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Yes, which is why it hasn't had any significant usage as a currency. People are just calling it 'digital gold', now. It's also not correct that bitcoins are s
by empath75 9y ago
Yes, which is why it hasn't had any significant usage as a currency. People are just calling it 'digital gold', now.
It's also not correct that bitcoins are scarce. They're only scarce as long as there's a social agreement that 'bitcoins' are the one true cryptocurrency. It's trivial to create new cryptocurrencies or even fork the main bitcoin blockchain. That could turn on a dime and wipe out all of bitcoins value, if some new cryptocurrency comes along and everyone switches to it.
- baddox 9y agoYou seem to be deliberately conflating the terms “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency,” when you clearly understand that the former is a special case of the latter.
- samsonradu 9y agoI also tend to think that bitcoin is scarce only if it’s not forked. Can anyone elaborate?
- hackinthebochs 9y ago"Bitcoin" isn't the software, or the network, or the database. It is the consensus of every player in the ecosystem: users, miners, developers, exchanges, etc. A fork doesn't fork the consensus, its by definition a deviation from consensus. Forks don't duplicate what is valuable about bitcoin.
- empath75 9y agoExcept bitcoin cash seems to have maintained value.
- hackinthebochs 9y agoBecause there are true believers who think it will overtake bitcoin in the end. It's perceived value is derived in opposition to bitcoin, rather than duplicating bitcoin's value.
- empath75 9y agoNevertheless, there are now two competing bitcoin chains, a doubling in the number of bitcoins. And I imagine there will be more and more in the future.