Do you see alts have chances against Bitcoins?

[dave3]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

[RedX]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

[TheGodFather]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

I agree , bitcoin will always be the pioneer of all coins , it has the most numerous number of participants and the most investment value, bitcoin is the father of all alternative coins, i think alt coins are depending on bitcoins , it cannot change bitcoin , bitcoin has a stronger market value. and been strongest among all alt coins.

[GreenBits]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

I agree , bitcoin will always be the pioneer of all coins , it has the most numerous number of participants and the most investment value, bitcoin is the father of all alternative coins, i think alt coins are depending on bitcoins , it cannot change bitcoin , bitcoin has a stronger market value. and been strongest among all alt coins.

Surely, bitcoin is here to stay, it was the progenitor. But it's not so regulatable. Thus is the draw of ETH and XRP, they are mutable enough to control on a state/corporate level. XRP can even be reversed; takes the whole blockchain experience away IMO.

[LegendOF45]

Exactly, anything could happen, the future is often difficult in prediction, all we think is perfect then after 1 year or 5 year again being left behind. I thought and very confident there will be altcoin which will replace bitcoin.

[Fireblade]

Exactly, anything could happen, the future is often difficult in prediction, all we think is perfect then after 1 year or 5 year again being left behind. I thought and very confident there will be altcoin which will replace bitcoin.

yes no doubt that no one  know about the future, anything can happen, but in fact in present time bitcoin is the number one currency of the world and will remain as number one for ever. because the users of bitcoin are increasing from time to time, which is making bitcoin more and more stronger and reliable.

[RoommateAgreement]

This is a community. Altcoins does not mean they're trying to take bitcoin down. I don't understand why we always try to see bitcoins and altcoins as enemies.

because altcoins started it
when they want to get pumped what they say is "{put the name of the altcoin here} will replace bitcoin because we have this and this and bitcoin doesn't have it and is slow".

i've always said if an altcoin was good, it would have been used as much as bitcoin in no time and it doesn't have to replace bitcoin. it is something like USD and EUR existing alongside for example.
but the problem is nobody creates an altcoin to be used as a "coin" or "currency" they make altcoins to be pump and dumped in exchanges and never leave them.

[Casabrandy]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

I agree , bitcoin will always be the pioneer of all coins , it has the most numerous number of participants and the most investment value, bitcoin is the father of all alternative coins, i think alt coins are depending on bitcoins , it cannot change bitcoin , bitcoin has a stronger market value. and been strongest among all alt coins.

Surely, bitcoin is here to stay, it was the progenitor. But it's not so regulatable. Thus is the draw of ETH and XRP, they are mutable enough to control on a state/corporate level. XRP can even be reversed; takes the whole blockchain experience away IMO.

Bitcoin will always be ahead in other Alt coins, Alt coins were followed of bitcoin, bitcoin will always be best in features and services . Especially in value and amount of fees bitcoin is in lead.

[DoublerHunter]

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

I agree , bitcoin will always be the pioneer of all coins , it has the most numerous number of participants and the most investment value, bitcoin is the father of all alternative coins, i think alt coins are depending on bitcoins , it cannot change bitcoin , bitcoin has a stronger market value. and been strongest among all alt coins.

Surely, bitcoin is here to stay, it was the progenitor. But it's not so regulatable. Thus is the draw of ETH and XRP, they are mutable enough to control on a state/corporate level. XRP can even be reversed; takes the whole blockchain experience away IMO.

Bitcoin will always be ahead in other Alt coins, Alt coins were followed of bitcoin, bitcoin will always be best in features and services . Especially in value and amount of fees bitcoin is in lead.

Even bitcoin is the strongest coin right now it is not 'always' the best because there will be a time that an altcoin will created and it will be a lot more better than bitcoin and if the people will attracted to that then then the rest will follow to and that is the time when bitcoin will slowly gets old and at the end being abandoned.

[aakashsangwan]

As of me being an investor, many altcoins have given me some good amount of returns, so for investing purposes, altcoins are a good thing as compared to bitcoins only for short term gains.
But in long term investing i prefer bitcoin more than altcoins.

