2013-09-21 Economic & Political Weekly - A New Coinage

[solex]

A New Coinage

http://www.epw.in/postscript/new-coinage.html

Nice article out of India showing recognition that cryptocurrency has a strong chance of replacing fiat completely.

"In the past we have witnessed the emergence of several disruptive products on the internet. However, they were limited to specific domains. But Bitcoin’s target is money, the most common medium of exchange and legal tender, and for many the most critical thing in life. [...] One thing is certain – money will never be the same again."


note:
(date matches periodical).

[kjlimo]

I was mostly intrigued by the future date!

[marcus_of_augustus]

Good article, well written and thoughtful.

[Le Happy Merchant]

That article reads like an extension of the echo-chamber we have on this forum. It is somehow simultaneously a very good sign, and a little scary. 

[18RATTT]

turn off by its future dates.

Code:

Vol - XLVIII No. 38, September 21, 2013

wtf ?

[LiteCoinGuy]

A New Coinage

http://www.epw.in/postscript/new-coinage.html

Nice article out of India showing recognition that cryptocurrency has a strong chance of replacing fiat completely.

"In the past we have witnessed the emergence of several disruptive products on the internet. However, they were limited to specific domains. But Bitcoin’s target is money, the most common medium of exchange and legal tender, and for many the most critical thing in life. [...] One thing is certain – money will never be the same again."


note:
(date matches periodical).

ah, you missed something:

Yet the concept of digital currency, based on cryptographic tools, is here to stay. If Bitcoin fails, similar alternatives are bound to be born. (Already cryptocurrencies like Litecoin are trying to get a foothold in this new space.) One thing is certain – money will never be the same again.

 

[dree12]

These articles are written in advance and released on the marked date. This particular article will be released on September 21.

[TraderTimm]

That article reads like an extension of the echo-chamber we have on this forum. It is somehow simultaneously a very good sign, and a little scary. 

You're somehow surprised that on a Bitcoin forum, in the Bitcoin Press Section - there's a story about Bitcoin that is positive? Scary how? Should every article be prefaced with how it could go to zero? We all know the risks, even if you think its a one-way street around here.

[Le Happy Merchant]

That article reads like an extension of the echo-chamber we have on this forum. It is somehow simultaneously a very good sign, and a little scary. 

You're somehow surprised that on a Bitcoin forum, in the Bitcoin Press Section - there's a story about Bitcoin that is positive? Scary how? Should every article be prefaced with how it could go to zero? We all know the risks, even if you think its a one-way street around here.

Not that it is positive, that it reads exactly like some of the posts I see here.

[solex]

ah, you missed something:

Yet the concept of digital currency, based on cryptographic tools, is here to stay. If Bitcoin fails, similar alternatives are bound to be born. (Already cryptocurrencies like Litecoin are trying to get a foothold in this new space.) One thing is certain – money will never be the same again.

 

Good spot. Yes, I deliberately trimmed that because I just wanted to capture the gist of the article as briefly as possible.

Personally, I consider that all the people who think that cryptocurrency is the future but some other coin will come steaming out of the shadows and take over is missing a very important point. The point is that because Bitcoin is wholly software it can evolve very fast, and because it has already a $1.6bn valuation there is a huge amount of vested interest in its success. So if supercoin comes along with a particular feature that is grabbing market share, then the bitcoin user-base will not sit back, they will clone this change and neutralize supercoin's advantage. Even if it means a hard-fork is needed the consensus will be there because there will always be consensus to prevent $1.6bn from evaporating.

The article writer has not considered that far ahead.

[Carlton Banks]

Personally, I consider that all the people who think that cryptocurrency is the future but some other coin will come steaming out of the shadows and take over is missing a very important point. The point is that because Bitcoin is wholly software it can evolve very fast, and because it has already a $1.6bn valuation there is a huge amount of vested interest in its success. So if supercoin comes along with a particular feature that is grabbing market share, then the bitcoin user-base will not sit back, they will clone this change and neutralize supercoin's advantage.

Here's something no-one tends to consider when making this point: what if the "supercoin" design is drastically different, in a way that would mean throwing away more than 30% or 50% of Bitcoin protocol design? This would make the Bitcoin faithful behave like the fiat faithful does now. "No way, how is that better money? I can think of several objections that completely miss the point of how supercoin is the new paradigm, for starters, supercoin is a tulip bubble, etc". That would cause ructions in the cryptocurrency world for sure.