Original title: Lorebuilders and 『Breakers: The Creators and Destroyers of Communities
Original author: @DeFiDave 22
Original translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats
Editors note: This article explores the difference between culture builders and culture destroyers. Culture builders, like Satoshi Nakamoto, promote cultural development through ideas, community participation and values to ensure the sustainability of culture; while culture destroyers, like SBF, pursue personal interests, use culture to make huge profits for themselves, and ultimately destroy the foundation of the community and culture. The article emphasizes that the culture of a community is not passed down through a single event or person, but through the joint efforts and protection of everyone. The power of culture comes from the defense and inheritance of its values, rather than selfish manipulation and exploitation.
The following is the original content (for easier reading and understanding, the original content has been reorganized):
Lore is a communitys shared story, symbolic system, and collective memory that binds its members together. It cannot be bought, and for Lore to exist for a long time, the community must be deeply involved and promote its evolution. The most influential Lore is an open invitation to the community to participate in shaping its mission and destiny. And those who quietly cultivate these Lores behind the scenes are Lore builders.
Their motivations vary: some do it just for fun, while others are driven by a strong inner mission. Regardless of the reason, all Lore builders have one thing in common - what they build is not just for themselves, but for something greater than themselves.
At the same time, there are people who are the exact opposite of Lore Builders: Lore Breakers. They are driven by ego and see Lore as a resource to draw energy from rather than a cause worth contributing to. On the surface, they may look similar to Lore Builders and even behave in similar ways, but over time, their true motivations will eventually be revealed. Lore Breakers do not see themselves as part of the story, but as the center of the entire story - once their personal interests require it, they will betray Lore without hesitation.
Since the concept of lore construction is still new, we must remain vigilant and clearly draw the line between lore builders and destroyers. It is to establish this boundary of distinction that this article was written. When this line is crossed, it will be easier to identify who is building and who is consuming.
Of all the characteristics of these two opposing forces, the most important thing to remember is that successful lore builders are the guardians of cultural memory, shaping a lasting common identity; while lore destroyers are like parasites attached to it, seeing only the desires in front of them, constantly draining the vitality of the lore until it is exhausted.
What is Lore Builder
Lore builders are people who listen, act, and co-extend mythic narratives with their communities. As I mentioned in my last post, lore builders are able to identify emerging ideas, understand their historical context, and discern collective emotions, and weave all of this into a coherent and engaging narrative. They are the prophets of lore. Good lore builders dont impose direction; they listen, guard, and remain sensitive and responsive to the natural evolution of lore.
It is worth emphasizing that Lore builders are often not the loudest or most visible person in the room. They speak and act with clear intentions, and are often the ones working quietly behind the scenes - when no one is paying attention, they are the ones who keep the fire. As for their specific words and actions, although they are different, they all have a common core quality: rooted in the values they believe in and uphold.
Lore builders are naturally highly sensitive and intuitive. They understand the historical context of the Lore they build, and know what kind of past power gives it real meaning and power. They can sense the emotions and atmosphere of the people around them, judge the direction of the next step, and see what kind of actions can truly resonate with the community.
Lore builders have an instinctive sense of mythology, can identify those profound moments and actions - whether grand or small - and amplify and spread them in time. Ultimately, the perception of Lore builders comes from a vision of the future. They see Lore as a living story that continues to evolve and slowly unfolds in the long river of time.
Lore builders are essentially selfless, with a high sense of integrity. They put aside their egos to serve the community and the Lore itself as a humble guardian, rather than using the Lore as a tool for self-serving. They understand that the Lore is a collective creation, shaped by many people, and is always evolving within a larger narrative and emotional wave. They understand that actions speak louder than words; it doesnt matter whether they are well-known or not, they let their contributions speak for themselves.
Lore builders take initiative. They take action without being told by others and feel a sense of responsibility for advancing the lore. This initiative can take various forms: symbolic (such as making memes, shaping iconic symbols), narrative (writing content, canonizing specific events, creating characters), ideological (publicly taking positions, establishing values), or ritualistic (holding events, forming habits, repeating certain actions).
Good Lore builders know very well when to step up and when to wait for the right time. Being proactive does not mean forcing the development of Lore, but stepping up at the right time. Every proactive attack will make the density of Lore continue to grow and expand.
Lore builders also have patience and tenacity. They understand that it takes time for a Lore to take root. It must be deeply rooted in peoples hearts and precipitated in collective memory. All truly powerful Lores are gradually formed in shared experiences - whether it is laughter, struggle, or victory. There is no quick way to build a Lore. This is by no means a one-time process. It must be built brick by brick, bit by bit, and accumulated through specific actions.
