Why better tech can't kill Bitcoin

[pimpjuice]

"We are often absorbed by the get rich quick hype forced on us by past successes of the few that were lucky enough to find and keep what was once considered nearly worthless.

In the 80's and early 90's we saw just that. Before the 80's sports cards were pieces of cardboard packed in with a stick of gum. They were worth nothing and often used in the spokes of bicycles, stored in children's wallets or glued to cardboard and hung on the wall. Their destruction had a whole lot to do with their later financial success. The initial distribution was minimal and with an added destruction along with a fascination for childhood memories the price rose fast on those worthless sports cards that still existed. This was the start of the sports card bubble of the 90's. Demand grew because people were cashing out big profits on something that people considered garbage ten years earlier. This caused a sudden increase in investments in sports cards produced in the early 90's with investor hopes that their purchases would produce a future fortune. Unfortunately as demand grows so do the companies and their production. People bought the overproduced cards of the late 80's and 90's, barely touching them, they took the cards from the packs and put them directly into cases, or sports card specific storage boxes, keeping them in mint condition. Since these cards were over bought and over produced and in perfect condition they are now worth close to nothing.

Not long ago we witnessed something very similar. Before the digital currency craze their was just Bitcoin. Thousands of these digital tokens were used to purchase a pizza or a drug dealer used Bitcoin to purchase narcotics online. Many were stored on hard drives but eventually a lot of these hard drives were lost or thrown away. With a fixed and limited amount, and many lost or misplaced, all of a sudden the price of Bitcoin started to rise nicely bringing some very lucky individuals fortunes overnight. As the demand grew so did the variety of coins and the production of these alternative coins skyrocketed to meet demand. People bought the coins and put them directly into cold storage hoping for their future fortune. Like sports cards of the 80's and 90's, few have been lost or destroyed and they are being over produced and over bought. Alternative coins will never match Bitcoin because the distribution will never be as perfect as the distribution of something that initially had absolutely no value. There will never be a more technically advanced digital token that can take this particular characteristic away from Bitcoin, the perfect initial distribution. The perfect digital gold."

Source:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-better-tech-cant-kill-bitcoin-thomas-bartsch?trk=prof-post

[bitconerian]

^^Finally! Someone clearheaded enough to grasp that bitcoins are like any other collectible with artificially limited supply.
Like sports cards. Like Beanie Babies.
As if bits being traded on Magic: The Gathering website* wasn't enough of a clue
*Mt.Gox

[pimpjuice]

^^Finally! Someone clearheaded enough to grasp that bitcoins are like any other collectible with artificially limited supply.
Like sports cards. Like Beanie Babies.

Like gold.

[bitconerian]

^^Finally! Someone clearheaded enough to grasp that bitcoins are like any other collectible with artificially limited supply.
Like sports cards. Like Beanie Babies.

Like gold.

Well no, not like gold.
Gold has a naturally (not artificially) limited supply. No matter how many people come to a consensus to increase gold supply, it can't be done. 21 million coin cap can be changed via a soft or a hard fork.
That said, you're partially correct. Gold gained its value because TPTB (ancient kings, warlords, chieftains, whatever they were called) once used it to measure their might. It was difficult to get & couldn't be easily counterfeited, so a natural choice. So much of gold's value comes from tradition -- its history, thousands and thousands of years being used for dicksizing by TPTB.
Unlike Bitcoin's 7-year history of not being used by anyone of consequence

[pimpjuice]

It was a comparison between the sports card bubble and the altcoin bubble.  Had nothing to do with comparing bitcoin to beanie babies or sports cards.

[Olaf]

^^Finally! Someone clearheaded enough to grasp that bitcoins are like any other collectible with artificially limited supply.
Like sports cards. Like Beanie Babies.

Like gold.

Its not entirely there for gold, but it could be in the right direction for it.

As long there is a massive amount of buy orders and contain a or keep increasing in volume, building bitcoins value is similar to building like the s&p500

[spazzdla]

Pro tip: If the poster has less than 50 posts they are a troll.

[bitconerian]

It was a comparison between the sports card bubble and the altcoin bubble.  Had nothing to do with comparing bitcoin to beanie babies or sports cards.

