How fragile is the pot we're putting our money in?

[2girls]

The US government found the sweet spot with regulation.  They will not push much further.  Getting them at the in and out doors is the way to go and the only real legal way that they had a chance.  They knew they could get the exchanges to play alone and be good little boys because they are too afraid of losing the fees. 

Do not forget that(assuming the all the software and servers don't need something) that an exchange can, in a sense, simply sit there and collect the fees as the people trade back and forth.

[Torque]

The PBOC surely knows that China currently has a lock on Bitcoin mining, yet they do nothing to subvert it. I would think that further centralization of mining in China would only benefit or even cement their overall control of Bitcoin in the long run.

Perhaps Bitmain and Jihan Wu are being paid/compensated to attempt to exact further control over Bitcoin and its development. Having Segwit, LN, and staying with 1MB blocks would ultimately circumvent much of that control.

[deepcolderwallet]

The PBOC surely knows that China currently has a lock on Bitcoin mining, yet they do nothing to subvert it. I would think that further centralization of mining in China would only benefit or even cement their overall control of Bitcoin in the long run.

Perhaps Bitmain and Jihan Wu are being paid/compensated to attempt to exact further control over Bitcoin and its development. Having Segwit, LN, and staying with 1MB blocks would ultimately circumvent much of that control.

Fully agreed.

[classicsucks]

The PBOC surely knows that China currently has a lock on Bitcoin mining, yet they do nothing to subvert it. I would think that further centralization of mining in China would only benefit or even cement their overall control of Bitcoin in the long run.

Perhaps Bitmain and Jihan Wu are being paid/compensated to attempt to exact further control over Bitcoin and its development. Having Segwit, LN, and staying with 1MB blocks would ultimately circumvent much of that control.

This sounds like a typical fairy tale that only a reader of bitcoin reddit would believe. First off, Segwit and LN suck, but won't really have an impact on miner influence in the bitcoin space even if they are adopted.

Staying with 1MB is the reason bitcoin only occupies 45% of the total crypto market, down from 95% only six months ago. This dramatic fall in bitcoin's relevance can continue, if the small blockers want to keep working hard to surpress innovation.

And who pays the Core devs? Block stream is a $75 million front for the unproven and likely doomed sidechains business model.

And the supreme irony - Lightning is far more centralized than any other crypto...

[zilions]

I agree with a few other members here. We are past the "let's fight it" era and have entered the "we must create our own to compete" era.

In my eyes, the tech behind Bitcoin is not great compared to other newer currencies, but it has the reputation and dominance. And to me, that's enough to keep Bitcoin at the top of the crypto game for years (or decades) to come.

[HeRetiK]

I agree with a few other members here. We are past the "let's fight it" era and have entered the "we must create our own to compete" era.

In my eyes, the tech behind Bitcoin is not great compared to other newer currencies, but it has the reputation and dominance. And to me, that's enough to keep Bitcoin at the top of the crypto game for years (or decades) to come.

Exactly. Ultimately it's about how much trust you have in a cryptocurrency and trust takes stability and time. Bitcoin has survived a lot of crises in recent years, most alts still have to prove that they can prevail and are not yet-another-alt. BTC dominance is kinda hard to take serious as a metric if you see Ripple in third place.