Topic: Future of Bitcoin (Read 3811 times)

OK, that allays some of my fears. Still... The perception problem... as you can see I'm swimming in it... and I'm one of the converted!
I'm just saying, that as much as we all look at and try to deal with the squeeky parts of this machine, Big Brother most likely has many times the manpower working at exploiting problems. Of course, the opt-in thing you mention, also their role as potential payment processors are on their table too, and these things bode well for BTC.
Its just my way of unraveling things backwards, but thats what these forums are good for.

You will see the premined coins in the blockchain. Who would think it was fair other than their cronies?

Honestly, I am most afraid of perception problems.
People cling to fiat and banks because they have Stockholm syndrome. Anarcho capitalists are most likely already on board or at least seriously considering it. The regular sheep view the whole BTC with doubt and fear. The word is getting out there slowly, but, and this leads to my second point... Big Business, and Big Government... they will not relinquish control. Ever. No Way! They are watching, and my guess is, plotting as well.
What do you do in an experiment? You OBSERVE. Take note of what works, and why. Take note of what isn't working, and why. Try experiment again with alterations in the variables to see if you can not control these outcomes.
I'm am pretty sure that there are huge teams of developers at work, covertly, to create and introduce a competitor that exploit all the weaknesses of BTC, and simply reproduce the parts that regular noobz seem to be attracted to.
My paranoid fantasy? IDK!
They might be able to start a cryptocurrency that has less volatility. I certainly approach with a little trepidation towards the idea of spending a dollar if by evening that dollar has doubled in value. I shop for bargains, dude, not gouges!
Users could very well choose a centralized and standardized "lookalike" if it is marketed properly. Say PayPal makes a PPpenny- they mint 51% all right away and then open up mining to the miners with the same difficulty/rewards type situation as a newly birthed crypto$. They allow early adopters to see good rewards but retain majority ownership of this economy. Then PP is basically who is backing this and it is a "backed" currency. They continue to refuse to accept BTC as well as lobby govt to make unbacked currency restricted beyond usefulness. Meanwhile, their considerable PR dept is touting the safety and "trust" offered by their PPpennies all the while magnifying the drawbacks of BTC. They will play on public misconceptions to do this if necessary. We are competing with them and they hate us and will be both secretive and ruthless. 
Really, I wish people were more committed to anarcho capitalism, but the disappointed idealist within me isnt into holding his breath on this one.

100% agreed!

Well those are risks as well. That's why I would like to have a combination of paper wallets, hybrid wallets and insured BTC bank accounts.

What if the government just confiscates your gold as it happende before in the US?

What if your government decides to freeze your funds because it was hanging its  gluteus maximus a tiny but too far out the window?

Sure, but what if your house burns down? Or what if I generate a brainwallet from an unsecure computer? There are lots of Black Swans around the corner.

you can safe your wallet on a usb drive or paper wallet or brainwallet 

Absolutely. Right now it's killing me that if I ever mess up my security I'll lose a lot of money. You can always follow procedures and think you're doing the right things, but there are always accidents possible which are very hard to foresee. That's why I'll always keep a combination of my own wallets and some insured wallets in various banks, once these are available (perhaps even generating interest).

Many computers get infected with malware. Most computers don't have cash that you can make a copy of either though. It doesn't take much thought or effort to find examples of decidedly not dumb people losing Bitcoin. Bitcoin will redefine "bank," not eliminate them.

Why not? Currently, banks are a necessity. But if all the transaction power is given to the people, banks will became what they should have been in the first place: A service. Mainly for people who are willing to pay a small fraction of money to have their other money kept in safety. Let's face it, being your own bank is risky

No banks, thank you. They are not needed anyways!!!

A few points:
1) Some people won't want to handle their own BTC. They'll be worried about how to properly secure it, etc.
2) Services to insure those people's balances against a hack/theft/whatever make sense.
3) Fractional reserve can happen, but not like today. With no ultimate backstop of a "lender of last resort" that can simply issue new money, people will not tolerate the levels of leverage that exist in our current fiat system (eg, people will get scared sooner, so banks won't leverage as much, else they'll face a run). Thus, even if/when fractional reserve banking happens with bitcoin, it will not grow to the egregious size we have today.

avoid mentioning step 6.....

thats then making people think that bitcoin will become a government fiat.

instead say people will keep their bitcoins on them, whether its on a laptop memory stick, a piece of paper or a smartphone. and there is no yearly interest made from bankers 'borrowing' your money overnight. but the yearly interest is just the value increase for just hoarding the coins.

there maybe services where you can put in pocket money amounts to convert to fiat or use as escrow to instant payments that are PRE-confirmed before being spent at starbucks etc but long term storage should stay with the owner.

as this is the whole point of bitcoins.. no centralisation.

Very intersting ! +1

I love Ghana, especially cape coast or the timber market in accra.

As far as I am concerned some Nigerians are already using bitcoins!

I second this.

+1000. Coolest teacher of the year award.

I agree with you on most points. I think a very important step for Bitcoin to take is to acquire a solid legal framework so institutional investors are able to join the party. The role of the Bitcoin Foundation is crucial in this aspect. Once this framework is implemented, all bets are off and Bitcoin will be gaining immense traction.

I doubt that an alternative currency will ever be able to surpass Bitcoin, due to the network effect. There might be some layers build on top of Bitcoin, but the Blockchain will remain.

The future of Bitcoin is with all of us who are still, despite the price rise, early adopters.  That being said, Bitcoin won't get to where everyone wants it to go by sitting on our hands and staring at the ticker screen.  If everyone did that, rather than investing in improving the infrastructure or increasing the amount of products/services available, we wouldn't get very far.  Better to be the casino than the gambler. 

"So many currencies" (i.e. complementary regional currencies) do make sense, even in a Bitcoin world. See Prof Bernard Lietaer's work about it.