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Why is everybody betting on bitcoin for payments when there are faster and more stable alternatives in the crypto space? I’m thinking that this is more about a

by baby 6y ago

Why is everybody betting on bitcoin for payments when there are faster and more stable alternatives in the crypto space? I’m thinking that this is more about a proof of concept to get into the space.

loceng 6y ago
Because they want to be at the bottom of the pyramid scheme and now that it's gained enough mainstream media attention it doesn't even cost ridicule.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- markkanof 6y ago
  If it is in fact a pyramid scheme, wouldn't they want to be on the top rather than the bottom?
- tylersmith 6y ago
  Nobody wants to be the bottom of a pyramid scheme. That's the scheme.
yumraj 6y ago
1. FOMO 2. If everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) is talking about it, even though we don't understand it, there must be something to it. Everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) cannot be wrong. 3. There is no career downside of betting on this and it fails, since everyone else was betting on it. 4. There is a career downside to not betting on it and it is successful.
- pier25 6y ago
  > If everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) is talking about it, even though we don't understand it, there must be something to it. Everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) cannot be wrong. That sounds like the JS community.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
Kranar 6y ago
None are as stable as Bitcoin. There are some that are faster right now because no one uses them, but are likely to fail if they get any serious adoption. Ethereum is the only sensible alternative to Bitcoin but Ethereum has major scalability issues and much less infrastructure compared to Bitcoin to alleviate those issues.
- baby 6y ago
  I’m sorry but this is so wrong...
- ketamine__ 6y ago
  How would USDC fail?
  - Kranar 6y ago
    USDC uses Ethereum so it has all the scaling issues Ethereum has. That said Ethereum would be a reasonable alternative, but in terms of stability and performance, Bitcoin is far ahead of Ethereum currently. Maybe Ethereum 2.0 with sharding and staking solves those scalability issues and at that time it will be the best choice, but right now there are too many unknowns.
    - T-A 6y ago
      > USDC uses Ethereum so it has all the scaling issues Ethereum has USDC also uses Algorand, Solana and Stellar: https://www.circle.com/en/usdc-multichain https://www.circle.com/en/usdc-multichain
- eximius 6y ago
  Ethereum does face additional problems because of the EVM. Proof of Stake is coming which helps a lot with overall effort expended, if not directly tx/s. What does Bitcoin have that Ethereum doesn't for scaling transaction rate?
  - polyomino 6y ago
beaner 6y ago
People want to spend what they hold, and most people who hold crypto hold Bitcoin.
staplers 6y ago
I used to think this community was bright techies. Now I'm here having to explain basic network effect. Why is ipv4 still being used? C'mon guys you're smarter than this.
mrkramer 6y ago
Satoshi said in 2009: "The existing Visa credit card network processes about 15 million Internet purchases per day worldwide. Bitcoin can already scale much larger than that with existing hardware for a fraction of the cost. It never really hits a scale ceiling. If you're interested, I can go over the ways it would cope with extreme size." "By Moore's Law, we can expect hardware speed to be 10 times faster in 5 years and 100 times faster in 10. Even if Bitcoin grows at crazy adoption rates, I think computer speeds will stay ahead of the number of transactions."[1] [1] https://plan99.net/~mike/satoshi-emails/thread1.html https://plan99.net/~mike/satoshi-emails/thread1.html
- Tepix 6y ago
  Then came the bitcoin core wars. Today bitcoin is a technological dead end, unable to evolve.
  - joshsyn 6y ago
    Bitcoin cash?
  - atweiden 6y ago
    > Then came the bitcoin core wars. Today bitcoin is a technological dead end, unable to evolve. Yet in spite of this, “speculative store of value” remains the only real world use case of cryptocurrency, full stop. No cryptocurrency has risen above speculative store of value absolutely without exception. N.B. “digital gold” is merely a euphemism for speculative store of value. “Digital gold” is the Cadillac of all cryptocurrency narratives from a pure practical proven standpoint, much to the chagrin of investors loudly beating the “utility coin” drum to shamelessly drum up demand for other people to invest in their supposed utility-having coin unironically as a speculative store of value. This is also why all Bitcoin-to-altcoin competition is zero sum, and always will be — because no one uses cryptocurrency, they just virtue signal with it to jockey for position in the sheer Keynesian beauty contest that is cryptocurrency valuation [1]. Every core developer of Bitcoin could drop dead simultaneously, and Bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative would remain intact. All you need is what Bitcoin is today if your only goal is the safest safe haven asset. It was wise of the Bitcoin developers to double down on the digital gold narrative due to the inherent realities of the cryptocurrency space which continue to prove themselves out as Bitcoin has risen from $300 to over $50,000 USD. Bitcoin is digital gold, and every altcoin is low-key trying to become that by calling attention to their "utility" which virtually no one has ever made any “use” of. Which is why Bitcoin remains the #1 coin by market cap, and virtually every other cryptocurrency is down c. 70% from their all-time highs (BTC-denominated ofc, because no other metric counts). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest

by baby 6y ago

loceng 6y ago

Because they want to be at the bottom of the pyramid scheme and now that it's gained enough mainstream media attention it doesn't even cost ridicule.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
markkanof 6y ago
If it is in fact a pyramid scheme, wouldn't they want to be on the top rather than the bottom?
tylersmith 6y ago
Nobody wants to be the bottom of a pyramid scheme. That's the scheme.

