Famed bitcoin commentator and author Andreas Antonopoulos just released a video on YouTube explaining his reasons for writing his upcoming book, Mastering Ethereum. One person asked him if his involvement with Ethereum suggested that he was moving away from bitcoin. According to Antonopoulos, his interest in Ethereum does not imply any ideological shift away from bitcoin. Instead, Antonopoulos notes that we should all be willing to learn about things that we don’t understand or don’t agree with, and that cryptocurrency is not a “religion”.
Mastering Ethereum and Other Hits
For those who don’t know, Andreas Antonopoulos has made a name for himself as one of the more respected authors and public speakers on the subject of bitcoin. He has given countless speeches, talks, and presentations in a number of high-profile events around the world. He is known for giving discounts on his speaking fees for those willing to pay in bitcoin.
His first two books, The Internet of Money volumes one and two, and Mastering Bitcoin have proven to be smash hits and are widely considered to be essential reading for those who are serious about cryptocurrency and understanding it on both a technological and ideological level.
Not long ago, Antonopoulos announced his intent to write another book called Mastering Ethereum. Much like his book with a similar name on bitcoin, the intent of this book is to focus on the more advanced technical aspects of Ethereum for programmers and those who want to learn more about Ethereum development.
Read also: Andreas Antonopoulos: Changing Bitcoin PoW Tantamount to Shooting Itself In The Foot
A Disturbing Lack of Faith?
The video that Antonopoulos put up on YouTube was a response to a question from one of his fans or followers. A big part of that question was ascertaining whether or not Antonopoulos had lost his exclusive affinity or devotion for bitcoin. It even seemed to suggest that showing any interest in a blockchain project that isn’t bitcoin would be heresy or sacrosanct.
To this point, Antonopoulos had a number of sharp and poignant comments that perhaps we should all consider. One point he made is that cryptocurrency and blockchain is not a religion. Our use of or research in another project is not tantamount to betrayal, but is instead a wise and natural process.
Further he stated that while he may not agree with everything that a particular blockchain or cryptocurrency project does, such as its consensus model or how it handles governance, doesn’t mean that there is nothing to learn or to gain from getting a clearer picture of how it works.
Antonopoulos also had a few comments that were in some ways anti-Ethereum. Specifically, he said that the technology has undoubtedly been used by unscrupulous individuals in order to create “shitcoins” by “the truck load”. However, just because some people use the technology for bad reasons, that doesn’t mean the technology itself is bad or corrupt. He said:
The fact that a whole bunch of idiots have tried to rush through that door to make shit coins has nothing to do with the underlying technology.
Not Just Ethereum
Antonopoulos was also careful to state in no uncertain terms that while the upcoming book is called Mastering Ethereum, it is not exclusively about the cryptocurrency project launched by co-creator Vitalik Buterin.
Read: Our Guide to Ethereum
Instead, Antonopoulos stated his interest in the many cryptocurrency projects that offer virtual machines and smart contract programming. He specifically cited projects like Ethereum Classic, Lisk, EOS, Rootstock, and QTUM. Aside from specifically commenting that Ethereum Classic is functionally the same as Ethereum, particularly from a development perspective, Antonopoulos noted that all of these projects have a lot in common. And so learning about one can extend to understanding about others.
In closing, Antonopoulos said that the wrong thing to do is to point fingers at each other and say how each other’s favorite blockchain project is garbage, isn’t decentralized enough, and so on. Instead, he said that we should before kissing on the benefits of blockchain, and who the true enemies are. To this he said:
The real enemy is not the not-quite decentralized system, it’s totalitarianism, fascism, corrupt crony capitalism and destructive banking systems that are absolutely centralized,
These groups, according to Antonopoulos, are the ones causing “enormous damage to the world”, and can be fought against best using blockchain technology and decentralized systems.
