Theory: Which other cryptocurrency would people choose if Bitcoin would fail?

[Frost]

Which other cryptocurrency would people choose if Bitcoin would fail?

[saturn643]

Most people would probably jump to Litecoin as it is one of the most well known altcoins.

[mexicantarget]

Would say LTC as well, then DRK. (Dash, duh!..)
The older coins have bigger potential, but who really knows. It's the smart money that decides about all this.

[Slark]

Realistically, if bitcoin would fail then any of the existing altcoins won't be a good choice. Can you imagine imagine bad press after this incident? Cryptocurrency market will be in pieces.
People would be scared to invest in ANY cryptocurrency ever again, because if the biggest and most renowned of crypto of them all could fail then every lesser altcoin can fail too!

[countryfree]

I don't think there could be another one right away. If BTC were to fail, all cryptocurrencies would be on a death bed, and it would take years before another one could gain any sympathy from investors. Then I guess only an entirely new cryptocurrency could succeed BTC, not one which already exists.

[ArticMine]

The critical question here would be what caused Bitcoin to fail? If an alt-coin were to replace Bitcoin then one would expect that the alt-coin in question would have a solution for the problems that caused Bitcoin to fail in the first place. Futhermore the alt-coin should be otherwise fairy similar to Bitcoin.

So what problems does Bitcoin currently have? Two come to mind:
1) The blocksize debate. When we have numerous major Bitcoin businesses calling for a hard fork of the Bitcoin network over this issue, I would say this is a serious problem.
2) Privacy / fungibility. The risk of tainted coins held by innocent people in Bitcoin is very real.

Now look for alt-coins that currently have a solution for both 1) and 2) above and are otherwise similar to Bitcoin and one has a likely candidate or candidates. This is the kind of analysis that I suspect the "smart money" is doing right now.

[randy8777]

i won't choose any of the current altcoins. if bitcoin will fail as you say, it might be due to the fact that there is another coin that completely leaves bitcoin behind when it comes to global adoption and the features, plus security. i would choose that one.

[ArticMine]

i won't choose any of the current altcoins. if bitcoin will fail as you say, it might be due to the fact that there is another coin that completely leaves bitcoin behind when it comes to global adoption and the features, plus security. i would choose that one.

Bitcoin has a massive network effect lead. So if Bitcoin is "good enough" it will very likely not fail.

[franky1]

if bitcoin were to fail.. id just not transact for a few hours until they patch/fork it..

its been done before quite quickly.. so i wouldnt lose my head. id just go out for the day and see what has been updated in the evening..

thats the beauty of bitcoin.. its not a fixed system

[junglist.massive]

from existed now I thing biggest chance have dash, bitshares, ethereum and xrp. But no one knows

[Raimonn]

If bitcoin fail, I think that people would not choose another crypto coin, almost one of we have now. If it fails, we will need something very different. But i didn't expect that bitcoin fails.

[maokoto]

Litecoin very likely. In fact, I see litecoin being used as a secondary currency even if Bitcoin succeeds. If BTC succeeds, its price will raise a lot and a less valuable coin will be useful for small amounts.

[OROBTC]

...

I am not in a position to judge how resilient Bitcoin is vs. a failure, but were it really to FAIL, I'm GONE.  "AMFs!"

No alts, no thanks.  At least not until I saw something that would be easy to use, yet offering more privacy than BTC.  And I do not see that happening anytime soon (but what do I know?  Not much).

BTC fails?  Gold is where I would put excess FIAT$.

[Yakamoto]

As the crypto currency projects currently stand, if Bitcoin fails, there will be no accepted replacement. They will all fail alongside Bitcoin due to the fact most ride alongside Bitcoin's popularity, and none have the same sort of following that Bitcoin has. Most other cryptos are also less valued, and thus would interest other people far less than the dreams of earning $400 in a single coin, or striking it rich and watching an increase to $1000 and make about $600 from that, per coin.

The good news is that it is incredibly difficult for Bitcoin to fail at this point, and considering that some people are bringing out the tin foil hats and saying a collapse is due in "x" days or weeks, there will be a backing of cautious investors.

Not to offend any tin foil hatters, they are always welcome.

