The combination of crypto thinkers and profit-driven motives

Author: tiger

Compiled by: Blcock unicorn

How can these two groups unite for the same goal? If you are a crypto native, you have likely seen at least two types of ideologies in this industry:

1. Crypto Ideologists: These thinkers are true "believers," who fundamentally believe that decentralization is essential because it has the potential to change the existing financial system, more specifically, to transform the currently shaky traditional financial institutions.

2. Crypto Opportunists (such as SBF, Shuzhu, etc.): These individuals do not care whether it is decentralized; they view cryptocurrency as a platform for making money.

The roots of these thinkers lie first in the Bitcoin white paper, which mentioned peer-to-peer finance from the outset and the drawbacks of relying on financial institutions as trusted third parties. Their current interests are somewhat broad (also extending to large tech platforms), but for the purposes of this article, I will limit the scope to finance. Thus, starting from Satoshi Nakamoto, the ideologists of cryptocurrency have put forth an argument: The thesis: The existence of cryptocurrency is to eliminate the interference of financial institutions.

Opportunists scoff at this grandiose rhetoric; at most, they see it as a useful facade that provides a friendly face to the outside world. They are attracted to cryptocurrency because of its promise of financial returns, not Satoshi's ideological tenets. Opportunistic crypto individuals believe decentralization is useful, but not fundamental, simply because decentralized platforms can help them make a fortune. In their eyes, decentralized platforms can serve as a great, massive, global casino to achieve their path to wealth, and the argument put forth by opportunistic crypto individuals stands in stark contrast to that of the thinkers/crypto ideologists.

Opposing view: The existence of cryptocurrency is to provide a global casino for people to get rich.

Risking the mundane, let us further explore the significant differences between the two and consider their reactions to the launch of new financial primitive products:

• Thinkers marvel at its open and decentralized nature and how it is built on composable and permissionless code.
• Opportunistic crypto individuals see a new speculative opportunity and another asset to gamble on.

In a nutshell, you can summarize these two groups as follows: thinkers are primarily driven by ideas; opportunists are primarily driven by money.

Seeking the Benefits of Combining Both

You may have also seen the hostility that sometimes erupts between these groups. Opportunists mock thinkers for their lack of interest in making money, while thinkers proclaim that opportunists are impure and bring a bad reputation to the industry. Generally speaking, these two groups hate each other and make it widely known.

However, there exists a synthesis between the two. Thinkers and opportunists can actually become allies, both getting what they want.

Argument: The existence of cryptocurrency is to eliminate the intermediaries of financial institutions.

Counterargument: The existence of cryptocurrency is to provide a global casino for people to get rich.

Synthesis: The existence of cryptocurrency is to replace existing financial institutions and elites with a new mechanism.

The argument of the thinkers is to eliminate the intermediaries of financial institutions and replace them with decentralized protocols. For the opportunists on the opposing side, this is unimportant; they just want to get rich. Viewed collectively, opportunists can achieve incredible wealth by replacing the existing financial system with a new one.

In practice, this has already happened to some extent. True thinkers, advocating their decentralized organizational tenets, raise funds from opportunists to guide new financial protocols with their speculative actions. However, the combination of these two frameworks benefits both sides, as it clarifies what the true goal is and how the two groups should consider their alliance.

The ultimate goal of both groups is to replace the current financial system and its institutions and elites with a new system, allowing thinkers to realize their ideals while opportunists can get rich. Given how entrenched these institutions and elites are, and the money involved, this is an extremely ambitious and challenging goal.

Conditions for Participation and Alliance

From these perspectives, thinkers should strategize on how to gain the support of existing stakeholders and how to leverage the resources of opportunists to achieve their ultimate goal. Continuous engagement with the existing system—aiming to replace it as the final objective—and with opportunists who have a financial mindset is necessary, even beneficial.

Opportunists should consider how to strategically deploy their capital to enhance their chances of replacing the existing system with a new one. This means continuing to fund projects, guiding them with liquidity, but crucially, also engaging in real politics. If cryptocurrency is to replace the existing system, it can be said that a set of rules favorable to both sides is needed. Regardless of how people feel, the dirty process of involving the industry, legislators, and regulators is necessary. Opportunists may be able to amass great wealth, but for an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars, with such high stakes and immense wealth, it is strange that this situation rarely occurs.

However, crypto ideologists/thought leaders should be cautious when dealing with opportunists. Why are opportunistic crypto individuals different? The current financial system is the master of opportunists; ideologists should recognize the nature of opportunists: as useful tools for a means, they should build systems that leverage the opportunists' profit-seeking behavior but with strong guardrails to constrain their ability to extract rents and consolidate power, for example, through code and competition.

When do opportunists not ally with thinkers? Broadly speaking, when they attempt to consolidate their positions in a traditional financial institution manner and undermine the core tenets of ideologists. For instance, SBF's advocacy for KYC at the DeFi front should be viewed as a hostile attempt to consolidate his position.

Why do opportunists want to ally with crypto ideologists/thought leaders? Simply put, because they can make money by doing so, replacing the existing elites with their wealth, status, power, and influence. Even if their ultimate position may be limited compared to the status quo, these opportunists are well compensated.

Conclusion

Thinkers are driven by ideas, while opportunists are driven by their interests. As mentioned above, both can exist under a unified goal. This does not mean that thinkers abandon their ideals; on the contrary, the proposed synthesis is a way for ideologists to realize their vision through the actions of opportunists and within a more pragmatic political framework. The task is to achieve this without compromising their tenets and ensuring that opportunists remain aligned with them throughout the process.

Moreover, the ideological unity between opportunists and thinkers does not mean they abandon their desire for money. In fact, the opposite is true. Opportunists can earn immense wealth by replacing the existing financial system with a new one—creating wealth, status, fame, power, and influence for themselves in the process. As part of this goal, opportunists should leverage their vast resources to engage with existing institutions, attempting to ensure the success of cryptocurrency.