Because bitcoin is completely unlike altcoins, and the bitcoin bubble (good times, good times...) was totally different?

@spazzdla: Conversely, anyone with more than 50 posts is an overinvested shill. How about focusing on the content, without resorting to catty ad hominems?

[BitBerau]

So bitcoins to you are a fad 
Highly unlikely as those other things mentioned were valuable to the "collectors" but bitcoin is of value to everybody as everybody I know "collects" money. It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange.

[NUFCrichard]

I actually a) don't agree with the premise and b) don't like the idea that bitcoin can't be killed by better technology.

I can imagine people flying in Zeppelins over the Atlantic in a week or so, thinking that planes might be faster and better, but newer better technology can't destroy the Zeppelin.

I thought Bitcoin was about innovation and an improvement on the old system of fiat money.  By ignoring or denying further improvments, you are going against the idea of Bitcoin.
I am not saying that the future is here, and that current generation Alts can replace bitcoin, but if and when something comes along that is actually better than Bitcoin, I will sell up and move to that instead.

[bitconerian]

So bitcoins to you are a fad  
Highly unlikely as those other things mentioned were valuable to the "collectors" but bitcoin is of value to everybody as everybody I know "collects" money. It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange.

First, you have to understand how an exchange works.
An exchange doesn't pay you for your BTC, it simply matches the buyers with the sellers, just like eBay matches BTCeanie BTCabies buyers and sellers.

So yeah, BTC is only valuable to collectors. No different from Sports Cards, Beanies, or Litecoins, or Feathercoins, or BBQ coins, which all claim to be money.

Edit: Sorry, misread "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange." as "on an exchange."
What do you mean by "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange"?

If I sell you 1 BTC for a dollar, that would magically make all BTC worth $1? Or?

[BitBerau]

So bitcoins to you are a fad  
Highly unlikely as those other things mentioned were valuable to the "collectors" but bitcoin is of value to everybody as everybody I know "collects" money. It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange.

First, you have to understand how an exchange works.
An exchange doesn't pay you for your BTC, it simply matches the buyers with the sellers, just like eBay matches BTCeanie BTCabies buyers and sellers.

So yeah, BTC is only valuable to collectors. No different from Sports Cards, Beanies, or Litecoins, or Feathercoins, or BBQ coins, which all claim to be money.

Edit: Sorry, misread "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange." as "on an exchange."
What do you mean by "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange"?

If I sell you 1 BTC for a dollar, that would magically make all BTC worth $1? Or?

Not on an exchange. I should of said at that given time or the transaction in a "trade". My mistake in that wording.
But yes 1btc for a dollar - AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT! What else would dictate what it's value is? It is uniform for everybody across the board no matter what  That is the function of the market price.

[pimpjuice]

I actually a) don't agree with the premise and b) don't like the idea that bitcoin can't be killed by better technology.

I can imagine people flying in Zeppelins over the Atlantic in a week or so, thinking that planes might be faster and better, but newer better technology can't destroy the Zeppelin.

I thought Bitcoin was about innovation and an improvement on the old system of fiat money.  By ignoring or denying further improvments, you are going against the idea of Bitcoin.
I am not saying that the future is here, and that current generation Alts can replace bitcoin, but if and when something comes along that is actually better than Bitcoin, I will sell up and move to that instead.

The idea is better technology can come along but that technology will not kill bitcoin. There will be many tokens in the future with different uses but many of these tokens, if they survive, are likely over bought and over produced.  For example, there will never be one blockchain or distributed ledger. We are already seeing private versus public, and different utilities like smart contracts and bridges. The interledger protocol by Ripple could be key to connecting the thousands of ledgers that will exist.

I believe bitcoin is and will be digital gold.  I think the hype behind bitcoin's world dominance as the one world currency is ridiculous and was produced by speculators trying to overhype bitcoin by raising its potential market cap through these crazy thoughts.  Gold is a 7 trillion dollar market, if bitcoin were to just take a small portion of the market one bitcoin could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.  