[crazyivan]

Yes, litecoin is an obvious choice but I think some more liquid PoS coins might also have a shot in the future. After all staking is much more advanced IMHO then classic PoW mining. No heat, no electricity cost, no environmental externalities, etc.

[NorrisK]

Litecoin is only an obvious choice if the failing mechanism isn't part of litecoin as well.. And since litecoin is bascially bitcoin in most ways except for the mining algorithm, a problem to bitcoin may therefore also cause  a problem to litecoin.

A coin with a new code that has been time tested and very little concerns regarding insta/premine might than be stepping up.

[owm123]

my bet also goes to litecoin. maybe for those wanting more privacy, maybe monero would be good.

[Amph]

if bitcoin would fail why the other altcoin would not follow? i can't see them surviving if they do not offer anything

so most likely if the king would fail any other alt would fail too, and it's mean that the whole crypto thing did not worked as expected

[Mickeyb]

if bitcoin would fail why the other altcoin would not follow? i can't see them surviving if they do not offer anything

so most likely if the king would fail any other alt would fail too, and it's mean that the whole crypto thing did not worked as expected

Exactly, especially since 95% of all coins are based on Bitcoin technology. Also all these coins have too small of the communities. Bitshares forum has 10,000 registered users. NXT forum 5,000 registered users.

There is no so many support for all these coins as you can see. Bitcoin is here to stay and will stay a king for a while!

[Nahl]

it's obviously Litecoin because i think this altcoin have the second largest market in Huobi and almost in every exchange after bitcoin and if Bitcoin would fail i think the best choice is Litecoin

[franky1]

seems 99% would jump ship.. not even giving the dev's 24 hours to patch bitcoin..
..
i find that quite sad to see that no one knows that bitcoin can be patched, and instead people fear any bugs enough to run off immediately.

the issue with running off to litecoin and doge. is that you have to rely on coinbase/bitpay/localbitcoins, etc all following sit and choosing the same coin.

id much rather wait for a bitcoin update and go back to business as usual

[quentincole32]

Which other cryptocurrency would people choose if Bitcoin would fail?

based on popularity,i think Dogecoin and Litecoin will succed,they have so many person and mintable,but i also think about Neucoin,this new crypto is so popular this month,and many benefit if compared with bitcoin.

[croato]

If Bitcoin would fail, every existing crypto would fail with it in my opinion. Anyway, i dont think that is possible.

[~Bitcoin~]

I also think people will switch to litecoin as it is already in circulation and most valuable coin after bitcoin. Dogecoin seems to be far away from being used as main coin.

[helloeverybody]

It would be good if people went to doge but I would think if Bitcoin fails then cryptocurrency as a whole would fail.

[Denker]

If Bitcoin should fail, I believe that for a longer period of time no other crypto coin would be a goos choice.
This ecosystem would lose so much trust that it would take several years to step up again, if ever.
So I don't think that any of the actual altcoins would take over Bitcoin's first place.I really can not imagine that.

[ROT13]

It would depend how it failed. It would then most likely be replaced by a coin that doesn't have those shortcomings.  I don't agree all alts would fall with it.  Maybe they'd crash initially but the idea of p2p cryptocurrencies and their potential for society is well and truly out of the bag now. 

[Xialla]

I would say something build by major players like Visa, Paypal, MasterCard or tech. companies like Apple or Google. I don't expect, that something next will be totally open-sources as we know it these day..

[Cortive]

Litecoin, it's like the best altcoin there is. Would be funny if it was Dogecoin.

[Xialla]

Litecoin, it's like the best altcoin there is. Would be funny if it was Dogecoin.

nobody cares about dogecoin anymore, not even creators..

[kelsey]

already have gone litecoin over bitcoin  , guess that doesn't make too many friends in this main section. however litecoin as the leading alt most bitcoin users would support if major issues with bitcoin.

i'm certain if bitcoin was too fail, although obviously a major setback. p2p currency would still survive and push forward.

[Yakamoto]

already have gone litecoin over bitcoin  , guess that doesn't make too many friends in this main section. however litecoin as the leading alt most bitcoin users would support if major issues with bitcoin.

i'm certain if bitcoin was too fail, although obviously a major setback. p2p currency would still survive and push forward.

