> only real world application is black markets; money transfer Currently bitcoin is in between a commodity & a currency. Given that the R3 bank network will be

> only real world application is black markets; money transfer Currently bitcoin is in between a commodity & a currency. Given that the R3 bank network will be more of a transfering network and btc having difficulty with scaling, I see bitcoin as a currency. It bas lots of potential uses, here are more than the ones you touched on currently: * Pricing and purchasing conduit to all major crypto currencies. * Crypto speculation/investment vehicle. There are more applications than the 4 we listed but I somewhat agree with transaction vol being the metric. For all other alts and btc actual trade volume is more important than market cap. like fiat, it is based on trust and ascribed value. just because there are provable transactions and known amounts, volume & transactions are an insication of value (or perceived value) and this likelihood people begin accepting them