Realistically does bitcoin have any competition ?

[ashour]

Monero should rise in time to become the yang to Bitcoin's yin.

Monero. It's had its day. Daily volume $10,878.

Monero lacks marketing, almost none knows what monero even is. Most alt coins just need a huge marketing budget in order to compete with bitcoin.

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[r0ach]

The topic question should be changed to "Can Bitcoin compete with the competition?"

I believe I have one of the better/more thorough analysis of Bitcoin & altcoins right now:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1171109.0

[chennan]

Monero should rise in time to become the yang to Bitcoin's yin.

Monero. It's had its day. Daily volume $10,878.

Monero lacks marketing, almost none knows what monero even is. Most alt coins just need a huge marketing budget in order to compete with bitcoin.

Monero is only a little over a year old... people were essentially saying this about bitcoin back in the day, so to say that monero is not going to become very popular in the future due to the newer features that it presents doesn't bring up a very valid point imo.

[killerjoegreece]

maybe a coin created by a bank can overtake btc.

[pandher]

From a general user view, only Monero offers something of value to use it over Bitcoin

[americanpegasus]

Monero lacks marketing, almost none knows what monero even is. Most alt coins just need a huge marketing budget in order to compete with bitcoin.

 
 
Nah, they got me.  I'm like a one-man army of Don Drapers: 
 
[NSFW link] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1067922.msg12475915#msg12475915

[gentlemand]

Monero is only a little over a year old... people were essentially saying this about bitcoin back in the day, so to say that monero is not going to become very popular in the future due to the newer features that it presents doesn't bring up a very valid point imo.

There are plenty of coins that are technically better and more balanced in terms of politics than Bitcoin. That's because there's no pressure on them. If they did look like taking the lead a lot of the same issues are going to pop up.

Monero may be lovely but it's going to take an awful lot to get it up there. I remember Rpetilia trying to entice people into Monero by getting them to imagine what one person putting in the proceeds of their house sale would do to the market cap. That's not a sexy prospect especially when ten more people try to buy a house from said market cap.

[oblivi]

Bitcoin has 0 competition to get replace from where it is. Other projects can ONLY complement it and therefore make it stronger. Case in point, if Ethereum is a success it will never rplecace Bitcoins function and place, it will only compliment whatever Bitcoin cannot do in terms of smart contracts.
If Monero is a success, it will only compliment the Bitcoin ecosystem as al alternative for anonymous transactions, etc, you get the point

[BitAddict]

I understand there are 600 other coins and that banks might be involved in trying to put in place there own mechanisms based on the blockchain but now that bitcoin has become as big as it has is there even a 10% chance that anything could replace bitcoin in the next few years.

Yes, innovation could easily kill Bitcoin. If any current altcoin (less likely) or future provides enough advantage compared to Bitcoin then it could become number 1. This is just normal evolution, happens all the time.

We are still in the early days, is like saying back in the days if Netscape had competition.

[Blawpaw]

There is not much competition, but many new cryptos already have introduced far more advanced features than bitcoin. Bitcoin, being the first of many still has the advantage because it has the biggest network supporting it! That's what gives its true value.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Do you see Wall Street investing in Litecoin or Monero?

[letsplayagame]

I understand there are 600 other coins and that banks might be involved in trying to put in place there own mechanisms based on the blockchain but now that bitcoin has become as big as it has is there even a 10% chance that anything could replace bitcoin in the next few years.

There are much more than 600 coins already

"A few years" is a short period of time. My guess is that no existing coins have a greater than 10% chance of passing Bitcoin in the next few years.

A lot of people here like Monero.
Ethereum is quite nice too.

Both of those aim to do something that bitcoin cannot do currently (but sidechains could potentially change this at least for some functions).  I am a professional chess player. Many chess players have at least heard of bitcoin. I have yet to meet one who has ever mentioned Ethereum or Monero to me.

Most people still think money is the main purpose of blockchain technology. Ethereum wants to do a lot more but it will take a lot of continued development (years) before many of those applications are available for common users.

Monero addresses privacy concerns some have about blockchain technology. The general public still thinks bitcoin is anonymous by design.  Once they realize that bitcoin has privacy issues will they suddenly want to switch? A very small percentage of the public uses a VPN or Tor. Privacy is important but I doubt enough people will agree that it is so important that a privacy focused coin will pass bitcoin in market cap within "a few years".

Change your timeframe from "a few years" to "5-10" years and I would reconsider my answer. Your 10% chance criteria sounds much more realistic over a slightly longer timeframe

Here is another question:

Do you think there is a greater than 10% chance the bitcointalk community will beat me in our current chess game?  I have been pretty impressed with the quality of play by #teambitcoin so far
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1148538

[americanpegasus]

Do you see Wall Street investing in Litecoin or Monero?

