Bitcoin - Great, but whats to stop new e-currencies from being developed

[philio]

I've used Bitcoin years ago. And boy I wish I didn't cash out!

My question is, what prevents competition from just rolling out multiple competing currencies. I understand, once a currency is adopted.. its "brand" and popularity keeps it king. But, physically speaking, can the exact same BTC system be copied and altered... ? I assume so, we have Litecoin.. Feather coin amongst others..

Why can't we expect an infinite number of competitors.. and if there systems are better, how will it affect bitcoin?
I assume theres a bit of VCR vs BetaMAX relationship going on...

Best Regards, Thanks for any input at all!
philio

[beetcoin]

it's obvious.. there are plenty of services catering to bitcoins that don't do so for other cryptocurrencies. that plus there are lots of rich people who are backing up BTC by actually buying the coins, so they would see it fit that the BTC ecosystem is kept strong.

once BTC reaches the point of singularity, there probably is no going back. it'd be so dominant over other cryptocurrencies that there would be little competition, unless there are some weaknesses with bitcoins.

[Mike Christ]

There are an infinite amount of alternatives, check out the altcoin board.  What separates Bitcoin is that it has a larger userbase, and thus attracts more people than the other clones.  If someone made a real Bitcoin competitor, then you'd have competition; either way, it's more likely for someone to move into cryptocurrency than it is for someone to move away from it and into fiat.

[odolvlobo]

My question is, what prevents competition from just rolling out multiple competing currencies. I understand, once a currency is adopted.. its "brand" and popularity keeps it king. But, physically speaking, can the exact same BTC system be copied and altered... ? I assume so, we have Litecoin.. Feather coin amongst others.

There is nothing that prevents any 14-year-old kid from creating their own currency to compete with bitcoin. However, this has already been tried a hundred times and still nothing has come close to competing with Bitcoin. Nothing has even come close to competing with #2 Litecoin.

Even a payment system backed by major investors (Ripple) has gone nowhere.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible for another currency to compete. I'm just saying that the fear of an infinite number of competing currencies is unfounded.

[DeathAndTaxes]

The internet it is great but whats to stop some new internet from being developed ...

[philio]

Thanks for all your replies.

The internet it is great but whats to stop some new internet from being developed ...

I think that's not really comparable. But perhaps it demonstrates your point. A new web may be created out of dysfunction of the current system... a slow process of adoption. Maybe the growth of Tor etc.

I was wondering weather it is worthy "investing" in other cyrptos.
I think the answer is: maybe, but it will only become worth anything if it becomes adopted, and it takes a lot for that to happen with BTC presence.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Well it is comparable.  Why hasn't (and no tor is a service running on the internet) a completely incompatible rival internet been created?   We got coke and pepsi why not internet and hypertubes?

Hint: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect

This isn't to say Bitcoin is "the one coin to rule the all" but the network effect can be hard to overcome.  Baring a scenario where Bitcoin fails the successor would need to be not just "as good" or "marginally better" but vastly superior so that Bitcoin stakeholders (merchants, service providers, users, developers) switch over in mass. Otherwise the larger it gets, the more utility it gains, the more utility it gains, the more people that adopt it, the more people that adopt it the larger it gets ....

[MAbtc]

There's nothing to stop them from being developed. But bitcoin is pretty much the only name in town -- it's hard to overcome that. Any new crypto-currency will have to be extremely innovative to overtake bitcoin (and I think that is unlikely). None of the alts-- litecoin, ripple, primecoin, etc-- bring that to the table.

[Shallow]

Bitcoin will remain king for the forseeable future