Coinbase CEO: bitcoin is far ahead! Altcoins are distractions!

[jimmothy]

Bitcoin has flaws, and some people are out there to improve upon them down to the protocol level(Which is impossible to do with sidechains).

Please do explain why you can't use sidechains to improve upon the protocol instead of creating a new get rich quick scheme altcoin for every new idea.

[Joshuar]

Bitcoin has flaws, and some people are out there to improve upon them down to the protocol level(Which is impossible to do with sidechains).

Please do explain why you can't use sidechains to improve upon the protocol instead of creating a new get rich quick scheme altcoin for every new idea.

Bitcoin was a "get rich quick scheme" itself if you wanna go that route. There is no incentive for notable developers to work on sidechains, period. I'll let you figure out the rest for yourself. One big reason for legitimate "altcoin" developers is that they want to improve upon Bitcoin itself on a protocol level, as well as other areas (Substitues for mining, Improving distribution of coins: Satoshi holds 1million bitcoins, etc), and they cant do that through sidechains.

After all, Bitcoin, and every other cryptocurrency out there is still in Beta stage. Bitcoin has under 10million users(I suspect far lower, as low as 1million since blockchain.info has less than 5 million accounts created), so it's stupid to rule out anything as of now.

[Lauda]

Bitcoin was a "get rich quick scheme" itself if you wanna go that route. There is no incentive for notable developers to work on sidechains, period. I'll let you figure out the rest for yourself. One big reason for legitimate "altcoin" developers is that they want to improve upon Bitcoin itself on a protocol level, as well as other areas (Substitues for mining, Improving distribution of coins: Satoshi holds 1million bitcoins, etc), and they cant do that through sidechains.

After all, Bitcoin, and every other cryptocurrency out there is still in Beta stage. Bitcoin has under 10million users(I suspect far lower, as low as 1million since blockchain.info has less than 5 million accounts created), so it's stupid to rule out anything as of now.

LOL distribution again. I would expect these altcoins dumb fucks would sing a different song by now.

As for the "incentives" to work on sidechains, you must be dumb as fuck if you think there is none.

The argument that Bitcoin itself was a "get rich quick sheme" is just so weak. This is just wrong. Bitcoin differs in many things from ltcoins.
Coinbase is right. Altcoins have been leeching off of the market cap and pushing away users with scams and whatnot.
(coming from someone who was into altcoins 1 year ago).

[jimmothy]

Bitcoin has flaws, and some people are out there to improve upon them down to the protocol level(Which is impossible to do with sidechains).

Please do explain why you can't use sidechains to improve upon the protocol instead of creating a new get rich quick scheme altcoin for every new idea.

Bitcoin was a "get rich quick scheme" itself if you wanna go that route. There is no incentive for notable developers to work on sidechains, period. I'll let you figure out the rest for yourself. One big reason for legitimate "altcoin" developers is that they want to improve upon Bitcoin itself on a protocol level, as well as other areas (Substitues for mining, Improving distribution of coins: Satoshi holds 1million bitcoins, etc), and they cant do that through sidechains.

After all, Bitcoin, and every other cryptocurrency out there is still in Beta stage. Bitcoin has under 10million users(I suspect far lower, as low as 1million since blockchain.info has less than 5 million accounts created), so it's stupid to rule out anything as of now.

LOL distribution again. I would expect these altcoins dumb fucks would sing a different song by now.

As for the "incentives" to work on sidechains, you must be dumb as fuck if you think there is none.

http://www.coindesk.com/blockstream-21-million-funding-will-drive-bitcoin-development/

I'd love to know how this company managed to raise $21 million if there are no incentives. That single investment round in a sidechains company is more money than the market cap of all but 2 shitcoins. (3 if you include ripples obviously fake market cap)

[celestio]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

That single investment round in a sidechains company is more money than the market cap of all but 2 shitcoins. (3 if you include ripples obviously fake market cap)

Yea, and a single app on Apple Appstore/GooglePlay(Snapchat, and many others) is worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap.

[celestio]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

That single investment round in a sidechains company is more money than the market cap of all but 2 shitcoins. (3 if you include ripples obviously fake market cap)

Yea, and a single app on Apple Appstore/GooglePlay(Snapchat, and many others) is worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap.

Holyshit, and Facebook net value is worth mutiples of Snapchat.


Wait, did you just tell everyone on here that you're just a dumb fuck?

Are you making any sense? Bitcoin is supposed to be a currency. Currencies are supposed to be multi-billion to trillion dollar entities. A single app being worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap should tell you something.