As long as time is long enough, a spiritual fortress capable of withstanding all kinds of external shocks will eventually take shape.
Ultimately, no matter what they do or how they act, Lore Builders always see themselves as part of the Lore - like a note in a symphony or a stitch in a mythic tapestry, insignificant in isolation but essential to the overall shape.
Satoshi Nakamoto: A model of Lore builder
Satoshi Nakamoto is not only the creator of Bitcoin, he also set a standard for all subsequent Lore builders. No matter how amazing Bitcoin is technically, it would not have survived to this day without a Lore that can attract firm believers.
Satoshi Nakamoto was well aware of the historical background that gave birth to Bitcoin. He understood the significance of the Cypherpunk Movement in the 1990s, which is the ideological basis of Bitcoin. This movement sowed the seeds of fighting for freedom with code and emphasized that encryption technology is a tool for achieving individual and collective sovereignty. In that era, projects such as b-money and Bit Gold laid the theoretical foundation for the concept of digital currency, but it was not until the double payment problem was solved that digital currency became truly feasible at the computational and economic levels.
Satoshi Nakamoto combined these advances in cryptography and distributed systems, while staying true to the spirit of cypherpunks, and ultimately brewed a trustless, self-operating digital value transfer protocol. The last link he needed was a suitable catalyst.
Then, the 2008 financial crisis hit. Governments bailed out financial giants, left ordinary people behind, and printed money through quantitative easing. These moves sparked widespread disillusionment and distorted incentives—profits were privatized, while losses were borne by society as a whole. The systemic failure of the financial system and the collapse of public trust in mainstream institutions created an ideal historical window for Satoshi Nakamoto to release the Bitcoin white paper on Halloween 2008.
Satoshi Nakamotos vision is very clear: to create a peer-to-peer, decentralized system that replaces state-controlled currencies. No longer relying on banks, governments, or intermediaries, it relies solely on transactions between people, and cryptographic trust mechanisms to protect everything. There is no central server, no individual who can be held accountable, only an open source network that transcends national boundaries and anyone can participate.
This participation is not limited to the technical work of running a full node or contributing code, but also includes active participation in the community and society of Bitcoin. For example, the Bitcoin forum Bitcoin Talk is Satoshi Nakamotos base - he not only shares his thoughts and logic on it, but also guides and cultivates a community that will jointly establish cultural norms and improve the core concepts of Bitcoin.
In this forum, the philosophical ideas advocated by Satoshi Nakamoto and the communitys response to these ideas are as important as the code he wrote.
For example, the total amount of Bitcoin is hard-capped at 21 million. This mechanism is deeply embedded in the cultural awareness of scarcity, which fundamentally protects the community from the inflationary tyranny brought about by the excessive issuance of fiat currency - this excessive printing behavior has never received real public consent. In addition, principles such as decentralization, sovereignty awareness, no permission required, neutrality, anti-fragility and pragmatism have also been established in the early culture of Bitcoin and laid the foundation for its future development.
Satoshi held himself to the highest standards and became a role model for others to follow. He remained anonymous and never sought personal attention. The oft-quoted slogan “We are all Bitcoin” is no accident—it was Satoshi’s original intention: to allow everyone to participate in the development of Bitcoin, because Bitcoin was destined from the beginning to transcend any one individual. The moment he handed Bitcoin to the community was also the moment a new generation of Lore builders was born, who will continue to drive Bitcoin into the future.
The one million unspent bitcoins in Satoshi’s wallet are his most powerful statement yet. Although these bitcoins are now worth billions of dollars, to him, their value is irrelevant - they are subverted by the fiat currency system he is trying to create an escape exit. If these bitcoins are sold one day, it will be a complete departure from everything Satoshi stands for, and will also destroy the spiritual foundation of Bitcoin - and turn him from a Lore builder into a Lore destroyer.
Since Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared into the history of Bitcoin and society, he has become a mythical figure to millions around the world, who look to his actions for guidance, and ultimately, a role model for all subsequent Lore builders.
Lore spoilers and their consequences
Lore vandals are those who extract and distort the Lore for their own personal gain, and they manipulate the communities they are a part of to achieve this goal.
They are false prophets who cast themselves as saviors, presenting themselves in an almost mythical manner, only to fall from glory in a biblical fall. Time and again, those in the cryptocurrency space have shown themselves to be susceptible to the temptations of the Lore destroyers.
