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Phil, Kano will never do an altcoin. I know you are not asking for merge mining, and I do not want that either but I would like to see what you are asking to happen. I believe options are good unless they take considerable resources away from what we have and I think it would. Kano is only one guy after all. Again though I agree with you and I have been looking hard at building a video card rig. At this point I have lost money on alts but I haven't done anything since I was very new. Now I am a bit smarter and more knowledgeable about the P&D and understand more about when to get out and stay. Unfortunately even ETH is a drama nightmare and you have to stay involved so much it requires intense attention.
Well, one of the big reasons why I stay away from altcoins is also hidden in what you said
You get into them early, you have to watch them closely, then as they dive you get out and leave anyone left behind, holding the bag ... losing money.
Now, most seem to look at that as an opportunity.
I see the end result - a bunch of people guaranteed to lose - and supporting that is how some make a profit from those losing.
The profit doesn't come out of no where, it comes from those who lose out.
Yes all financial systems are full of risk and that's how you can make money, but that's not what happens with altcoins.
They start as a pump and dump in the first place - they are expected to fail - and anyone profiting from them is doing so knowing they are simply trying to get money from those who
will lose out at the end.
I really see no difference planning to do that, vs simply ripping someone off.
Thus I stay away from altcoins.
... and yes there are also other reasons
Bitcoin has a long term plan and is continuing along that path.
It wasn't created to pump and dump, it wasn't created to make Satoshi the millions/billions he could now be worth, it was created for the purpose it is used today, as an alternative financial system.
I try to keep my (small) amount of bitcoins as BTC as much as possible - I try to grow that number, not decrease it.
I do that coz I expect it to have value in the future, not to die and causes losses for all still involved.
Of course it's not impossible for Bitcoin to fail and everyone holding them to lose out, but that is not by plan and not by design.
Those who trade Bitcoin for profit (or loss), well that's no different to trading shares for profit (or loss)
But it's not expected to be a loss and not designed to be a loss.