[celestio]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

That single investment round in a sidechains company is more money than the market cap of all but 2 shitcoins. (3 if you include ripples obviously fake market cap)

Yea, and a single app on Apple Appstore/GooglePlay(Snapchat, and many others) is worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap.

Holyshit, and Facebook net value is worth mutiples of Snapchat.


Wait, did you just tell everyone on here that you're just a dumb fuck?

Are you making any sense? Bitcoin is supposed to be a currency. Currencies are supposed to be multi-billion to trillion dollar entities. A single app being worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap should tell you something.

No dumbshit, currency isnt supposed to be an entity. Go learn what currency is.

Are you legitimately retarded or trolling? Serious question. It seems you dont know what the word entity implies in that context. Regardless, I don't have time to respond to idiots. Ignored.

[jimmothy]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

Another shitcoin enthusiast who doesn't understand sidechains. I'd suggest you do some research before sidechains rolls out because it's going to make your worthless shitcoins even more worthless.



The nice thing about sidechains is that it doesn't require using the bitcoin protocol. That means there can be entire sidechains created for micropayments/merchant transactions/anonymity/etc. If it turns out that cryptonite, darkcoin, or monero bring features people want, they can be simply implemented as sidechains.

[Kprawn]

This might be a bit controversial, but in a sense, what he is saying has some merit.

Bitcoin is seeking mass adoption, and if people new to crypto currencies get burned on some "pump n dump" coin {not saying all Alt coins are} ....they might get discouraged, to adopt BTC too.

The problem with this is, that Alt coins imo are the testing area for BTC for many NEW innovative features and we are just human. {Not everyone wants to drink Coke, some like Orange juice}

Yes, BTC is the de facto and strongest currency, and it should be easier for NEW people to only have one option, but Alt coins should also have a place in the sun.

Do we need 900+ Alt coins? {Well that is a subject on it's own}

[celestio]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

That single investment round in a sidechains company is more money than the market cap of all but 2 shitcoins. (3 if you include ripples obviously fake market cap)

Yea, and a single app on Apple Appstore/GooglePlay(Snapchat, and many others) is worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap.

Holyshit, and Facebook net value is worth mutiples of Snapchat.


Wait, did you just tell everyone on here that you're just a dumb fuck?

Are you making any sense? Bitcoin is supposed to be a currency. Currencies are supposed to be multi-billion to trillion dollar entities. A single app being worth over 4x as much as Bitcoin's marketcap should tell you something.

No dumbshit, currency isnt supposed to be an entity. Go learn what currency is.

Are you legitimately retarded, or trolling? Serious question.

Funny you ask because i was wondering the same thing.

Can you put a market cap on a currency and say that currency is worth X? No stupid. Currency isnt a product or company.

Ok, I just had to respond to your outright stupidity. Bitcoin is not being treated as a currency, it's being treated as a speculative investment incase you didn't know. So yes, you can and it does have a marketcap on Bitcoin, which as of right now is not behaving as a currency should. It's behaving like an investment or stock.

Go back to school please, take economics, take english classes, take counseling. Do something, please! And with that, I bid you farewell, troll.

[celestio]

The funny thing is that you're all wrong. Bitcoin is unsuitable for micropayments/transactions, even Gavin Anderson said so. However, an altcoin named cryptonite makes that possible through it's miniblockchain. Bitcoin is unsuitable for instant transactions, however an altcoin named Darkcoin makes that possible through masternodes, and finally Bitcoin is unsuitable for anonymity, but however a altcoin named Monero makes that possible through it's RingSignatures.

Bitcoin has no use cases. It's useless for micro transactions, its useless for anonymity, and its useless for instant transactions. Sidechains won't help that, as another use pointed out, developers of altcoins come to improve upon bitcoin, not work with Bitcoin's flaws. And as another user said, Bitcoin is an altcoin, and it's in Beta stage with hardly any userbase compared to even apps on Google Play.

Get realistic.

Another shitcoin enthusiast who doesn't understand sidechains. I'd suggest you do some research before sidechains rolls out because it's going to make your worthless shitcoins even more worthless.



The nice thing about sidechains is that it doesn't require using the bitcoin protocol. That means there can be entire sidechains created for micropayments/merchant transactions/anonymity/etc. If it turns out that cryptonite, darkcoin, or monero bring features people want, they can be simply implemented as sidechains.