Well obviously p2p currencies would survive, the thing is that they would be significantly hindered by a Bitcoin collapse and it would become extremely difficult to retain or gain new users due to even worse fears of a crypto collapse. There would be huge amounts of value lost, and it would be a brutal environment for p2p currencies. I haven't studied the litecoin protocol, but if it follows Bitcoin's block halving, then it would be even harder to retain miners and keep the transactions moving.

It would probably similar to what happened with eGold, we'd have to wait a few years before trying again.

[Blawpaw]

Probably ethereum. I guess ETH is the most perfect digital currency ATM.

[azeminjo09]

If bitcoin fail I would probably chose LTC cuz it is second cryptocurrency with not that big value. But it all deppends on market, wish not to fail

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Why not DOGE?  Is it because of the silly meme? 

There are enough DOGE (all the way down the decimal places, too) in existence such that probably 1DOGE = $1.00.  Transaction times are quick and fees are low.  But truly, there are so many stupid clones floating about in the etherwebz that you could probably use any of them.

[Aggressor66]

Why should non-BTC cryptocurrencies get any attention? There's already a limited (but growing) number of merchants who accept bitcoins. I've heard about people trading some of these alternatives for BTC but where do these alternatives get spent, and why does anyone care about them...

[Amph]

Why not DOGE?  Is it because of the silly meme? 

There are enough DOGE (all the way down the decimal places, too) in existence such that probably 1DOGE = $1.00.  Transaction times are quick and fees are low.  But truly, there are so many stupid clones floating about in the etherwebz that you could probably use any of them.

it has more to do because it has an inflationary system, which somehow go against the philosophy of cryptocurrency, and bitcoin, plus it does not offer anything, and it is a joke, made only for sucking newbies money at the time

[Mr. Forum]

To me bitcoins is the type of digital currency under study. Therefore a failure in bitcoins means that I need not to venture else where. Bitcoins has a reached a place where if it fails to pick up completely, there is no other digital currency that will survive. My attention and focus are all directed to this bitcoin because of the value it holds. Other alternatives are there and never convenient as the coins. I am team bitcoins forever or never engage in digital currency.

[mtnsaa]

I think the answer is clear, if Bitcoin falls digital currency as we know it will follow. There may be a new "coin" with a different technology behind but not a single current one will survive in my opinion.

[johnyj]

Would people choose silver when gold failed?

[TERA]

Possibly something that doesn't require all this brute force mining .

[Blaze.]

I would say people would loose faith in cryptocurrency altogether because what is the point of cryptocurrency when it has already failed. Why would people be willing to go through another failure when they have just witnessed one?

[Quantus]

Even if Bitcoin fails our blockchain might be salvaged to be used in a new network/protocol.

[KingW]

Bitcoin won't fail. If it does, that means no one is interested in cryptocurrency, and there would be no alternatives.

[Wealthyminds]

Most people would probably jump to Litecoin as it is one of the most well known altcoins.

Altcoin

[Kakmakr]

I will just wait it out, until they patched it and continue as normal. The only thing Bitcoin could not recover from, is if it had to change most of the major rules, like the max amount of coins being changed or the security being compromised that would reveal the private key. I think ethereum and Ripple would take off, if Microsoft and banks start to support it aggressively.

[HabBear]

I think it would make most sense to use the cryptocoin that has the greatest use, volume, and acceptance. I think that would be Litecoin.

The bigger problem is that if Bitcoin fails the market is going to soften on all cryptocurrencies. It's likely the market would turn away from all of them. Why would adoption continue with some alternative if the original and strongest option fails? E.g., if gold failed as a commodity would people use less valuable metals as an alternative? Not likely.

[bearex]

Probably (i would) to Litecoin and after Litecoin to Dash. It kind of follows the popularity pattern.

[n2004al]

Which other cryptocurrency would people choose if Bitcoin would fail?

For sure that which know better in that moment. Or that which use more in that moment. Or that which have more in that moment. Or that which will be recommended by his best friend. Or that which will be more valuable in the market in that moment. Or some crypto with which is obsessed in that moment. Or.... who knows which. May be hundred and hundred the reasons which can make someone to chose one or another one. Maybe after a few will win the most connected coin with the various business. Because will be those which will rule the market. Or maybe can be some and no only one. Because every crypto can have its supporters and can preserve or increase its part of market. There are actually t many new currencies which compete in price with Litecoin for example (which was always second and following bitcoin). So it is something that cannot have answer the question made from OP according to me.