yumraj 6y ago

1. FOMO 2. If everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) is talking about it, even though we don't understand it, there must be something to it. Everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) cannot be wrong. 3. There is no career downside of betting on this and it fails, since everyone else was betting on it. 4. There is a career downside to not betting on it and it is successful.

pier25 6y ago
> If everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) is talking about it, even though we don't understand it, there must be something to it. Everyone (read: the vocal but high profile minority) cannot be wrong. That sounds like the JS community.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

Kranar 6y ago

None are as stable as Bitcoin. There are some that are faster right now because no one uses them, but are likely to fail if they get any serious adoption. Ethereum is the only sensible alternative to Bitcoin but Ethereum has major scalability issues and much less infrastructure compared to Bitcoin to alleviate those issues.

baby 6y ago
I’m sorry but this is so wrong...
ketamine__ 6y ago
How would USDC fail?
- Kranar 6y ago
  USDC uses Ethereum so it has all the scaling issues Ethereum has. That said Ethereum would be a reasonable alternative, but in terms of stability and performance, Bitcoin is far ahead of Ethereum currently. Maybe Ethereum 2.0 with sharding and staking solves those scalability issues and at that time it will be the best choice, but right now there are too many unknowns.
  - T-A 6y ago
    > USDC uses Ethereum so it has all the scaling issues Ethereum has USDC also uses Algorand, Solana and Stellar: https://www.circle.com/en/usdc-multichain https://www.circle.com/en/usdc-multichain
eximius 6y ago
Ethereum does face additional problems because of the EVM. Proof of Stake is coming which helps a lot with overall effort expended, if not directly tx/s. What does Bitcoin have that Ethereum doesn't for scaling transaction rate?
- polyomino 6y ago

beaner 6y ago

People want to spend what they hold, and most people who hold crypto hold Bitcoin.

staplers 6y ago

I used to think this community was bright techies. Now I'm here having to explain basic network effect. Why is ipv4 still being used? C'mon guys you're smarter than this.

mrkramer 6y ago

Satoshi said in 2009: "The existing Visa credit card network processes about 15 million Internet purchases per day worldwide. Bitcoin can already scale much larger than that with existing hardware for a fraction of the cost. It never really hits a scale ceiling. If you're interested, I can go over the ways it would cope with extreme size." "By Moore's Law, we can expect hardware speed to be 10 times faster in 5 years and 100 times faster in 10. Even if Bitcoin grows at crazy adoption rates, I think computer speeds will stay ahead of the number of transactions."[1] [1] https://plan99.net/~mike/satoshi-emails/thread1.html https://plan99.net/~mike/satoshi-emails/thread1.html

Tepix 6y ago
Then came the bitcoin core wars. Today bitcoin is a technological dead end, unable to evolve.
- joshsyn 6y ago
  Bitcoin cash?
- atweiden 6y ago
  > Then came the bitcoin core wars. Today bitcoin is a technological dead end, unable to evolve. Yet in spite of this, “speculative store of value” remains the only real world use case of cryptocurrency, full stop. No cryptocurrency has risen above speculative store of value absolutely without exception. N.B. “digital gold” is merely a euphemism for speculative store of value. “Digital gold” is the Cadillac of all cryptocurrency narratives from a pure practical proven standpoint, much to the chagrin of investors loudly beating the “utility coin” drum to shamelessly drum up demand for other people to invest in their supposed utility-having coin unironically as a speculative store of value. This is also why all Bitcoin-to-altcoin competition is zero sum, and always will be — because no one uses cryptocurrency, they just virtue signal with it to jockey for position in the sheer Keynesian beauty contest that is cryptocurrency valuation [1]. Every core developer of Bitcoin could drop dead simultaneously, and Bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative would remain intact. All you need is what Bitcoin is today if your only goal is the safest safe haven asset. It was wise of the Bitcoin developers to double down on the digital gold narrative due to the inherent realities of the cryptocurrency space which continue to prove themselves out as Bitcoin has risen from $300 to over $50,000 USD. Bitcoin is digital gold, and every altcoin is low-key trying to become that by calling attention to their "utility" which virtually no one has ever made any “use” of. Which is why Bitcoin remains the #1 coin by market cap, and virtually every other cryptocurrency is down c. 70% from their all-time highs (BTC-denominated ofc, because no other metric counts). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest