To an extent I agree I do not think this is a Higlander scenario
There can be more than one
Money is the ultimate network effect. How is any other crytpcoin supposed to have less volatility than the one with the largest market cap? If volatility slows adoption, and I think we all agree that it does, then it's a huge hurdle to overcome.
Money is the ultimate network effect.
I hear you and I am a true beliver in the power of the network effect if a company/coin is lucky enough to ride that wave (after wave, after wave, eeek Tsunami)
But
A coin that was more evenly distributed with no huge holders, that traded on an exchange with high liquidity or a decentralised peer to peer exchange between wallet holders, with a baked in exchange into the client....
may have less volatility.
Also I think that volatility is what caught a lot of peoples attention to Bitcoin... so it is a double edged sword.
Also something great may come along, I am already diversified, I like Bitcoin but I also like some other cryptos that are popping up, dare I mention them here
but like Nxt and Mastercoin, Protoshares that I think may have some potential , especially with the DAC's and colour coins etc... there is the potential to create some stable currencies using those protocols, as well as peer to peer exchange, and also like it or not as a concept, as a business the forging aspect of Nxt, if they can continue to grow and develop, is quite interesting, especially if you have a large number of Nxt, so there is reason to invest in the network and "forge" from there if the platform develops into something of use, which people can build onto , which is the idea, and if the community can reach out and encourage adoption because it provides solutions and profitable opportunites, then yes I can see another crypto doing quite well... does that mean it will dwarf Bitcoin, no... infact I am more inclined to think that the next "big and useful" coin we see will not get its next leg up, until Bitcoin has its next leg up... ie if Bitcoin jumps to $5000 and drags the marketcap up to 60 billionish then I can see coins like Litecoin, Nxt ** etc catching a ride on the coattails and increasing their marketcaps potentially by several billion+ ......which then would have a knock on effect, money is the ultimate network effect... and those development bounties that are out there would all suddenly have a lot more bang for their respective crypto buck, which means they can spend more on developing more , more marketing etc...
Also as Bitcoin becomes more mainstream it is carving the path, and in doing so , doing a lot of the grunt work.. if people do get comfortable with Bitcoin, they are more likely to give another crypto a go that goes for traders/merchants and individuals even the media.
I am playing devils advocate here ! and I do think that Bitcoin remains the mothership for now, and most likely for sometime, the network headstart is huge, and so is the headstart for adoption rates, ecosystem, investment rates, public awareness, vested interests, regulations, users, marketcap, etc but never say never is my moto.
The other thing is that some Goliath of a corporation could try to give it a go.. one with a huge market share already in a symbotic industry that could evolve a concept and role it out to the masses with their already in place marketing machine and vast funds to throw at it and the masses would lap it up, and not care that it was not decentralised and not care that it was funded by "the usual suspects" that is also possible..
**Yes even dare I say it Ripple and fcking Dogecoin because wow
That's a thoughtful analysis. The reason I doubt corpcoin will unseat Bitcoin is because so few companies are able to leverage their market position into other growth industries. Microsoft had max leverage and gave us Office and XBox, but almost all of their other dozens of attempts fell flat. Google gives us Google Plus and almost as many other failed examples. MySpace didn't get creamed by Yahoo, but by another nimble startup, FB. There's danger in straying too far from your core competencies. There are exceptions, of course. Who would have thought 20 years ago that Apple would be a phone company? Still, Apple and Facebook are the exceptions that prove the rule.
MS still rules the roost in operating systems and Bitcoin will likely do the same for Crypto. The differences are they are at vastly different stages in their life-cycle, but more importantly Bitcoin by virtue of being a distributed autonomous corporation is immune to rent-seeking behavior of it's management.