[MaxTax]

I think that if bitcoin fails, that any other cryptocurrency won't have a chance of surviving either.
Cryptocurrency is based of the original bitcoin so that's why I think this won't happen.

[jt byte]

If bitcoin fails I just don't knnow wich cryptocurrency I would choose.
Bitcoin would not fail in my opinion is just to big to fail.
We will see if in the future bitcoin will survie or not.

[lolgato]

If bitcoin crashes the other cryptocurency prices will crash and it will remain stagnant for a while and the next best one would be litecoin but the market for cryptocurency will be horrible.

[ShrykeZ]

The obvious choice would be Litecoin, although as others have suggested if Bitcoin was to fail why wouldn't Litecoin...

I personally think it would be a new coin created with the majority of Bitcoins flaws removed.

[DimensionZ]

Wasn't Litecoin created to be a satellite of Bitcoin should the first one fail? Now there are so many altcoins that it's impossible for all of them to succeed?

[AndySt]

I don't think what litecoin will take place of bitcoin. They're the same age and the same operation principles therefore, in case of bitcoin crash we will see something new.

[Frost]

I don't think what litecoin will take place of bitcoin. They're the same age and the same operation principles therefore, in case of bitcoin crash we will see something new.

There are already so many cryptos out there, I am not sure if there will be many new ideas.

[Erkallys]

Realistically, if bitcoin would fail then any of the existing altcoins won't be a good choice. Can you imagine imagine bad press after this incident? Cryptocurrency market will be in pieces.
People would be scared to invest in ANY cryptocurrency ever again, because if the biggest and most renowned of crypto of them all could fail then every lesser altcoin can fail too!

This could happen like that, but that also could happen like this : a big renowned company decide to starts his own cryptocurrency. This time people could follow it without any problem. Since Bitcoin would be destroyed, this cryptocurrency would take the leading place.

In a more generalistic way, this most successful altcoin would be the one launched by a big company, ideally Facebook, Twitter or Google.

[Bitcoinpro]

if bitcoin were to fail.. id just not transact for a few hours until they patch/fork it..

its been done before quite quickly.. so i wouldnt lose my head. id just go out for the day and see what has been updated in the evening..

thats the beauty of bitcoin.. its not a fixed system

yes,, their is no such thing as systemic failure for software it can be patched

and rewritten,,

Fiat has the systemic failure of inherent inflation and asset bubbles

[acquafredda]

if bitcoin were to fail.. id just not transact for a few hours until they patch/fork it..

its been done before quite quickly.. so i wouldnt lose my head. id just go out for the day and see what has been updated in the evening..

thats the beauty of bitcoin.. its not a fixed system

yes,, their is no such thing as systemic failure for software it can be patched

and rewritten,,

Fiat has the systemic failure of inherent inflation and asset bubbles

Let's say Bitcoin is not the best currency to be used by people with heart diseases. 
Seriously, Bitcoin can be adapted to circumstances as you guys are saying but my only concern is that when politics comes into place (blocksize debate, fork or not...) a certain kind of failure can happen. That's my concern but I think that BTC is here to stay

[Frost]

if bitcoin were to fail.. id just not transact for a few hours until they patch/fork it..

its been done before quite quickly.. so i wouldnt lose my head. id just go out for the day and see what has been updated in the evening..

thats the beauty of bitcoin.. its not a fixed system

yes,, their is no such thing as systemic failure for software it can be patched

and rewritten,,

Fiat has the systemic failure of inherent inflation and asset bubbles

Let's say Bitcoin is not the best currency to be used by people with heart diseases. 
Seriously, Bitcoin can be adapted to circumstances as you guys are saying but my only concern is that when politics comes into place (blocksize debate, fork or not...) a certain kind of failure can happen. That's my concern but I think that BTC is here to stay

I wonder when the blocksize debate will ever be resolved.

[enhu]

I would say Litecoin. This is why its always best to invest on litecoin still or Dash. I prefer Litecoin though. I have bought litecoin a lot of times and store it on my laptop and I'm still hoping the coin will gain its value once again. $10 would still be a great profit for me.