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For me to enter into bitcoin, my current options are to a) exchange fiat for it b) expend the resources to become a "producer" of monumental scale or c) provide services, knowledge or products in exchange for bitcoin.
While those are all perfectly fine options, I'm not certain I want to further bitcoin and it's increasing centralization. What does that leave other than altcoins?
With a cpu-only coin, you could mine with your existing computer and with stronger anonymity, you could do it without anyone tracing you. So what do you think will be the most popular way to obtain crypto-currency.
If altcoins, where does one even start? While there are a plethora to delve into, most all seem to be less than useful or plagued with fundamental issues.
Indeed no altcoin yet has coalesced a complete feature set. They are piecemeal wonders.
And to those who think Doggie (
Beanie Babies) marketing is useful, I want to point a reality of the relatively low networth demographic statistics for Dogecoin vs. Bitcoin as follows in the quote of myself.
Even Bitcoin is no where near saturating the serious white male investor demographic. Hordes of them will be coming when the confiscations and capital controls begin.
Barking at the masses now, is barking up the wrong marketing tree (all doggie puns intended).
Before taking the mass market (fiat has to fail for them and) the crypto-coin must lay a solid foundation. Even Usain Bolt does his 400 meter basis training. Even a miler runs long-distance to build a foundation for the speed work.
My 0.01% - 0.03% guesstimate was 600,000 to 1.8 million based on world population of 6 billion.
Dogecoin (why don't they pronounce it "doggiecoin" or "dog-ecoin"
) claims 100,000 users yet the mcap is only $43 million. Apparently it is the copper-zinc penny coin (feel good marketing, donations, cute dogs) and Litecoin is the
current silver to Bitcoin's gold.
Isn't market cap more relevant+concrete than the nebulous concept of "users" (not all types of users are the same).
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1. The hassle of recording and paying tax for numerous daily tidbit transactions is far outweighed by the insignificant value loss of holding $500 in your checking account (exhibit my prior post that average Dogecoin holding is claimed to be $430 per user).
2. You are not thinking like the masses who are not the rich precisely because they don't have a lot of savings to invest. And thus they don't have the same priority set as you. But you as an investor in what you want them to use, need to think like them to understand this investment.
I saw this within my initial study of Bitcoin yet Risto (and you?) apparently haven't registered this in your consciousness yet after years of being invested.
The wildcard is if there could be an application (other than investing) that targeted the rich demographic which is investing in Bitcoin. Well that is...anonymity. They will need it to survive what is coming! And Bitcoin doesn't have it.
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Again you misjudge the masses, because you are not one. You can't put yourself in their mindset and priority set. I can.
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My gosh you missed the main point. The masses like fiat! They don't require that the digital currency of the world needs to not be a fiat.
And you did not address the point that the masses don't like the properties of Bitcoin:
- Mixes traceable illegal activity with their funds
- No protection against theft
- No refundable protection
- No consumer protection
- Very volatile price
- Must convert to and from fiat which is a hassle
- Very slow transactions, and confusing
- No government guaranteed deposit insurance
- Can't obtain a loan or credit card in bitcoins
- There is no cash version to use offline.
Fiat doesn't have those weaknesses. Fiat has other weaknesses which we are concerned about, but the masses don't care about those weaknesses that bother us. Later the masses will fall into the abyss, then some of them will learn to appreciate our ideals but most of them won't learn.
I am drawn to currencies that are constructed to try and withstand industrial scale takeover of mining such that the Commons can continue to participate in currency creation well into the future; keeping the currency truly decentralized. I am a fan of anonymity in transactions as governments have proven all to clearly they are willing to exploit, break or create laws that favor their continuance of power and exertion of control on the populace.
What options would you point a new entrant into the cryptocurrency world look at? Wait for a better market contender?
IMO wait for the one that has every feature it should have. Expend the intervening time learning about what those features should be.
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There are many voices on the forums and in blogs, but not so many that are so rigorously dedicated to the facts and not their dogma.
Everyone is biased even myself. Only you can decide who speaks to the necessary features and delivers them.
Even I don't know what everyone will do. I do know that it is very, very rare for a committee or group to produce a winning design and implementation. See the
Mythical Man Month and note the politics that ensues with more cooks arguing over the pot.
Open source has prospered when there is
one exceptional leader who accepts all efficient help, e.g. Linus Torvalds.
I can't tell you who that is in the crypto-currency arena. You have to make the determination based on available information.
I don't want to be a famous personality. I want to see us get what we need with minimal extraneous noise.