[flower1024]

As of me being an investor, many altcoins have given me some good amount of returns, so for investing purposes, altcoins are a good thing as compared to bitcoins only for short term gains.
But in long term investing i prefer bitcoin more than altcoins.

Bitcoin's not going anywhere.  It's the gold standard.

I think there is room for "alts" if they can do something better than bitcoin can, or if they can do something that bitcoin can't.

The obvious thing is low transaction fees for smaller payments.  Bitcoin seems to be giving up that segment at the moment, though it's possible it could reclaim it in the future.  Now's the time that an "alt" could gain traction here.

The most exciting new thing, though, and something that bitcoin doesn't really do at all, is smart contracts.

I think Ethereum is the start of this, and those that build on it and expand the contract functionality have a lot of potential.

I agree. Altcoins represent their own unique qualities but they are still not closed to bitcoin. From their name they are just an alternative.

I agree , bitcoin will always be the pioneer of all coins , it has the most numerous number of participants and the most investment value, bitcoin is the father of all alternative coins, i think alt coins are depending on bitcoins , it cannot change bitcoin , bitcoin has a stronger market value. and been strongest among all alt coins.

Surely, bitcoin is here to stay, it was the progenitor. But it's not so regulatable. Thus is the draw of ETH and XRP, they are mutable enough to control on a state/corporate level. XRP can even be reversed; takes the whole blockchain experience away IMO.

Bitcoin will always be ahead in other Alt coins, Alt coins were followed of bitcoin, bitcoin will always be best in features and services . Especially in value and amount of fees bitcoin is in lead.

If bitcoins transaction speed don't improve and fee increases to the unrealistic range then bitcoin usage may reduce for most of the smaller amount transaction and so it will give a chance for another good altcoin to become its competitor for smaller amount transactions.

We can't take it guaranty that always bitcoin will be a leader in cryptocurrencies because some new coins provide better features then people may switch to it for sure. But for now yes, bitcoin is leading.

[TedMosby]

Bitcoin is like USD. It is like reference for other alt coin.
I think there is no chances for alts gainst Bitcoins.
But if you mean the chance to have more value than bitcoin, there is always a chance.
But not as stable as bitcoin.
ZEC is the prove for this case.

[RavenDothKnow]

I feel like a lot of people in this thread are using the following logic:

1) Bitcoin has always been #1 because it was the first mover and it has the biggest network effect.
2) Therefore, "altcoins" are only interesting for short-term investments
3) Bitcoin will always be #1

I would just like to explain my view and why I think this circular reasoning is not very useful for predicting the future:

When Bitcoin was born in 2009 it was competing with fiat currencies. Relative to these fiat currencies it had so much going for it: decentralisation, 21 million coin cap, super fast, super secure, super cheap. It had tremendous benefits over every other currency.

In the last 8 years a lot has changed though.

For starters, the Bitcoin network has become very congested with fees currently skyrocketing and Bitcoin still not being able to scale.
Compared to fiat currency, Bitcoin is still a tremendously valuable asset. Even with fees of 100$, it could still be a very attractive store of value for people in certain countries.

However, it's no longer Bitcoin versus fiat. It's decentralised digital currencies versus fiat. And although Bitcoin is still #1 in marketcap, one has to acknowledge that a trend is occuring:

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

If you scroll down the the bottom of that page you can see that Bitcoin's market dominance has dropped below 50% now. Notice how the biggest drop in Bitcoin's market dominance happened right after the blocks got completely full (1MB), negatively affecting user experience, in March/April 2017.

You could argue that that's no problem for Bitcoin because the price per bitcoin itself still went up. But I think the price of all cryptocurrencies are going up because it's the future of money and people are realising this. Looking at how this new investment spreads out over the different coins is a much better metric to check the sentiment within the cryptosphere than looking at just one coin's price.

Now some of these coins really boggle my mind. For example, I don't get how XRP made it all the way to #2 on the marketcap list. I read their whitepaper and I really don't see how this is even closely representing what decentralised trustless currencies stand for. But hey, I might just not get and miss out on it's potential, and I'm OK with that.

