Don't agree with you on your view on Bitcoin Jerry. It's what every other crypto is pinned on. It's like saying GOLD has no business in the area of commerce.
Bitcoin will get faster and offer more capacity to become a truly global, transactional currency.
Once the scaling is sorted, I'm confident there will be a wave of new developments to make it easier and even more secure to use.
For determining what will thrive in future I believe you have to ask what offers something that isn't being offered by anything else at the moment?
Most crypto currencies that are variations on Bitcoin where their unique selling point is a fast, secure method of payment are already dead in the water because Bitcoin has that covered.
What else?
Hmmm...well a social media site which is decentralised and offers rewards to contributors, I don't see anyone other than STEEMIT offering that, so I think that stands STEEM in very good stead.
What about a variation on the blockchain designed specifically for communication between electronic gadgets using a morphed blockchain called 'tangle' which will allow zero fees...ok IOTA it is then, I don't see anything else offering that.
How about a global supercomputer on top of which can be developed decentralised apps that offer smart contract capability, that's Ethereum on the list too.
Everything else is just speculative noise.
Only possible contender I have found to Steemit is Akasha
STEEMIT 'looks' like it has an advantage in the blockchain media space. Akasha.world has a web ranking of 426,000 compared to STEEMIT's of : 6732. You snooze, you lose :-)
Great points, but if you'd translate it into currencies and their respective niches like the one for games or porn, it would mean that the faster they adapt into being mainstream, the more value they have right? So let's say bitcoin will still be the leader but other niche focussed coins can also play on the stage but have a way lower value. How do you look at this? Or do you think that every niche-currency has no chance at all?
Some niche currencies may survive due to the dedication of their user communities out of loyalty, nostalgia or principles but for the hard core, high throughput use of global commercial transactions..I think it will be Bitcoin. If you were a high value commercial enterprise investing in shares .. would you risk it with a niche crypto with a small following or go for the crypto used by many more millions of people which has been around the longest and stress tested the most ?
I'm in agreence with you in the price of bitcoin being to inflated, gold is a hard currency and people are making it seem that Crypto currency has more value than an ounce of gold. Investors are driving the prices up!