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Title: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: BitcoinPorn on December 01, 2011, 02:47:41 AM http://cdn.techdirt.com/images/techdirt.png
(http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111128/03295016910/rise-fall-bitcoin-is-it-really-over-yet.shtml) from the not-quite dept Quote Back in April, just as Bitcoin was starting to get some mainstream attention, I questioned its ability to succeed long term. Too much about it felt like a fad, and there seemed to be significant questions about it. However, over the next few months, as the price of Bitcoins rose quickly, and there was more and more interest in it, I wondered if perhaps my natural skepticism got the best of me. Of course, since then, the Bitcoin market has come way back down, and the concept has definitely lost a lot of its "shiny new thing" appeal. Wired is running a detailed article on "The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin," (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/mf_bitcoin/all/1) which is a worthwhile read. Of course, it seems to be premised on the idea that Bitcoin is more or less dead -- a fad that came and went. Indeed, my initial post on Bitcoin questioned whether it would just be a fad. I still think it's likely... but I'm wondering if the big flare up over the past few months might be good for Bitcoin in the long run. Lots of speculators came and went, and Bitcoin gets to be ignored once more. Might that create a space to allow for a more sustainable ecosystem to be built, while the speculators and swindlers have moved on? Maybe. I'm still thinking that Bitcoin is most likely a fad that will die out. But sometimes a big flame out early on is a good way to obscure work that comes out of the ashes. If I had to guess (and it's purely a guess), I'd say that the real legacy of Bitcoin may be in how it paved a path. The more interesting area to watch might not be what happens to Bitcoin specifically, but what the next attempt at such a currency brings around. There are lots of smart people looking at what happened to Bitcoin, and someone's going to come up with a better mousetrap. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111128/03295016910/rise-fall-bitcoin-is-it-really-over-yet.shtml -- My interests in both SolidCoin and then LiteCoin, and also just checking out the other coins leads me to somewhat believe that end paragraph. I once thought that the Bitcoin developers don't listen enough or whatever, but with such large numbers, you really can't please everyone, the ability to improve on the current client gets harder unless you have one all powerful ruling factor that can save the day like SolidCoin or if you have enough people helping another open source project like Litecoin. I won't even touch on Namecoin, as I am not personally a fan, but I would be lying if I said I didn't respect how long it has lasted for being the coin with a dual purpose and for the fact that it did try to add features and differentiate itself from Bitcoin enough where I could see people using Namecoin who have no interest in any of these other currencies. Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: Jered Kenna (TradeHill) on December 01, 2011, 02:51:43 AM Namecoin has a different purpose and is truly awesome.
If Bitcoin is the myspace to facebook then so be it, as long as the concept continues and replaces the system we have now. Naturally I have an interest in Bitcoin and prefer that it sticks around :D Jered Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: Vince Torres on December 01, 2011, 03:07:38 AM Definitely am a fan of Techdirts opinion on Bitcoin, infrastructure first, actual adoption later.
Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: Portnoy on December 01, 2011, 04:24:22 AM People that talk about the death of bitcoin and/or the rise of the next better thing seem to fail to realize that Bitcoin has not really been show to have any flaws at a fundamental level and the network still seems quite robust. It is this or that client and external things like exchanges that will come and go. There doesn't seen to be a hint of any showstoppers so far with Bitcoin, it seems to me.
Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: julz on December 01, 2011, 04:39:53 AM save the day like SolidCoin ROFL. Welcome back you jokester! Actually support for that diseased hogwash shows there is a bigger niche than people realize - cryptocurrencies for those who won't understand the value of decentralization, and prefer to put faith in the marketing machinations of a "Dear Leader". SolidCoin is Solid in just the sort of way the Democratic Republic of North Korea is Democratic. Those handcuffs don't feel so bad when they're covered in the pink fluff of marketing.. in fact BCP rather enjoys them.. and CoinHunter *promises* he won't hurt you! ;) Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: chickenado on December 01, 2011, 12:13:06 PM cryptocurrencies for those who won't understand the value of decentralization, and prefer to put faith in the marketing machinations of a "Dear Leader". Yeah, I don't get SolidCoin. If you reintroduce a "central bank", then why the hell do you still need proof of work? They could just have a distributed database of signed transactions, and then use the "central bank" to rule which transaction came first, in order to prevent double spending. That would be a lot more efficient. It seems that SC is somehow trying to combine the best of both worlds, but the result is the worst of both worlds: A currency that is both susceptible to corruption and volatile. Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: Gabi on December 01, 2011, 01:13:05 PM Nice article
But scamcoin? ::) ::) Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: julz on December 01, 2011, 01:40:58 PM Nice article But scamcoin? ::) ::) Yeah.. This article was already added to the press hits thread - and normally on discovering a discussion thread here about an article I'd go back and link it in. But I suspect this thread is just an excuse to mention scamcoin - so I'll do it in reverse :) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1958.msg633895;topicseen#msg633895 Title: Re: [TECHDIRT] The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin... But Is It Really Over Yet? Post by: BitcoinPorn on December 01, 2011, 02:16:10 PM But I suspect this thread is just an excuse to mention scamcoin :D julz you have problems for real. I suggest the help of Baht Man (http://www.coinconnect.org/blog/view/125/what-kind-of-symbol-should-bitcoin-use). |