But other coins really interest me because they offer some promising solutions to the problems that we ran in to while conducting our first decentralised currency experiment (Bitcoin).

Some solve the governance problem by using DAO's (Dash, Decred).
Some solve the scaling problem with faster blocktimes or flexible blocksizes (Monero, Litecoin).
Some try to make the currency more programmable (Ethereum, NEM).
Some solve the anonymity/fungibility problem (Zcash)

Ofcourse trade-offs are being made and I think none of these coins are as secure as Bitcoin is right now. Mainly because Bitcoin's software has been run and tested for 8 years now, but also because it's more conservative with it's goals (i.e. just being a store of value).

Long-term however, some of these "altcoins" (I don't like that name because it differentiates between Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency) might take over. And the longer Bitcoin takes to resolve its issues the bigger the window of opportunity for another cryptocurrency to take over.

Let's also not forget that Bitcoin paved the way for other cryptocurrencies. It takes a lot of effort to get a store to accept Bitcoin if it has never heard of cryptocurrencies before. Once it already accepts Bitcoin, and a cheaper, faster and maybe even more secure cryptocurrency shows up, all it takes is a software update.

The way I see it is that the whole cryptocurrency community is betting on which currency will have what it takes to go big. Betting on just one horse might have been a good idea a while ago, but it certainly isn't today.


 

[basesaw]

I feel like a lot of people in this thread are using the following logic:

1) Bitcoin has always been #1 because it was the first mover and it has the biggest network effect.
2) Therefore, "altcoins" are only interesting for short-term investments
3) Bitcoin will always be #1

I would just like to explain my view and why I think this circular reasoning is not very useful for predicting the future:

When Bitcoin was born in 2009 it was competing with fiat currencies. Relative to these fiat currencies it had so much going for it: decentralisation, 21 million coin cap, super fast, super secure, super cheap. It had tremendous benefits over every other currency.

In the last 8 years a lot has changed though.

For starters, the Bitcoin network has become very congested with fees currently skyrocketing and Bitcoin still not being able to scale.
Compared to fiat currency, Bitcoin is still a tremendously valuable asset. Even with fees of 100$, it could still be a very attractive store of value for people in certain countries.

However, it's no longer Bitcoin versus fiat. It's decentralised digital currencies versus fiat. And although Bitcoin is still #1 in marketcap, one has to acknowledge that a trend is occuring:

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

If you scroll down the the bottom of that page you can see that Bitcoin's market dominance has dropped below 50% now. Notice how the biggest drop in Bitcoin's market dominance happened right after the blocks got completely full (1MB), negatively affecting user experience, in March/April 2017.

You could argue that that's no problem for Bitcoin because the price per bitcoin itself still went up. But I think the price of all cryptocurrencies are going up because it's the future of money and people are realising this. Looking at how this new investment spreads out over the different coins is a much better metric to check the sentiment within the cryptosphere than looking at just one coin's price.

Now some of these coins really boggle my mind. For example, I don't get how XRP made it all the way to #2 on the marketcap list. I read their whitepaper and I really don't see how this is even closely representing what decentralised trustless currencies stand for. But hey, I might just not get and miss out on it's potential, and I'm OK with that.

But other coins really interest me because they offer some promising solutions to the problems that we ran in to while conducting our first decentralised currency experiment (Bitcoin).

Some solve the governance problem by using DAO's (Dash, Decred).
Some solve the scaling problem with faster blocktimes or flexible blocksizes (Monero, Litecoin).
Some try to make the currency more programmable (Ethereum, NEM).
Some solve the anonymity/fungibility problem (Zcash)

Ofcourse trade-offs are being made and I think none of these coins are as secure as Bitcoin is right now. Mainly because Bitcoin's software has been run and tested for 8 years now, but also because it's more conservative with it's goals (i.e. just being a store of value).

Long-term however, some of these "altcoins" (I don't like that name because it differentiates between Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency) might take over. And the longer Bitcoin takes to resolve its issues the bigger the window of opportunity for another cryptocurrency to take over.