Humans have a natural tendency to seek out saviors; everyone is looking for someone worth following, and this tendency is often exploited. If we are to continue to grow and develop as an industry, we must be vigilant in identifying lore saboteurs and courageously exposing them.
Lore Disrupters are often ego-driven and put themselves first. They are motivated by personal glory and care most about how others see them. They think in terms of mine rather than ours, and their language is often self-referential. For example, they will say, Look at me, Im a visionary, rather than Look at what we are building together.
Lore busters are inherently short-term opportunists and toxic mercenaries. They only participate in the story when it works in their favor, and quickly betray the story once a better opportunity presents itself. Lore busters have no firm convictions or positions, and will say anything to please the masses. Rather than building the mythology, they exploit it, twisting the lore to serve their own personal interests.
Lore busters come across as sanitized and inauthentic. Their language is robotic, hollow and superficial rather than offering anything of substance. They over-optimize for metrics and drama over substance and listening naturally to where the Lore is going.
Ultimately, lore destroyers try to extract benefits from the myth as quickly as possible, ultimately bringing the community into ruin and chaos, while lore builders push the myth forward over the long haul, allowing those patient community members to rise together and move forward hand in hand.
SBF: Ultimate Lore Destroyer
One of the most notorious lore destroyers in recent memory has to be Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF for short). From a lore construction perspective, he did a lot of things right when building the lore for himself and FTX/Alameda.
He comes from a distinguished background, MIT and Jane Street, and got into crypto initially by doing Bitcoin arbitrage in Asia. He presents himself as a scruffy genius founder who sleeps on bean bags and lives simply, but it’s all a carefully crafted performance.
SBFs philosophical framework of effective altruism emphasizes doing the most good by any means, which puts him and his actions on the moral high ground. People who follow him and the Lore he built tend to see a lot of copy-paste content and iconic events he participated in, whether its him saving Sushiswap from Chef Nomis control or his declaration that he is willing to buy all SOL at $3, these are just a few examples.
SBF solidified the outside world’s recognition, raising hundreds of millions for FTX from venture capital firms like Softbank, Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, Temasek, Blackstone, and others, and established himself as a legitimate voice in the establishment. He met with regulators, testified to Congress, and positioned himself as the “acceptable face” of crypto. Crypto Twitter was obsessed with this myth, and accounts like Autism Capital embellished his image and efforts for years.
However, the signs of Lore’s destruction were already evident. First, between his business and political endeavors, SBF rebuilt the system that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency were supposed to disrupt and replaced it with a cult of personality centered around him. Ironically, he developed close relationships with the very institutions that Satoshi sought to break away from, but many chose to ignore this, either because they were attracted to his charm or because it was in their interest to do so. SBF was opaque in his dealings and structures with Alameda and FTX, which are essentially the same entity.
From arenas in Miami to plastering his face on billboards in San Francisco, claiming he is “in crypto to do global good,” SBF emulates legitimacy while undermining the mythical foundations of crypto. He cloaks himself in the language of altruism, decentralization, and ethics as a cover to further his personal and political goals.
As a lore destroyer, SBF viewed crypto as an industry to extract profit from rather than a space worth building in. He used this myth to enhance the power of himself and his cronies, and when his empire collapsed in November 2022 and FTX filed for bankruptcy, many were left abandoned and devastated.
SBF has been convicted of multiple crimes and is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence and has been ordered to forfeit over $11 billion in assets for misappropriating FTX customers’ deposits, supporting Alameda, buying real estate, making political donations, etc. We’re lucky he was caught; if SBF had gone further, he could have become a Trojan Horse to completely dismantle everything this industry is built on.
in conclusion
A community lives and dies by its cultural heritage, and the fate of that heritage lies in the hands of those who take responsibility and push it forward: the “culture builders.” Culture building has always existed, but we are only now beginning to define it and distinguish between culture builders and culture destroyers. Culture is the lifeblood of a community, and while culture builders are the wise ones who animate it, culture destroyers are the vampires who suck its essence.
Culture is never neutral and is always shaped and changed by the community. If there are no excellent culture builders to defend the culture, it is easy to be exploited. The future of any project is not driven by code or funding, but by those who give it myths and shape its culture.
Today, founders are romanticized, just like athletes. But we no longer need more founders who raise huge sums of money, nor do we need more venture capital to fund them. What we need are more guardians, weavers, keepers of myths, and humble shepherds who play a role in keeping the cultural heritage alive and defending it from external forces. You don’t need to show up in the most dazzling way to do this, and I don’t recommend that.
To be a culture builder, you just have to care and step into your role at the right time.