I'd ask you the same question about Bitcoin in 2011.  
  
Look at this:  
  

I hate to break it to you all, but unfortunately, rampant speculation, the hack attacks and massive price drops have already essentially killed bitcoin from the credibility point of view. No large company will willingly use a currency if using it risks their profitability on the scale bitcoin does.

 
This was back when bitcoin was a haven for criminal enterprise and crazy speculation rides.  It was ludicrous to consider any respectable entity getting involved in Bitcoin and yet... here we are.  
  
Do I think governments or Wall Street will get involved in Monero?  Hell fucking yes I do, especially once they realize how much better it is than Bitcoin.

[dothebeats]

maybe a coin created by a bank can overtake btc.

If you would ask me, that would never happen unless they shove it forcefully into our mouths. The only thing that would make us shift over some altcoins is if we find a big security loophole in bitcoin's code, which will render it valueless even if it's fixed sooner. Banks can't create a coin with a centralized blockchain. They can have all the control in fiat if they want, but they just can't do it in a cryptographically-based currency.

[chennan]

I hate to break it to you all, but unfortunately, rampant speculation, the hack attacks and massive price drops have already essentially killed bitcoin from the credibility point of view. No large company will willingly use a currency if using it risks their profitability on the scale bitcoin does.

 
This was back when bitcoin was a haven for criminal enterprise and crazy speculation rides.  It was ludicrous to consider any respectable entity getting involved in Bitcoin and yet... here we are. 
 
Do I think governments or Wall Street will get involved in Monero?  Hell fucking yes I do, especially once they realize how much better it is than Bitcoin.

I can definitely see governments getting into Monero due to the ability to be secure in transactions of money to one business/government to another... but do I see it being a big player on Wall Street? Meehhhh... I don't really know about that.  It's not like Wall Street would want to use monero for any reason because why should they care about the anonymity of the transactions, and I wouldn't really see Wall Street wanting to put it in the market because, well, they want to keep S & P all fiat based.

[RGBKey]

I think it is possible for some of these up-and-comers to be competitors to bitcoin in the future but as of right now I don't see anything.

[americanpegasus]

It's not like Wall Street would want to use monero for any reason because why should they care about the anonymity of the transactions, and I wouldn't really see Wall Street wanting to put it in the market because, well, they want to keep S & P all fiat based.

 
  
Pretend you and me want to enter a contract that neither of us can back out of, and that we want to keep totally private until a later time.  For example, pretend that we are both mega-entities that believe the price of a certain asset will move soon.  I think it will go up, and you think it will go down.  We know that if the public knows that we are betting it will change the outcome because the public will take sides. 
  
At a later point, we want the ability to reveal the existence and contents of said contract in its entirety, but also need the security that no one will discover its existence before we choose.  
  
The answer is Monero.  
  

[RGBKey]

It's not like Wall Street would want to use monero for any reason because why should they care about the anonymity of the transactions, and I wouldn't really see Wall Street wanting to put it in the market because, well, they want to keep S & P all fiat based.

 
  
Pretend you and me want to enter a contract that neither of us can back out of, and that we want to keep totally private until a later time.  For example, pretend that we are both mega-entities that believe the price of a certain asset will move soon.  I think it will go up, and you think it will go down.  We know that if the public knows that we are betting it will change the outcome because the public will take sides. 
  
At a later point, we want the ability to reveal the existence and contents of said contract in its entirety, but also need the security that no one will discover its existence before we choose.  
  
The answer is Monero.  
  

That may be the answer, but you have to convince these megacorps to use this in the first place.

[letsplayagame]

I think it is possible for some of these up-and-comers to be competitors to bitcoin in the future but as of right now I don't see anything.

I think it is possible for some of these up-and-comers to be competitors to bitcoin in the future but as of right now I don't see anything.

I like competition as it drives innovation. Some of the coins mentioned in this thread are indeed interesting.

The reason I voted no is because of the language in the OP:

"Is there even a 10% chance that anything could replace bitcoin in the next few years"

Smart contracts and privacy are important. A "few years" is a short time frame.

Eventually some competitor could surpass bitcoin in value because they better address these issues. Maybe bitcoin can utilize sidechains to subvert this threat. I think it will take more than a "few years" to find out.  I think there will end up being multiple competitors who end up being very successful even if they never "replace" bitcoin as the market leader.

[RGBKey]

I agree that it's possible in the next couple years, but for now I don't see people moving away from bitcoin just because bitcoin was where it all started.