Bitcoin isn't even Bitcoin anymore.
I read here everyday, it seems like everyone is suffering from some sort of mass hypnosis that allows them to ignore reality. Bitcoin, now that it has been completely and fully co-opted by the investor class, does not even resemble what it was originally intended and believed to be. The fact that investors can gamble on the price without even buying any Bitcoin means that the price is subject to even more volatility and risk for a bubble.
Let's take a look at the Bitcoin Wikipedia page.
"Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system."
Well, not really. It was, but it's really not now. A number of large retail operations have recently begun removing Bitcoin as a payment option, bank acceptance is virtually zero, truly effective card services still aren't there, and with such a volatile market price there is really no way to know how much money you have from one second the the next. So it's validity as a currency or payment method is pretty questionable. Can you buy a car with Bitcoin? Probably. Can you buy the car you want in the town you are in from the shop you usually buy cars from? Probably not.
"Paying a transaction fee is optional."
Well, not really. I guess if you want to commit your funds to digital purgatory for a very, very long time then you might try to get your transaction through without a fee. But the fact of the matter is this. No one is ever going to buy a cup of coffee with Bitcoin when the fees exceed the price of the coffee. And the fees are outrageous. Why?
"Miners can choose which transactions to process and prioritize those that pay higher fees."
Well, not really. Saying they "can choose" is a little misleading. They do choose to do so, and that is why we have runaway fees and a very volatile and inflated market price... the miners ultimately drive the bubble because there is no reason to process any transaction for a fee less than the last. I have always seen this as a glaring problem with the entire concept. To be effectively used as a currency, small fees for routine daily transactions would have to have the same priority as any other large, investment related transaction. Right now, the fees are driven not by regular users of Bitcoin, but by investors. And they don't care if users get priced out of the market.
"Because of bitcoin's decentralized nature, nation-states cannot shut down the network or alter its technical rules."
Well, not really. Perhaps a nation state cannot technically shut down the network, but, as we have seen in the USA, they can prosecute users of cryptocurrency for a wide variety of reasons including operating a money transfer business without a license, tax violations, and more. So while technically the government may not be able to stop it, they can prosecute the hell out of it.
Final Thoughts
The futures market? Really? That just tore it for me. The fact that people can bet on the price moving up and down without actually purchasing Bitcoin or participating in the network in any way just sets off alarm bells in my head. This isn't pork bellies or Florida oranges or corn. It's people's money.
The long and short of it is this - it was a lot of fun, some of us made some money, a few of us made a lot of money, but now that the investor class has taken over, I am out. I truly wanted Bitcoin to keep the promises above, but that ship has sailed. The last fee I paid for a Bitcoin transfer a few days ago was greater than all the fees I paid in 2016 combined, and I am done with it. If I can't eventually use it to put gas in the car or buy a loaf of bread, what's the point? There are less volatile and more sensible investments, and at this point, that is what Bitcoin has become - an instrument of investment.
Who says Bitcoin isn't used anymore?
Bitcoin are used more now than ever before !!
In my country all big companies now accept Bitcoins as Payment, the local people are talking about Bitcoins, not just the young people.
Bitcoin was never meant to pay for cups of coffee, besides it isnt expansive to transfer Bitcoins.
Yesterday i transferred btc worth 10.000usd and paid less than 3usd in fee.
You sir, are wrong in so many ways.
