It is not late. It'll be late when you can buy stuff in most highstreet stores. We're at least 6 months away from that and it could take a few years.

If Bitcoin replaced the USD, it would be worth like a million each or more. That's the potential

IMO, more realistically, provided bitcoin is not compromised, we could see BTC at over 5000 USD by next year.

If you haven't used bitcoin before, first buy a small amount and use it to get used to it. Experiment a little first.

Take your own risks, no-one knows the future.

There is a key advantage to multiple currencies which outweighs all and any disadvantages you see. Competition. Competition breeds efficiency and higher value for all.

There will always be plenty of different cryptos to play with. There can be no enforceable law that prevents new ones from being developed.

But I assume what you really mean is, how many cryptos are likely to be widely used as money?

Bitcoin is the market leader. It has momentum and acceptance inherited from being the first. Most of the altcoins are built on the same protocol and thus there is no real reason for the market to care about them. People may accept them but I doubt in any meaningful numbers.

As I understand it, an altcoin is essentially a new blockchain (identical in build to the Bitcoin blockchain) with plugins. They all use the same core kind of technology. The "plugins" just add new functionalities.

So perhaps Bitcoin will continue to be used as a currency/commodity until an altcoin with superior currency qualities appears. Other altcoins like Namecoin will be used for other purposes and may not be used as currency but as a different kind of property. An altcoin could be developed as a simple contract verification mechanism with no value as a currency per se. In which case the "coin" is redundant. Though I don't think this is necessarily true, as it could be that all cryptos preserve the qualities of currency.

So I think the most accurate answer to your question would be that it is not a matter of how many cryptos will exist, but rather how many separate cryptos are required to satisfy the number of desired use cases for the technology. Currency being just one use case. And the answer to that would be as many different cryptos as people can think of uses for them. How many crypto-currencies will occupy the same space? It will probably be a near zero-sum game with just one prevailing for each market/purpose and an untold number of others competing to out-do it in that space.

Hello Bitcoin community!

I am a marketing communications specialist, I am all about getting products to market.

I have been following bitcoin since mid 2010. I got my first bits in 2011.

I am in love with the technology and want to be involved in the revolution. If you are starting a bitcoin project and require marketing services, from design and branding to PR and advertising, web, print... then talk to me.

I also offer bitcoin consultancy services to individuals who want in.

Chat soon,

Olly