If the wallet wasn't shared, or preparations made for it, then those funds would be lost signifying a reduction of the total coins in circulation. In practice this would mean each active holder would now possess a greater part of the total, with this competitor removed.

Does this count as stress testing the network?

I don't get the appeal of collecting these, but the news tell me they are damn popular among some eth holders.

Even if it were not functional, inferior to alternatives, it could still survive. Humans don't always make the best choices, and currency is a bit like a cult, or religion. Sorry if it offends the religious ones out there.

I don't think it's likely for it to disappear, but it could undergo changes.

I doubt bitcoin can stand on its own, it works while coupled to the existing system. Issue is if that fiat losses enough ground, then governments as we have them might disappear. Without the common laws, many things you take for granted wouldn't work anymore.

At least going by coinmarketcap the price didn't go up by anywhere near that much since. Don't get me wrong, the coin is doing well right now.

The concept of distributed ledger could replace current banks for what payment processor goes. Banks do other things than that, so they would still stick around.

It's easy to know the right move after the fact, such is hindsight. Plenty of opportunities in the future, maybe even greater ones, but finding them isn't as simple.

Not that I'm relevant, but I have stopped transacting with btc for the most part. Trying to use the cheaper options available to move value between exchanges, as I should have from the beginning.

It's curious to me how this issue hasn't halted its growth.

Good amount of activity but price looks to be holding around 21-22 over here.

First choices aren't there, so I went for close enough. 

Waves has that supply, but cheap is relative to growth it will have. It's done great so far, but I sure am not one who can predict the market.

I'm not sure why the arbitrary coin number matters now.

The best one is only known after the fact. Diversifying should be safer, but with uncertainty there's no such thing a safe bets for most of us.

I mean, it's no surprise criminals would also find the appeal in the greater freedom it provides for transactions. So, yep, the good points do also help things you might not like.

Given that there's only to be so much btc, the best way is to just sit on the stash. Not very conducive for a healthy economy, but still the best move within the system. But, now, to grow the coin as a whole, one would have to help circulate and popularize it, that could be done by creating or investing in business that trade in it.

Loans are always risky, most that can be done to reduce it is to require collateral.

Funny how similar it looks just a few months later. Even one year would be enough time in crypto world for everything to turn upside down, not to mention two.

With very bad timing. I first encountered it pretty early, but I also got robbed at gunpoint at home back then, and lost most everything including all my electronics. Things could have gone much different without that, but such is life.

Hard to say, where the confidence comes from with all the competition, but there's surely a lot of visibility given by media these days. Also, have a look at that LTC's performance.

And I think it's a bit confusing that exchanges use different symbols for it. No idea why it's not rectified, consistency would be good.

There lies the problem where it's easier to get richer by just sitting on the assets than risking them investing. The glass only holds so much water in this kind of system and it starts losing moisture before it gets entirely filled.

In terms of growth and characteristics, I think that would be NEO. It's had an incredible year and still looking strong.