It's funny that you say that because for all intents and purposes, Bitcoin was the very first "shitcoin" and is currently the #1 "shitcoin". Satoshi Nakamoto mined aprox 1million Bitcoins, most early adopters bought tons at ridiculously "low" prices, and most of all Bitcoin's entire price increase history was because of an illegal trading bot using nonexistent fiat cash to buy bitcoins on MtGox.

You're trying to defend your investment in Bitcoin, I know, but it's all in vain when you look at the details.

[jimmothy]

It's funny that you say that because for all intents and purposes, Bitcoin was the very first "shitcoin" and is currently the #1 "shitcoin". Satoshi Nakamoto mined aprox 1million Bitcoins, most early adopters bought tons at ridiculously "low" prices, and most of all Bitcoin's entire price increase history was because of an illegal trading bot using nonexistent fiat cash to buy bitcoins on MtGox.

You're trying to defend your investment in Bitcoin, I know, but it's all in vain when you look at the details.

What you just said made absolutely no sense.

You know bitcoin isn't a shitcoin when the NYSE, USAA, and BBVA invest in a bitcoin company.

Or when Microsoft, Dell, Newegg, Virgin Galactic, Paypal, Ebay, Square, Stripe, Namecheap, Wordpress, Cheapair, etc, start accepting bitcoin.

[toknormal]

I doubt very much that sidechains will prove a satisfactory substitute for truly independent, free-floating alternative cryptocurrencies.

For a start, welding the "alt" into a pegged straightjacket in Bitcoin creates more problems than it solves because it needs to 'hijack' a portion of the bitcoin money supply to generate the alt-coins giving rise to all kinds of liquidity problems (in Bitcoin, by taking coins out of supply and in the alts by limiting their ability to respond to market demand).

Bitcoin is already deflationary enough as it is - the altcoin market is a very nice way to address the need for a natural elasticity, monetary growth
and technological diversity without bitcoin developers constantly hammering out code and hardforks. Bitcoin can still form the reserve currency which "backs" all other alts (it's already is doing that - we price the 'alts' in BTC).

Secondly, what you see right now is the market working: it's showing you what the future's going to be. In other words, you can bolt on all the "warts" you want to Bitcoin physically but there will always be an altcoin market. There's just too much diversity in the world to be able to architect the future into a single technology. It reminds me of the 1990's when Microsoft tried to monopolise the browser market by making Internet Explorer an extension of Windows so the user had "everything in one platform". Sorry - no can do, even though your the biggest technology company in the world with 95% of adoption, your never bigger than people's imagination.

Sidechains is the kind of idea that someone has as a metaphor for what the market's doing already. It's a nice idea as an economic model but not remotely implementable in practice if the crypto-economy ever gets to a significant size because markets will just blow it away with things like decentralised exchanges which perform the same function but without all the liquidity and technology restrictions of sidechains.

[Twipple]

Yes altcoins are distractions. But lets hope ethereum brings about a change next month.

[deepestfear]

That's also the position that some prominent VC's such as Fred Wilson of USV take
Incidentally, USV is an early investor in CB

[Q7]

To certain extent, I do agree that cryptocurrency future still lies on bitcoin. Altcoins though in the past have being used as a way to introduce new technology but unfortunately it has been severely manipulated especially those created as scamcoin. In a way or another bitcoin's reputation has suffer as a result mainly because when people view crypto, the first thing they will see is bitcoin and we are getting all the blame. It's time we go back to bitcoin.

[Beliathon]

Anyone who invests in any shitcoin - this includes "Lite"coin and Doge by the way - will be sucking dicks for satoshi dust within 2-3 years.

[World]

 I totally agree with him.

[GigaBit]

I guess he forgets the important fact that AltCoins, collectively, far superseede Bitcoin in total $$ trades.

He also forgets that many/most people only use Bitcoin to obtain AltCoins?

He also forgets (of fully understands) that his remarks only really benefit those with fat wallet?

He doesn't understand that Bitcoin has general appeal whilst AltCoins have niche appeal?

Although I'll agree that no-mining coins kill the purpose of cryptos, Bitcoin will at some point no longer be the "über alles" of cryptos.

So far all my predictions in cryptos have happened, so let me make some more crazy predictions.

Afloudist on that jackass!

Glad I don't trust them with any of my coin.

[ChuckBuck]

Coinbase CEO: bitcoin is far ahead! Altcoins are distractions!

Well he's NOT wrong!   

All altcoins are by nature, just copycat, pump and dump coins.  Pump the price a few points, gone tomorrow.  Gimmicky features, gimmicky logos, proof of stake 10%, oooh 10 second confirmation times must be good!