If another "better crypto" than Bitcoin comes to appear, its economy will be sustained by the Bitcoin itself.
Bitcoin is the gold of cryptos, i think from now on it will never fade.
Topic: What's your percent chance that Bitcoin will be the "Myspace" of cryptos? - page 2. (Read 3458 times)
June 20, 2014, 11:14:47 AM
June 20, 2014, 06:32:41 AM
I think it's going to be around much longer. In the same way that IRC is used today, even though that protocol was introduced in 1988. Sure, other protocols will come - as happend with chat protocols. IRC didn't get replaced by say Skype, and I think with Bitcoin it will be the same story. Different uses;
I think in the short term, we will see that a lot of the alt coins get dumped - leaving only a few coins in use. When shopping online, you may have a choice between three crypto-currencies in addition to creditcard payment methods. I don't think we'll see shops where you can pay with 1000s of different coins, that's simply impractical.
I think in the short term, we will see that a lot of the alt coins get dumped - leaving only a few coins in use. When shopping online, you may have a choice between three crypto-currencies in addition to creditcard payment methods. I don't think we'll see shops where you can pay with 1000s of different coins, that's simply impractical.
June 20, 2014, 06:32:29 AM
First coin that comes out with solution to preventing 51% attacks and better network decentralization will become Facebook and BTC will become MySpace if it doesnt adapt. But, as far as i know solution is not as easy as everyone thinks so we might wait for some time untill that happens. It's possible that BTC devs find solution like that which would set BTC's no1 place in stone and noone could touch it for quiet some time.
June 20, 2014, 06:31:06 AM
I dont see BTC going away like myspace did to a bigger community like it did with FAcebook
June 20, 2014, 06:16:09 AM
It's not about coins, it's all about people, users, and devs.
From this perspective, I've yet to see a real threat to btc in this space.
From this perspective, I've yet to see a real threat to btc in this space.
June 20, 2014, 06:12:56 AM
While I don't ever see Bitcoin dying off totally like Myspace, without a doubt it will have some serious competition in the coming years. Another crypto could easily surpass Bitcoin's marketcap.
June 20, 2014, 02:59:30 AM
We all have to understand that bitcoin not gonna last forever and one day new better substitutes will appear...
June 18, 2014, 09:25:47 PM
... I know the Myspace analogy technically isn't that great of one. I'm speaking more in terms of Bitcoin being over-hyped and there potentially being a better successor to come along.
You have to understand the context of "better successor". Bitcoin was not an incremental improvement on prior attempts at digital cash. It was a large breakthrough in computer science (specifically solving global consensus; the "byzantine generals problem"). The problem stood unsolved for decades. The network-effect surrounding the solution to this problem as applied to digital money, as you can see with bitcoin's success, is huge.
Possible incremental improvements over the current implementation details of bitcoin are nowhere near interesting enough to unseat bitcoin's dominance. It's not proper to compare bitcoin to specific companies (FB, Myspace); a far better analogy is core internet protocols.
Bitcoin is the first viable protocol for trustless exchange of value. It's more analogous to things like SMTP or IP. Did improvements to those protocols exist? Of course... But when we're talking about things that are a large break from the past, "good enough" plus first usually wins over incompatible alternative approaches.
It's also worth noting that these protocols evolve and incorporate new ideas. Bitcoin has the same properties; if new ideas come along that are indeed very beneficial, it's likely they'll be incorporated into bitcoin.
For me to get worried about successors, I'd have to see fundamental new solutions to the problem of achieving trustless global consensus over an insecure network. No alt does that. And even if one did come along, I'm not sure quite how it would do it massively better. The fact is, bitcoin's consensus solution works, and that's all it takes to launch the virus of digital money.
For the non-technical person, think of it this way: The Bitcoin protocol is analogous to the English system of measurement. Do we have a better system of measurement? Of course. The metric system is better because it is based on a factor of 10. However, the English system is still predominantly used in many countries because it would require an enormous amount of effort for society to change to the metric system. We would have to change mile marker signs on roads, change the the tools that we use to measure length and quantities, change the game of baseball, basketball, football. These changes would not be worth undertaking when the English system is "good enough."
Protocols are similar to systems of measurement. IPv6 is better than IPv4 but we still use IPv4 because in order to change solely to IPv6 we would have to change existing routers, switches, servers, NICs, OS, ect. IPv6 has been in existence for 15 years but has yet to be used as the primary Internet Protocol.
