcoin maximalists and Ethereum maximalists look down on everyone including each other. Fantom and Hedera Hashgraph guys exchange mutual insults on the daily. Even meme coins that were conceived as a joke, such as Doge and Shiba Inu, are at each other throats barking. These "maxis" are not few in number, as anyone who has been in Telegram chats can attest.
This attitude of competition of cooperation makes us easy targets for manipulators, FUDsters, and all sort of folks not interested in our well-being. It is thus fascinating how traders with their "don't fall in love with a coin" approach are much more rational and beneficial to the community than adamant maximalists who wishing to serve interests of their community leave only division and hate in their wake. Even the most blind can tell, the future of the space is Interoperability, so there won't be a winner who takes it all. In short, we'll need to coexist.
Sh*tcoins Invite Regulation
People who invest in sh*tcoins often know that it's a gamble, however their actions impact people who didn't even invest into the coin. As Mark Cuban has shown us, the moment someone's gamble doesn't go their way, they can use their wealth and influence to play victim and call for regulations. Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Cardano has similarly stated in one of his YouTube videos that once the Doge bubble pops, it'll provide a fertile ground for the regulators to step in and make our lives more difficult than it should be. The fallout of sh*tcoin bubbles bursting will inevitably ruin the reputation of the space, the freedom of the space, as well as the purpose of the space - Satoshi's grand dream was not a pump-and-dump casino. The community has to collectively condemn such behaviour, because sh*tcoin investors make the entire crypto-space stink.
Privacy Coins - Mankind Has Not Earned Them
This will surely anger some readers, particularly those who believe in privacy above all, but I beg to differ. For the first time in human history man has invented a currency that combines both incredible transparency and complete anonymity. With Bitcoin or Ethereum, every single transaction is freely accessible to anyone and recorded in an immutable fashion on a digital ledger. If anyone's moving huge amounts of money in Bitcoin, it can be traced. Cryptocurrencies are a strong argument against money laundering, unlike cash or corrupt banking establishments (also known as - normal banks). Yet despite that the FUD spread about crypto is that it'll be the one doing all the money laundering. Hypocritical argument, but not completely wrong. Monero for instance is designed to be untraceable (and tech-wise is pretty impressive). Of course this helps to negate government control, but it also allows one to step outside of regulations and engage in human trafficking, weapon purchases, and all sorts of illicit activity, with no one to stop them.
Humanity is not at a stage right now where it can afford using traceless coins - we are too morally corrupt and our police is way too ineffective to catch the trespassers. I wouldn't want to live in a world where the already rich and powerful find yet another way to dodge taxes or acquire sex slaves for their private island. As much as crypto-space supports privacy, when it comes to privacy coins, we went too far, we lost the plot. Thus, it is my firm belief that for cryptocurrencies to advance to the next stage of global adoption, the communities must withdraw their support for privacy coins and tank their price. Criminals may find new ways around it, but they can't make us be a part of it.
As long as the community will stay true to Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a more decentralised, accountable, and secure world, we won't be so easy to defeat, but the way it stands now, certain rifts in the community are a sad truth that can evolve into a tragedy.
