Bitcoin's Endgame: How does the currency fare when all other currencies

[Bill Bisco]

So I've been thinking for awhile.  What's bitcoin's endgame in regard to being used as a currency.  Whenever bitcoin has most of it's currency mined, does this necessitate a drop in the value of bitcoin.  Presumably one bitcoin will be worth a lot more than it currently is in the future.  Presumably this also means that an average person will not be using bitcoins for transactions. 

1. Does a future lessening of transactions necessitate a lesser value for bitcoin?

2. If Bitcoin gets fewer transactions, does that leave it more susceptible to takeovers in the future?

3. Will there be fewer miners in the future which leaves the Bitcoin network susceptible to attacks?

[ScaryHash]

All they really have to do is make a second blockchain to get tagged onto the first.

Just like a pointer, which points to a memory location, the last block of the current blockchain can point to the next one.

It could transmit the difficulty rating, and double the number of bitcoins.

I doubt 21 million coins will be sufficient to do a huge amount of commerce with. It will be a decent amount of commerce but not necessarily sufficient.

I doubt it's technically that hard to do.

[NUFCrichard]

I've been having a think about the endgame too.  Bitcoin can't keep on increasing massively without making real world strides forward at some point.
Something like Amazon accepting bitcoin, or western union, would be massive and shoot the price up as it would be a useful currency then.

I fear that in the short term some fat cat is going to get worried about bitcoins rise and start to legislate.  Undoubtedly that will be in America, it'll be very interesting to see what effect it has on the price.

I still tend to think that bitcoin has a binary endpoint.  0= No more bitcoin 1=bitcoin is the world currency.  It will be an interesting ride between those two numbers.

[Bill Bisco]

All they really have to do is make a second blockchain to get tagged onto the first.

Just like a pointer, which points to a memory location, the last block of the current blockchain can point to the next one.

It could transmit the difficulty rating, and double the number of bitcoins.

I doubt 21 million coins will be sufficient to do a huge amount of commerce with. It will be a decent amount of commerce but not necessarily sufficient.

I doubt it's technically that hard to do.

You think the solution is to continually inflate bitcoin?

[invisiblehand]

I doubt 21 million coins will be sufficient to do a huge amount of commerce with.

The coins can be subdivided to smaller units, beyond 21 million