Let's also not forget that Bitcoin paved the way for other cryptocurrencies. It takes a lot of effort to get a store to accept Bitcoin if it has never heard of cryptocurrencies before. Once it already accepts Bitcoin, and a cheaper, faster and maybe even more secure cryptocurrency shows up, all it takes is a software update.

The way I see it is that the whole cryptocurrency community is betting on which currency will have what it takes to go big. Betting on just one horse might have been a good idea a while ago, but it certainly isn't today.


 

this is true. as we can see on the coinmarketcap. ripple is now half the market cap of bitcoin. as far as i remember. ripple only have 1billion market cap last march. then see, it is now 13Billion usd. so maybe we should say that crypto currency is now on the right path. and bitcoin is just the father of all currency yet some can over drive it.

[n2004al]

I have been seeing Bitcoins' price rising with a stability in its growth, but due to the higher mining fee that is being levied on transactions these days, big businesses are now moving their funds towards alts and taking advantage with their least fees as well as shaping a completely new economy in the trends of altcoin markets. Do you think this may harm Bitcoin's dignity and open up a chance in real for alts to rise?

I don't think that is right your point of view. Bitcoin and altcoins are the same family and cannot be competition within a family. Anyhow, taking your point of view, I think that there is absolutely no risk in short time point of view that bitcoin be harmed from some other altcoin. There is no candidates (or at least i don't see any) that compete with bitcoin in point of view of value and importance.

[Agrello]

I have heard and been asked this question many times over the years. At the end of the day, it is like saying do you think Twitter will take over Facebook, or will Chrome take over Firefox. There is enough space in the future market to allow all to exist for their own case. The beauty is that we have all of these different coins and someone might prefer one over the other based on their own desires or needs. Some people will say they love Samsung phones others swear by Apple. Such is the case and will remain the case. I would hate to live in a world with one choice, then we are back to square one and stuck with EUR or USD etc.

[kuyaJ]

I have been seeing Bitcoins' price rising with a stability in its growth, but due to the higher mining fee that is being levied on transactions these days, big businesses are now moving their funds towards alts and taking advantage with their least fees as well as shaping a completely new economy in the trends of altcoin markets. Do you think this may harm Bitcoin's dignity and open up a chance in real for alts to rise?

I don't think that is right your point of view. Bitcoin and altcoins are the same family and cannot be competition within a family. Anyhow, taking your point of view, I think that there is absolutely no risk in short time point of view that bitcoin be harmed from some other altcoin. There is no candidates (or at least i don't see any) that compete with bitcoin in point of view of value and importance.

Likewise, I agree that Bitcoin is far ahead compared to any other alt coins that we currently have does make no one as a real candidate to replace Bitcoin. After the developers have fixed the congestion in the blockchain then Bitcoin will come back to its usual self and the topics of Bitcoin being dead would subside. I also read topics from a long time ago like years back being Bitcoin would be dead and they are positive with this but as we can see Bitcoin is still alive and this topics regarding this that we have now is just one of those.

[basesaw]

I have heard and been asked this question many times over the years. At the end of the day, it is like saying do you think Twitter will take over Facebook, or will Chrome take over Firefox. There is enough space in the future market to allow all to exist for their own case. The beauty is that we have all of these different coins and someone might prefer one over the other based on their own desires or needs. Some people will say they love Samsung phones others swear by Apple. Such is the case and will remain the case. I would hate to live in a world with one choice, then we are back to square one and stuck with EUR or USD etc.

yes thats why theres a lot of brand to compete with. but it is different from crypto world. cryptocurrency has different uses, like for example: Bitcoin can be used in different things that accepts it. for ripple it is specialized for businesses and banks. so we cant really compare the two as they have different uses.

[krishnapramod]

I feel like a lot of people in this thread are using the following logic:

1) Bitcoin has always been #1 because it was the first mover and it has the biggest network effect.
2) Therefore, "altcoins" are only interesting for short-term investments
3) Bitcoin will always be #1

I would just like to explain my view and why I think this circular reasoning is not very useful for predicting the future:

When Bitcoin was born in 2009 it was competing with fiat currencies. Relative to these fiat currencies it had so much going for it: decentralisation, 21 million coin cap, super fast, super secure, super cheap. It had tremendous benefits over every other currency.

