I think bitcoin will be both a currency for ordinary people and a way for whales to make money with bots and manipulation. I think focusing on the big picture and buying and holding can help retail investors beat the game.

Bitcoin needs to be used for microtransactions once again, such as for buying coffee or ordering pizza. I believe we will get there. People are blinded by the short-term hurdles and fail to see that the infrastructure is being built right now.

No, it will not end. Even if bitcoin were to have a massive, unprecedented crash, there will always be people mining and collecting it. Because it is the first cryptocurrency, it has the strongest brand name. Bitcoin will not go away.

I seriously doubt the story of Satoshi Nakamoto resurfacing is legitimate. I think if Satoshi wanted to go public, he would have done so a long time ago. It's obvious he wants to preserve his privacy and we should respect that.

The reversal of the ban on cryptocurrencies is very good news for the community. As for the ban on promiting ICOs, considering that they may run afoul of SEC regulations and given the high level of fraud in this area, you can't blame Facebook for taking this position.

I think all coins need to be stress tested to make sure they are secure. If bitcoin cash is a legitimate cryptocurrency, it should be able to withstand this type of attack. We will find out in the coming months I suppose just how strong the bitcoin cash network is.

I think the impatient, ignorant bitcoin investors will flee at the first sign of a bear market, so their influence should be discounted. Every market will have foolish, greedy people. It's a feature of every new technology that as it develops and becomes more user-friendly, less sophisticated people will be attracted to it.

I agree that bitcoin is here to stay. As the first cryptocurrency, it has the first-mover advantage, so any time people talk about cryptocurrencies they talk about bitcoin. As the cryptocurrency with the strongest brand name, it has the biggest community of users. Bitcoin will not just disappear.

I believe bitcoin is both a currency and an asset. Due to transaction delays from network congestion in the latter part of 2017, it was increasingly regarded as digital gold due to its scarcity. As the Lightning Network gets deployed, we will see it used as both a currency and store of value.

Bitcoin is far from attaining the ideal of its founders. To become a true currency for microtransactions, the Lightning Network will have to be a success. I look forward to its full development and deployment. Despite obstacles, I think bitcoin will be closer to becoming a global reserve currency.

What he's saying is that there is a strong psychological component to the value of currencies including bitcoin, hence when the market is emotional bitcoin will be volatile. I think it's fair to say that as the infrastructure for scaling is put in place the price of bitcoin will likely appreciate, as confidence in its value will increase.

I agree that 2018 will be a critical year for bitcoin, especially given the increased competition it faces. Though bitcoin has the lead, its position is by no means assured. The Lightning Network will have to be rolled out successfully for bitcoin to maintain the top spot.

If you cannot stomach 70% drops, this may not be the asset for you. While Bitcoin Gold is likely to increase in value as the market gets reflated, it's not bitcoin, as someone else mentioned. Picking any of the forks, besides maybe BCH, will bring more long-term risk, in my opinion.

Bitcoin offers users power from central authorities. No government or central bank can simply take over bitcoin without either failing or getting strong repercussions. Bitcoin is also finite, so no government can manipulate the amount of it in existence.

Countries that ban bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will find themselves falling behind in technological innovation and will bend over backwards in the future when politicians realize they will be voted out of office. Then, the only holdouts left will be irrelevant dictatorships.

Bitcoin energy consumption is expected to equal the entire consumption of Japan in the near future. This is why cryptocurrencies must migrate away from PoW and why nations must shift to renewable energy. The shift to PoS is welcome.

Bitcoin is still a relatively new technology. It's only 9 years old. The dot-com mania occurred many years after the invention of the internet, and right as the mainstream was beginning to use it. Bitcoin is going through a similar phase.

I agree that the bear market brings positive aspects, such as the ability to pick up bargains while others are panicking. We need to look at the long-term picture. Hopefully the co-founder of Cardano is right that trillions of dollars will enter the market in the next few years.

I think part of why it's so hard to understand is that the infrastructure is just being built for scaling, and when software is relatively new it tends not to be so user-friendly. It's merely a step beyond proof of concept - speaking of cryptocurrencies generally.

Yes, blockchain can survive without bitcoin, but bitcoin has a first-mover advantage, causing the market to move right along with it. As the market matures there may be a decoupling, and it's possible there will be a flippening in the next couple of years, whereby bitcoin is surpassed by a newer coin.