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People care about Bitcoin. They don't care about other variants much. This gives Bitcoin value and not the other variants. In other words, creating another blo

People care about Bitcoin. They don't care about other variants much. This gives Bitcoin value and not the other variants. In other words, creating another blockchain is easy but convincing enough people that the variant coins are worth something is hard. Very hard.

betterunix 13y ago
"convincing enough people that the variant coins are worth something is hard. Very hard." Somehow, people managed to be convinced that Bitcoin was worth something back in 2009. What makes the current situation different? Whatever convinced people that Bitcoin had any value in the first place might convince people that some new alternative you started this morning has some value.
- aaronem 13y ago
  > What makes the current situation different? Bitcoin.
- wmf 13y ago
  Obviously an altcoin would have to be as much better than Bitcoin (in the ways people care about) as Bitcoin was better than the preceding stuff. A system that is decentralized and doesn't require mining could have this property.
  - aaren 13y ago
    How would coins become valued without mining? Isn't this the way that bitcoins actually become valued in terms of existing currency?
    - wmf 13y ago
      No, mining just prevents double-spending. The value comes from elsewhere.
      - aaren 13y ago
        People spend money on mining - power, equipment, time. This amounts to them buying bitcoins (from the set that haven't been mined). This gives bitcoins a value in terms of existing currency (dollars etc.). They might accrue value in other ways (how?), but does this process not bootstrap the bitcoins into having some initial value?
        betterunix 13y ago
        "does this process not bootstrap the bitcoins into having some initial value?" No, because nowhere in that explanation is there any mention of demand for the mined bitcoins. If nobody were willing to accept a Bitcoin payment, the cost of Bitcoin mining would be irrelevant because the value of Bitcoin would be zero.
        aaren 13y ago
        Ah, now I think I get it. It is demand pull, not supply push - the miners are only willing to spend money on mining because they think they can get that money back by selling. Buying mining hardware is speculating on the future price of bitcoin.
mrtron 13y ago
People care about tulips. They don't care about other variants much. This gives tulips value and not the other variants. Both are true statements.
- skriticos2 13y ago
  Three things: 1. Bitcoin has good utility value as a currency. You can transfer it to anywhere on the planet, it's decentralized and has a monetary base cap. Tulips are de-cetnralized at best, but are otherwise quite a bad currency. 2. The tulip mania lasted only one season. It went up, peaked and then crashed. Bitcoin is closing it's fifth season and it had several major dips of which it came out stronger than it was before. Absolutely no similarity here. 3. This is getting old. Come up with something new please, will ya?

betterunix 13y ago

"convincing enough people that the variant coins are worth something is hard. Very hard." Somehow, people managed to be convinced that Bitcoin was worth something back in 2009. What makes the current situation different? Whatever convinced people that Bitcoin had any value in the first place might convince people that some new alternative you started this morning has some value.

aaronem 13y ago
> What makes the current situation different? Bitcoin.
wmf 13y ago
Obviously an altcoin would have to be as much better than Bitcoin (in the ways people care about) as Bitcoin was better than the preceding stuff. A system that is decentralized and doesn't require mining could have this property.
- aaren 13y ago
  How would coins become valued without mining? Isn't this the way that bitcoins actually become valued in terms of existing currency?
  - wmf 13y ago
    No, mining just prevents double-spending. The value comes from elsewhere.
    - aaren 13y ago
      People spend money on mining - power, equipment, time. This amounts to them buying bitcoins (from the set that haven't been mined). This gives bitcoins a value in terms of existing currency (dollars etc.). They might accrue value in other ways (how?), but does this process not bootstrap the bitcoins into having some initial value?
      - betterunix 13y ago
        "does this process not bootstrap the bitcoins into having some initial value?" No, because nowhere in that explanation is there any mention of demand for the mined bitcoins. If nobody were willing to accept a Bitcoin payment, the cost of Bitcoin mining would be irrelevant because the value of Bitcoin would be zero.
        aaren 13y ago
        Ah, now I think I get it. It is demand pull, not supply push - the miners are only willing to spend money on mining because they think they can get that money back by selling. Buying mining hardware is speculating on the future price of bitcoin.

mrtron 13y ago

People care about tulips. They don't care about other variants much. This gives tulips value and not the other variants. Both are true statements.

skriticos2 13y ago
Three things: 1. Bitcoin has good utility value as a currency. You can transfer it to anywhere on the planet, it's decentralized and has a monetary base cap. Tulips are de-cetnralized at best, but are otherwise quite a bad currency. 2. The tulip mania lasted only one season. It went up, peaked and then crashed. Bitcoin is closing it's fifth season and it had several major dips of which it came out stronger than it was before. Absolutely no similarity here. 3. This is getting old. Come up with something new please, will ya?