A few days ago, celebrity billionaire Michael Saylor published an essay titled The Four Ideologies of Bitcoin. It wasn’t a bad essay. It just wasn’t complete.
Today, I’d like to discuss the fifth ideology of Bitcoin. I call it Foundationalism.
Foundationalism In a Nutshell
Before I begin expounding on what Foundationalism is, I’ll recap Saylor’s four Bitcoin ideologies:
- Maximalism - Bitcoin Maximalists claim Bitcoin is superior to every other cryptocurrency. In fact, die-hard maximalists say we don’t need any cryptocurrencies. They believe it’s the only truly decentralized network, offers superior benefits across the board, and is the world’s best long-term store of value. According to Saylor, Bitcoin Maximalists preserves and elevates Bitcoin’s identity.
- Capitalism - Bitcoin Capitalists believe Bitcoin’s best potential is through integration with the global economy. Instead of positioning BTC as an economic alternative, BTC Capitalists like Saylor believe institutional adoption improves the Bitcoin network.
- Technologism - Bitcoin Technologists believe Bitcoin can be improved through technological enhancements. Just keep improving the network and it will all work out.
- Fundamentalism - Bitcoin Fundamentalists stress remaining true to Bitcoin’s core principles: self-custody, decentralization, immutability, and use as a digital currency. Purists at heart, Bitcoin Fundamentalists believe Bitcoin is the surest path to individual sovereignty.
Like Saylor, I believe each ideology contributes something important to the Bitcoin network. As annoying as they are, Bitcoin Maximalists do have some things right, but they do have their blind spots.
Bitcoin Foundationalism, the philosophy to which I hold, is pragmatic. Unlike many who have moved on from Bitcoin to other cryptocurrencies, I believe Bitcoin still has value—and probably always will.
In a word, Foundationalism captures the structural mechanics of how the modern digital asset ecosystem actually functions. It shifts the focus from ideology to economic utility, framing Bitcoin as the indispensable global liquidity layer and systemic anchor for the rest of the market. Bitcoin's primary job is to absorb and hold vast amounts of capital to stabilize the broader space, and that's all it needs to do to be valuable. It can do more, but it need not do more to be practical, valuable, and useful.
Like Maximalists, I recognized that Bitcoin is the leader in decentralization. If we look at the underlying technology layer, few blockchains are as decentralized, but there has been a shift toward centralization as the economics of Bitcoin have narrowed the field. That doesn’t make Bitcoin less valuable as an asset.
In the same vein as the Capitalists, I see value in large wallets and institutional involvement in the Bitcoin network—so long as the institutions don’t take it over.
Of course, unlike many Maximalists, Technologists stress improvements to the network. Some of the suggested improvements have led to forks and a splintering of the Bitcoin community. Nevertheless, no technology is launched as a perfect version of itself. Continuous improvement is necessary.
Naturally, like the Fundamentalists, I believe Bitcoin should remain true to its core principles.
While I respect Saylor’s four ideologies, they are not complete. This is evidenced by three critical realities the traditional perspectives often overlook:
- Economic sovereignty in traditional finance. The US Dollar must not be the most technologically advanced or fastest currency to rule the global financial system. Its power is derived from its unmatched liquidity, depth of capital, and the fact that all other assets are priced against it. The Foundationalist view positions Bitcoin as the digital equivalent. It doesn't need smart contracts or high-speed transactions; it just needs to be an unshakeable, highly capitalized vault. And it is.
- A buffer against systemic cascades. A market without a strong anchor collapses when panic strikes. In crypto, Bitcoin acts as the ultimate shock absorber. When capital is held firmly in Bitcoin by long-term institutional custodians and corporate treasuries, it creates a massive “liquidity sponge” that prevents localized altcoin failures from completely wiping out the entire industry’s infrastructure. That structural role is valuable in its own right.
- The enabler of ecosystem innovation. An anchor allows other ships to explore. By maintaining a massive, stable capital base in Bitcoin, developers, venture capitalists, and other crypto users gain the economic confidence to build higher-risk, high-utility networks (like Ethereum, Solana, or decentralized finance applications) alongside it. The value held in the Bitcoin network empowers all blockchains and all participants in those blockchains to grow, build, and add value to the entire crypto ecosystem.
None of this ignores the fact that Bitcoin paved the way, nor does it negate the principle that Bitcoin can still be a valuable, decentralized store of value as well as digital unit of exchange.
Foundationalism recognizes the values of Bitcoin and its defenders without worshiping the infrastructure. One can appreciate the beauty and architectural craftsmanship of One World Trade Center or Burj Khalifa without expecting that all physical structures follow their patterns or move out of the way so that the architectural icons of the past maintain supremacy. One can still appreciate the magnificent architectural feats of the past while admiring the future transcendence of Jeddah Tower.
Bitcoin Foundationalism says, “Yes, let's keep Bitcoin, let’s use Bitcoin, but let’s not stop there.” We do not have to stop at the gate just because it is pretty.
First published at Substack. Image by ChatGPT.
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