[pitham1]

This 'collectible' has a lot of practical uses.
That in itself sets bitcoins apart from sports cards.
Of course, I agree that all the alts have no hope of replacing bitcoin.

[erikalui]

I would call bitcoins as digital gold as gold has earned its value in years while bitcoins is something new and not known worldwide too. Though it has gained recognition since 2013-14, some people still aren't completely aware that it exists. The future may be even better and we may use crypto currency that may have many advantages or disadvantages too like bitcoins and we would need to move on then. Just like few years back the people who preferred using fiat instead of Debit cards moved on to bitcoins, they would be open to adopt a new currency. Bitcoins, as of now, can die anytime soon as it's totally dependent on supply & demand.

[bitconerian]

So bitcoins to you are a fad  
Highly unlikely as those other things mentioned were valuable to the "collectors" but bitcoin is of value to everybody as everybody I know "collects" money. It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange.

First, you have to understand how an exchange works.
An exchange doesn't pay you for your BTC, it simply matches the buyers with the sellers, just like eBay matches BTCeanie BTCabies buyers and sellers.

So yeah, BTC is only valuable to collectors. No different from Sports Cards, Beanies, or Litecoins, or Feathercoins, or BBQ coins, which all claim to be money.

Edit: Sorry, misread "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange." as "on an exchange."
What do you mean by "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange"?

If I sell you 1 BTC for a dollar, that would magically make all BTC worth $1? Or?

Not on an exchange. I should of said at that given time or the transaction in a "trade". My mistake in that wording.
But yes 1btc for a dollar - AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT! What else would dictate what it's value is? It is uniform for everybody across the board no matter what   That is the function of the market price.

Re. "not on an exchange" -- see my edit.
Re. "But yes 1btc for a dollar - AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT!" -- how is this any different from selling Sports Cards or BTCeanie BTCabies or the Brooklyn Bridge? The price is always the price, "AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT," between the parties involved in a given transaction.

This 'collectible' has a lot of practical uses.

Sure. So do all collectibles. You can always use Degas' loli dancer bronze as a doorstop, or use sports cards to shim a chair that rocks. That's not where most of the value lies, tho.

[pimpjuice]

So bitcoins to you are a fad  
Highly unlikely as those other things mentioned were valuable to the "collectors" but bitcoin is of value to everybody as everybody I know "collects" money. It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange.

First, you have to understand how an exchange works.
An exchange doesn't pay you for your BTC, it simply matches the buyers with the sellers, just like eBay matches BTCeanie BTCabies buyers and sellers.

So yeah, BTC is only valuable to collectors. No different from Sports Cards, Beanies, or Litecoins, or Feathercoins, or BBQ coins, which all claim to be money.

Edit: Sorry, misread "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange." as "on an exchange."
What do you mean by "It is the exact same value to everybody at that given time of the exchange"?

If I sell you 1 BTC for a dollar, that would magically make all BTC worth $1? Or?

Not on an exchange. I should of said at that given time or the transaction in a "trade". My mistake in that wording.
But yes 1btc for a dollar - AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT! What else would dictate what it's value is? It is uniform for everybody across the board no matter what   That is the function of the market price.

Re. "not on an exchange" -- see my edit.
Re. "But yes 1btc for a dollar - AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT!" -- how is this any different from selling Sports Cards or BTCeanie BTCabies or the Brooklyn Bridge? The price is always the price, "AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT," between the parties involved in a given transaction.

Anything can be collectable but bitcoin also has utility (actually has better utility than gold).  It has proven to be a "hedge" against financial dilemmas. I personally don't plan on stocking up on beanie babies during the next financial crisis.

[Boosterious]

It might right,better tech will not kill bitcoin,but i'm sure btter tech if have similar technology and better transaction,it will kill bitcoin smoothly,not kill all bitcoin us to stop use bicoin,but i'm sure bitcoin will lost many users.

[Mr.grin]

therefore inversely related to bitcoin. the higher the technology developed, the higher is the revolution that is developing out of bitcoin. I guess like it

[chensong]

because bitcoin is best of technology, 7 years on, it still has it's own fascination.