2017 ends with the first cryptocurrency losing market share to altcoins. After falling as low as 37.9% in the last two days of 2017, the market dominance of bitcoin now stands at just 38.2% as of this writing on the first day of 2018.[1]

total market capitalization is $615 billion cryptocurrency markets and bitcoin have more than $234 billion.
Ripple’s XRP is now worth about $88 billion by itself after a massive rally in December. Ethereum’s market cap follows very closely now at over $74 billion. Bitcoin cash (BCH) is also not too far behind with an overall market value of $43 billion.[2]
33 altcoins and ICO tokens that are worth over $1 billion by market cap each.
there are now also about 129 altcoins and ICO tokens that are worth between $100 million to $1 billion by market cap each



Do you think that bitcoin will continue to lose its market dominance to altcoins in 2018?

Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency traded between people or used to purchase goods outside of banks or government regulation — that's part of what makes it risky. Figuring out exactly who is putting money into this kind of asset is difficult because part of the attraction of investing in the crypto realm is the assurance of anonymity.

But survey after survey backs up what the anecdotal evidence suggests — women are underrepresented.  

Google Analytics results put the divide at 96.57 per cent men to 3.43 per cent women.

That's a huge red flag to Duncan Stewart, research director of Deloitte Canada's technology division.

"It isn't merely that the value has risen as far and as fast as it has; it's the fact that it's 97 per cent men — that is, in and of itself, a potential danger sign," he says.

"There are studies out there that suggest men are predisposed towards bubbles in a way that women are not."

Stewart made his case in a recent online post about the subject. Stewart said he "cannot think of any security, currency or asset class in history that shows that extreme a gender divide and has been sustainable."

Hi,

I have sent some bitcoin a week ago and still isn't confirmed. I tried sending it to tx accellerator but nothing to do. Mistakenly I set a fee of 13 sat/b.
I made some research and I found that I can make a new transaction before it gets confirmed anyone knows how to do it ?
Thank you

Hi,

Even just a year ago bitcoin was useable... now the fees are about 10x what the banks charge. Seems like its changing from a peer-to-peer money system for everyone into yet another convenient way for rich people to exchange funds!

What went wrong> And more to the point, who is responsible? What can be done to fix it?
Thanks
Andy

Your Ripple account is not active. To activate it, you'll need to send at least 20 XRP to (XXXXXX).

you can send to me and i will pray for you haha
well brother it is a good thinking  from you .
but i would not trust any website
so why don't you exchange some of your coins and buy some warm clothes and hand it to homeless peoples in your area .
or buy some food and give to homeless people
im sure in that way you will enjoy and feel satisfied when you see the joy and smile of a hungry homeless .

Kindly fuloos address because we have only 20 members for btc and eth payments. Other are listed in fuloos payments so kindly download fuloos coin wallet and update as soon possible. Because i'm uploading spreadsheet within 5 hours.

South Korean government said " it would implement new rules to regulate cryptocurrency trading ".[1]

Reuters said, "Those new regulations would include prohibiting anonymous trading accounts and could give authorities the ability to shut down exchanges".[2]

Lightning Network: off-chain protocol

It would feature a P2P system for making micropayments of digital cryptocurrency through a scale-free network of bidirectional payment channels without delegating custody of funds or trust to third parties.[1]

SegWit2x: block size limit
was a failed contentious hardfork outlined in the New York Agreement that intended to double the block size limit. The hardfork has been denounced as an attempt made by CEOs and owners of large Bitcoin businesses to introduce changes to the currency's protocol and development cycle with ulterior motives.[2]

Bitcoin with it's high fees and slow transaction times is hardly suitable for payments – spending the same fee whether you buy a coffee or send $100,000 is a joke and the promise of scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network hasn’t been fulfilled.[1]

While there's no shortage of old and new believers to keep the party going, along with plenty of developers working to create better, forked versions of bitcoin, I’m betting my chips on a more flexible alternative.
The door is wide open for blockchains that use smart contracts, like ethereum,[2] bitcoincash, litecoin and more......

2018 Will Be ....... Year’s? [Writer choose ethereum, what will be your choice?and why?]

As a long time investor in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, 2017 has been remarkable. But it's important to remember, this is really just the beginning.

Despite the valuations, major protocols remain deficient in delivering value to users. Bitcoin with it's high fees and slow transaction times is hardly suitable for payments – spending the same fee whether you buy a coffee or send $100,000 is a joke and the promise of scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network hasn’t been fulfilled.

Suffice to say, its new positioning as a store of value is precarious, even if, judging by the huge uptick in bitcoin price, the store of value narrative is winning for now.

While there's no shortage of old and new believers to keep the party going, along with plenty of developers working to create better, forked versions of bitcoin, I’m betting my chips on a more flexible alternative.

The door is wide open for blockchains that use smart contracts, like ethereum, and I believe their potential market dwarfs that of "store of value" chains. Platforms like ethereum are an operating system for decentralized finance and commerce.

They power applications – lots of them.

A comparison
Think of bitcoin as DOS and ethereum as Windows or Mac OS. There is nothing wrong with DOS. It came first and was an essential part of the computer's success.

Us geeks grew up on DOS, but computers only went mainstream when Windows and Mac OS appeared. DOS is difficult to learn, tricky to program and few applications ever ran on it. Windows and Mac OS support and encourage applications to be built and are ultimately easier for people to use.

Ethereum is like Windows and Mac OS, and as a result, developers are creating applications in the thousands.

It feels like the internet boom in 2000. Thousands of new companies are sprouting up with highly innovative business models and bleeding edge compliance with regulation, and new methods are being found to finance them. Most, like Pets.com and Webvan, will fail. But some will be the next Amazon, eBay, or Google of the blockchain generation.

But with its proven stability and exceptional immutability, don’t bitcoin’s developers deserve the reverence that the rocketing price implies?

I wouldn't be quick to yes to this. They are so resistant to change that they’d rather give up all hope of serving the common man. Let's face it, bitcoin today is a product for an elitist few that can afford the high transaction fees. They have chosen a path to a technical dead end.

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Julian Hosp says bitcoin's rapid rise isn't over yet. But there's a catch.

"I think we're going to see bitcoin hitting the $60,000 dollar mark, but I also think we're going to see bitcoin hitting the $5,000 dollar mark," said Hosp, co-founder and president of TenX, a firm that wants to make it easier for people to spend virtual currencies.

"The question is though, 'Which one is it going to hit first?'" he said.

Numerous high-profile critics and several national governments have warned of the dangers of investing in cryptocurrencies, which they say are likely to crash because nothing underpins their value.

Hosp's forecast would represent a $45,000 rally from the current price of bitcoin — or a $10,000 collapse, underscoring the volatility of the world's largest cryptocurrency.

An extremely volatile asset

After rallying to a record high above $19,800 midway through December, bitcoin prices collapsed last Friday. The digital currency lost a third of its value in a single day, briefly sinking below $11,000 before regaining some of the ground it lost.

Bitcoin traded at $15,185 on Tuesday, according to Coinbase.

"For experts that have been in the market, this was actually a welcome dip," Hosp told CNBC's "Squawk Box".