Over the past few weeks we have had rally after rally and the alternate coins or 'alt. coins' (any coin other than bitcoin) finally seeing some life. The alt. coins have had a significant rally over the past few weeks and everyone is talking about Verge and the monster gains it has pulled. With so many people entering the cryptospace there appears to be a lack of appreciation for Bitcoin in this market. I will aim to answer some of the questions and concerns.
Why does Bitcoin still have value?
Has been in existence for 9 years now and proven technology (blockchain has not been hacked or shutdown)
Bitcoin was the gateway and framework for several other cryptocurrencies. Vitalik Buterin the founder of Ethereum previously worked on Bitcoin and then went on to create Ethereum
Bitcoin has first mover advantage (first cryptocurrency ever)
Bitcoin has no CEO, CMO, CFO or any type of corporate figurehead or a number you can prank call. We have Satoshi Nakomoto who created the coin but to this date he is unknown
Bitcoin is paired against ALL alt. coins for trading. Have a look at trading platforms such as Bittrex and you will note that all coins are paired against Bitcoin (BTC). Yes there is ETH also but the most common means of trading is looking at 'satoshis' which is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin
Bitcoin hardforks although undesirable for the general cryptocurrency community look to create 'forks' off bitcoin (variations) which are seen to be as 'more correct' interpretations of Satoshi's whitepaper (document which outlines vision of the coin) and "free money" for some
Bitcoin is seen as a 'hedge' where in the event of "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD)" a capital flight into Bitcoin may be seen. In many ways Bitcoin is digital gold and a store of wealth
If Bitcoin rallies there is every possibility that alt. coins may 'bleed' and a capital flight back to BTC might occur. Just keep in mind when you trade against BTC you expect the alt. coin to 'outperform' BTC.
Don't do what this man below did, but just hold some Bitcoin for your own financial security:
If you don't enjoy reading, check out my video (Bitcoin explained in under 2 minutes):
What are the pitfalls of Bitcoin?
Fees! Fees! Fees! The most common complaint from everyone. Although it is worth noting in my opinion Bitcoin has moved away as a daily payment crytpocurrency to one for storage of wealth. Think of it as your own bank account.
Transaction times is the next one to follow with several people waiting weeks to access their coins. It will be interesting to see if Lightning networks can provide any assistance to this
Quantum computing fears which might open up the door for hacking and other fears
Extreme volatility and as we see people take out the casual 'mortgage or two' to fund their investments it creates some concerns
Bubble... one of the interesting thoughts I have heard is whether Bitcoin pops or the bubble for fiat currency (the paper money we use) pops. Food for thought there. What's international debt again? Hmmm....
Energy consumption. There are many concerns that the energy used to 'mine' Bitcoins is excessive and seen as a 'waste'. How much money does it cost you to print paper money? There are houses in Russia that used the heat from mining to power their homes. I have heard of solar/wind farms recouping the capital costs by mining Bitcoin. The power of innovation is underrated...
BCH trading pair? This might create a divergence for BTC where BCash becomes the 'true Bitcoin'? Lets see how hard Bitcoin Jesus aka Roger Ver tries to shill this idea to exchanges
It is always important to be mindful of the risks and at the same time the potential rewards of cryptocurrency, but the question on everyone's mind is "when lambo?" Just remember to 'start small and learn big'.
Cryptoshaf
FREE BITCOIN GENERATING FAUCET: https://freebitco.in/?r=5345367
DONATIONS:
BTC - 1M5anDbT4HAuA6XkJekbMfSTFR1ippEkch
ETH - 0xC1f258BeD748F03130edc6D3A07320C882eD8862
LTC -LWx8U7j5Y4vo8jq8CpqWKwWMXKrByaNW6s
DISCLAIMER: Everything stated here are my opinions. Always invest with money you can afford to lose and do your own research - these are VERY risky investments. A lot of groups and people will misguide you so be sure you know what you are doing. Always remember all these investments can erode significantly in value as these are VERY volatile markets.
Well I must say that these free bitcoin faucets gonna have some blast when we will reach $100,000 per bitcoin.
Let's hope we have a solid solution for solving transaction/fee problems. Something that all communities can agree on.