Bitcoin is a wealth transfer protocol. For society to switch to another protocol as the primary currency and payments system, mining operations would have to be changed, exchanges and wallet services would have to switch to the new protocol, hardware wallets such as the trezor would have to be redone, ect. While bitcoin is still young, the possibility exists that a better currency could take its place, but I believe we are near the point of no return and society will choose not to change existing infrastructure because a coin is slightly better. Myspace and Facebook are just applications on the internet that users can switch back and forth between willy nilly without any repercussions or changes in infrastructure.
And this:
The "Myspace" / "Facebook" analogy breaks down because of the economic concept of opportunity cost.
There is essentially nothing preventing a person from reaping as much utility as they're going to get out of both Myspace and Facebook simultaneously. Having a Myspace account in no way inhibited you from just going and signing up for Facebook when it became available. In fact it's probably the opposite, the kind of person that even cared about Myspace would also like Facebook.
With Bitcoin versus some unspecified future altcoin, there is a serious barrier. You don't have infinite money.
In addition to this, network effects are stronger for currencies than social networks.There is essentially nothing preventing a person from reaping as much utility as they're going to get out of both Myspace and Facebook simultaneously. Having a Myspace account in no way inhibited you from just going and signing up for Facebook when it became available. In fact it's probably the opposite, the kind of person that even cared about Myspace would also like Facebook.
With Bitcoin versus some unspecified future altcoin, there is a serious barrier. You don't have infinite money.
Content on a social network depreciates rapidly. Currency does not (absent limitless issuance of more units).
June 18, 2014, 08:32:20 PM
A more accurate comparison will (probably) be .com domains vs all other extensions, with Bitcoin always remaining #1 in most countries of the world and no alt coin ever coming close.
June 18, 2014, 07:10:09 PM
Anyone who voted "Greater than 75%" missed the boat and is an alt coin hopeful.
-B-
-B-
June 18, 2014, 06:25:01 PM
Bitcoin:
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Be careful what you wish for. A completely anon coin (Zerocoin in theory?) would get aggressively attacked by governments. All govs have to do to keep a coin's use (and value) limited is to make it illegal for any *merchant* to accept it without aggressive KYC/AML. The openness of the bitcoin blockchain has played a large role in there not being aggressive anti-cryptocoin legislation. I suspect that once things like Zerocoin emerge and start to gain traction, we're going to see aggressive moves by regulatory bodies against such coins. Sidenote: that'll be bullish for bitcoin; govs will choose their poison and will likely actively support bitcoin over alternatives that bake anonymity in for every transaction/user.
The beauty of bitcoin is that the level of anonymity is effectively user-selectable. With enough effort, you can remain pretty private. It's just not idiot proof... As noted, I think that plays a large role in why govs haven't been super aggressive towards it.
Isn't Darkwallet quite anonymous? Or is the anonymity of say, Darkcoin, higher?
June 15, 2014, 09:58:38 PM
All first generation tech gives way to 2nd generation. Bitcoin is really awesome, but is not without its issues. These issues can be addressed for a next generation coins.
See page-1 of this thread for numerous reasons why protocols that demonstrate strong network effects, such as bitcoin, tend to be upgraded instead of replaced. Many of the core internet protocols (IP, SMTP, HTTP, etc) are decent examples of similar phenomena.
June 15, 2014, 09:50:28 PM
All first generation tech gives way to 2nd generation. Bitcoin is really awesome, but is not without its issues. These issues can be addressed for a next generation coins.
June 15, 2014, 09:35:59 PM
Newbie here. This is my biggest concern with converting some of my fiat to BTC. I'm worried that a better/more highly evolved coin (which may not even be here yet) will ultimately become the most widely used cryptocurrency. I would hate to jump on the bandwagon only to see Bitcoin become the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies.
On the other hand, Bitcoin does seem to have a pretty good network effect and it seems like adoption of Bitcoin is increasing every day. Not only that, it seems that Bitcoin just has a massive lead over all the other alt coins. I put my vote at less than 25% that it becomes the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies, but what does everyone else think and why?
Thanks
On the other hand, Bitcoin does seem to have a pretty good network effect and it seems like adoption of Bitcoin is increasing every day. Not only that, it seems that Bitcoin just has a massive lead over all the other alt coins. I put my vote at less than 25% that it becomes the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies, but what does everyone else think and why?
Thanks
You realize that giving us your opinion gives a bias to the entire survey, right? You basically told people how you expect a rational person to vote, and so they are all inclined to have their opinion slightly more in favor of the option you chose than if you hadn't suggested that as the best option. This is really basic stuff. How could you not know this?
That one thing, the bias that you introduced, makes every single answer that everybody on here gave absolutely useless.
None of the polls are anything close to scientific anyway
June 15, 2014, 09:22:58 PM
Newbie here. This is my biggest concern with converting some of my fiat to BTC. I'm worried that a better/more highly evolved coin (which may not even be here yet) will ultimately become the most widely used cryptocurrency. I would hate to jump on the bandwagon only to see Bitcoin become the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies.
On the other hand, Bitcoin does seem to have a pretty good network effect and it seems like adoption of Bitcoin is increasing every day. Not only that, it seems that Bitcoin just has a massive lead over all the other alt coins. I put my vote at less than 25% that it becomes the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies, but what does everyone else think and why?
Thanks
On the other hand, Bitcoin does seem to have a pretty good network effect and it seems like adoption of Bitcoin is increasing every day. Not only that, it seems that Bitcoin just has a massive lead over all the other alt coins. I put my vote at less than 25% that it becomes the "Myspace" of cryptocurrencies, but what does everyone else think and why?
Thanks
You realize that giving us your opinion gives a bias to the entire survey, right? You basically told people how you expect a rational person to vote, and so they are all inclined to have their opinion slightly more in favor of the option you chose than if you hadn't suggested that as the best option. This is really basic stuff. How could you not know this?
That one thing, the bias that you introduced, makes every single answer that everybody on here gave absolutely useless.
June 15, 2014, 09:01:55 PM
Bitcoin:
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Be careful what you wish for. A completely anon coin (Zerocoin in theory?) would get aggressively attacked by governments. All govs have to do to keep a coin's use (and value) limited is to make it illegal for any *merchant* to accept it without aggressive KYC/AML. The openness of the bitcoin blockchain has played a large role in there not being aggressive anti-cryptocoin legislation. I suspect that once things like Zerocoin emerge and start to gain traction, we're going to see aggressive moves by regulatory bodies against such coins. Sidenote: that'll be bullish for bitcoin; govs will choose their poison and will likely actively support bitcoin over alternatives that bake anonymity in for every transaction/user.
The beauty of bitcoin is that the level of anonymity is effectively user-selectable. With enough effort, you can remain pretty private. It's just not idiot proof... As noted, I think that plays a large role in why govs haven't been super aggressive towards it.
June 15, 2014, 08:54:43 PM
Bitcoin:
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
that may be the case.. but i don't know how a new crypto is going to solve the issue of centralization. imo the only way a new cryptocurrency could supplant bitcoin is to provide it.
It solves the issue of centralization of not having the question of who controls/owns the coins be determined by a central authority
and how does that get solved? because someone somewhere would have to provide hashing power for the blockchain.
June 15, 2014, 08:42:09 PM
It's probably a better (but nowhere near perfect) analogy to compare bitcoin with linux than with myspace/facebook. Linux is sometimes clunky and inefficient and could have been replaced by something more sexy. But it's ubiquitous and people have invested serious time, love and money into it. Plus it's based on code that has been around for half a century.
June 15, 2014, 08:33:37 PM
Bitcoin:
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
Not anonymous, not even really pseudonymous. More centralization year over year. I am hopeful that something better can come along, or that programmers have the wherewithal to make it better instead of leaving it at status quo.
that may be the case.. but i don't know how a new crypto is going to solve the issue of centralization. imo the only way a new cryptocurrency could supplant bitcoin is to provide it.
It solves the issue of centralization of not having the question of who controls/owns the coins be determined by a central authority
June 15, 2014, 08:08:45 PM
a 100% (or at least =>) BTC
secure
anon
and well distributed POS
would kill BTC as it would avoid the whole mining tax/drama which is like flying into the head wind.
Its sorta like figuring out flight, and BTC is about a 3rd generation Flyer. NXT is a prop plane ww1 but it has a tether attached to a crane, and the fuel supply is a bit suspect.
secure
anon
and well distributed POS
would kill BTC as it would avoid the whole mining tax/drama which is like flying into the head wind.
Its sorta like figuring out flight, and BTC is about a 3rd generation Flyer. NXT is a prop plane ww1 but it has a tether attached to a crane, and the fuel supply is a bit suspect.
Nothing will be truly anonymous since you still need to relay a connection to someone else via your IP. Or, it will be anonymous but then it won't be a public ledger or user-friendly enough to go mainstream...
eh there will be technical solutions ot this.
Jump to: