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Literally mining gold is also not very environmentally friendly and uses a lot of power, probably not as much as Bitcoin though. And Bitcoin will always remain

Literally mining gold is also not very environmentally friendly and uses a lot of power, probably not as much as Bitcoin though. And Bitcoin will always remain what it is now, a system for transferring bits in a decentralized fashion over the internet. Even if Bitcoin is worth $0, as long as there is a sender and a receiver (and at least one miner online), you'll be able to transact Bitcoin, this is hardly worthless. > governments who see it as a threat , with India even going so far as to suggest they would ban it This for me is a huge selling point for Bitcoin (et al). If famously shady governments like India and the US starts talking about banning something, I immediately start looking into why and how they are banning it. So far, the arguments seems to be that they are scared of loosing control, and if it gotten that far, it's because they genuinely believe cryptocurrencies could replace their centralized currencies. More reason to get involved in it.

me551ah 6y ago
Gold is unique, few metals can match it's shine and electrical conductivity. But there exist many cryptocurrencies which can act as "a system for transferring bits in a decentralized fashion over the internet". Many also do a far better job than bitcoin. So shouldn't they be more valuable than bitcoin? Etherium, Monero etc Yes, but you really can't fight the government and run a parallel currency. If the government bans it then you cannot use it for any legal transactions.
- shawnz 6y ago
  Other coins will have to not only be technologically better than Bitcoin but also work to accumulate the same level of trust that Bitcoin has. We can see this already happening with the success of Ethereum > Yes, but you really can't fight the government and run a parallel currency. If the government bans it then you cannot use it for any legal transactions. But even in that situation, you would still be free to bring your money into the control of a different government instead, who has laws you find more favourable. You wouldn't be victim to currency controls and bank runs
  - olah_1 6y ago
    Interestingly enough, with Ethereum, countries could create their own national currencies as Ethereum tokens. And easily exchange with other Ethereum tokens as well.

me551ah 6y ago

Gold is unique, few metals can match it's shine and electrical conductivity. But there exist many cryptocurrencies which can act as "a system for transferring bits in a decentralized fashion over the internet". Many also do a far better job than bitcoin. So shouldn't they be more valuable than bitcoin? Etherium, Monero etc Yes, but you really can't fight the government and run a parallel currency. If the government bans it then you cannot use it for any legal transactions.

shawnz 6y ago
Other coins will have to not only be technologically better than Bitcoin but also work to accumulate the same level of trust that Bitcoin has. We can see this already happening with the success of Ethereum > Yes, but you really can't fight the government and run a parallel currency. If the government bans it then you cannot use it for any legal transactions. But even in that situation, you would still be free to bring your money into the control of a different government instead, who has laws you find more favourable. You wouldn't be victim to currency controls and bank runs
- olah_1 6y ago
  Interestingly enough, with Ethereum, countries could create their own national currencies as Ethereum tokens. And easily exchange with other Ethereum tokens as well.