On the same day that the Bitcoin community commemorated the 11th anniversary of the Genesis Block, a new journal (Nakamoto.com) was launched with the promise of publishing pieces that are of general interest to the crypto community as a whole.
Nakamoto.com was launched by former Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan and looked like it got off the best possible start with contributions from crypto personalities like Vitalik Buterin, Jameson Lopp and Balaji’s former boss, Brian Armstrong.
At the same time, however, the new journal has taken center stage as the latest cause of division between the crypto community, with Bitcoin maximalists being the antagonists.
Nakamoto.com claims to have only “Pro-BTC” persons who believe in the long term future of the cryptocurrency as contributors, but is there something else?
The Divisions
First, Tuur Demeester, founder of Adamant Capital who was formerly listed as one of the contributors to the journal revealed that he asked for his profile to be removed.
He did not reveal the reason for asking out and even raised doubts regarding the motive behind Nakamoto.com, by writing in a tweet:
I worry if I get into specifics I’ll be adding to the drama. I wish Balaji the best with his project, and I shared my particular discomforts with him.
— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) January 5, 2020
There was also a series of complaints on Twitter by Bitcoin maximalists that they’ve were kicked out of the Telegram community for the new journal, even though they neither posted or commented.
Adding to the voices from a different angle, Ran Neuner, who once labeled “Bitcoin as too slow and expensive” claimed that the community’s response to the newly launched journal shows how rotten it has become.
Twitters response to https://t.co/iUhDUmftpO illustrates how rotten the space has become. Why not celebrate that there is another credible source that can drive adoption and education? Instead of this constant infighting why can we not rather focus the same energy on conversion?
— Ran NeuNer (@cryptomanran) January 5, 2020
What Could the Contention Be?
The new journal may likely have been criticized by the BTC camp likely for the fact that it has as contributors, different crypto entrepreneurs working on different projects.
The basic idea is that these entrepreneurs may along the line begin to promote their projects (which may be legitimate or not) via their content contributions, and also other influential persons like Justin Sun will join down the line.
But there is no denying the fact that a journal with most crypto pioneers as contributors would be a nice way to drive adoption, promote education and unite the community.
At the moment, though, what is arguably the first attempt to bring such thought leaders together is tearing the community apart.
Will it go down as one of the many controversies already dividing the space or will consensus be reached at a point?