In the last 8 years a lot has changed though.

For starters, the Bitcoin network has become very congested with fees currently skyrocketing and Bitcoin still not being able to scale.
Compared to fiat currency, Bitcoin is still a tremendously valuable asset. Even with fees of 100$, it could still be a very attractive store of value for people in certain countries.

However, it's no longer Bitcoin versus fiat. It's decentralised digital currencies versus fiat. And although Bitcoin is still #1 in marketcap, one has to acknowledge that a trend is occuring:

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

If you scroll down the the bottom of that page you can see that Bitcoin's market dominance has dropped below 50% now. Notice how the biggest drop in Bitcoin's market dominance happened right after the blocks got completely full (1MB), negatively affecting user experience, in March/April 2017.

You could argue that that's no problem for Bitcoin because the price per bitcoin itself still went up. But I think the price of all cryptocurrencies are going up because it's the future of money and people are realising this. Looking at how this new investment spreads out over the different coins is a much better metric to check the sentiment within the cryptosphere than looking at just one coin's price.

Now some of these coins really boggle my mind. For example, I don't get how XRP made it all the way to #2 on the marketcap list. I read their whitepaper and I really don't see how this is even closely representing what decentralised trustless currencies stand for. But hey, I might just not get and miss out on it's potential, and I'm OK with that.

But other coins really interest me because they offer some promising solutions to the problems that we ran in to while conducting our first decentralised currency experiment (Bitcoin).

Some solve the governance problem by using DAO's (Dash, Decred).
Some solve the scaling problem with faster blocktimes or flexible blocksizes (Monero, Litecoin).
Some try to make the currency more programmable (Ethereum, NEM).
Some solve the anonymity/fungibility problem (Zcash)

Ofcourse trade-offs are being made and I think none of these coins are as secure as Bitcoin is right now. Mainly because Bitcoin's software has been run and tested for 8 years now, but also because it's more conservative with it's goals (i.e. just being a store of value).

Long-term however, some of these "altcoins" (I don't like that name because it differentiates between Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency) might take over. And the longer Bitcoin takes to resolve its issues the bigger the window of opportunity for another cryptocurrency to take over.

Let's also not forget that Bitcoin paved the way for other cryptocurrencies. It takes a lot of effort to get a store to accept Bitcoin if it has never heard of cryptocurrencies before. Once it already accepts Bitcoin, and a cheaper, faster and maybe even more secure cryptocurrency shows up, all it takes is a software update.

The way I see it is that the whole cryptocurrency community is betting on which currency will have what it takes to go big. Betting on just one horse might have been a good idea a while ago, but it certainly isn't today.


 

Skipping this logic is inevitable that bitcoin was the first mover and it has the biggest network effect. It is a fact. Because of that at one point or another different altcoins would be compared or judged based on bitcoin.

Altcoins are not only good for short-term investments, but altcoins that have the potential to last long like BTC and have features according to the market demand would give a tough fight to bitcoin. For example, Ethereum used blockchain techology to come up with something that crypto community needed, smart contracts.

So in short, altcoins that are going to take blockchain technology to another level by giving what the market needs stands a chance against bitcoin.

[azguard]

Skipping this logic is inevitable that bitcoin was the first mover and it has the biggest network effect. It is a fact. Because of that at one point or another different altcoins would be compared or judged based on bitcoin.

Altcoins are not only good for short-term investments, but altcoins that have the potential to last long like BTC and have features according to the market demand would give a tough fight to bitcoin. For example, Ethereum used blockchain techology to come up with something that crypto community needed, smart contracts.

So in short, altcoins that are going to take blockchain technology to another level by giving what the market needs stands a chance against bitcoin.

That something that is gonna happen sooner or later and some alt will take more dominate role in this most are close to this like you mentioned Ethereum, look on what segwith done with Litecoin, so in matter of years we will more hear that some alt in that time made something new and good for good of us all.

Altcoin are not anymore what they used to be for quick earning they become something more and respectable.