Bitcoin has its fair share of critics, but the vast majority either don't understand it or have an incentive to be critical.
Keep that in mind when you are reading the latest bitcoin and cryptocurrency headlines.
While it is true that there are likely far too many coins currently with over inflated market caps compared to the value that they can ultimately offer, Bitcoin could be argued is still way undervalued...
Bitcoin could very well become the currency of the internet.
If it doesn't, it still serves as an immutable store of value that isn't controlled by central banks or governments.
There is serious value in that.
Just ask people who live in Venezuela, or Iran. Heck, even Japan is facing fears of a rapidly devaluing currency.
In the traditional currency model, savers get punished.
Inflation is considered "normal, and good" according to Central Banks.
Ask that to mom and pop that have been putting money out of their pay checks into their savings accounts year after year...
They would have been better off just spending that money, from strictly a value gained perspective, however, that doesn't work if you eventually want to retire.
If you aren't exactly sure what I am talking about, check this out:
(Source: https://wingedliberty.com/currency-hyperinflated/)
Back to the topic at hand...
After reading headline after headline I have noticed that some of the harshest critics don't even understand what bitcoin is.
They talk about high fees, they talk about slow transaction times, and they talk about bitcoins being used to finance terrorism.
However, just about every single one of these criticisms can be fixed.
Fees are being lowered, transaction times are being sped up, and exchanges are getting better and better at sniffing out money laundering and fraud.
After all, bitcoin is basically software and software can be updated/upgraded.
Whatever bitcoin doesn't do currently, it likely will at some point.
Oh and btw, the US dollar has been the biggest financier of terrorism the world has ever seen, I guess we should get rid of it right?!
They also say bitcoin uses far too much electricity...
Well guess what, there are over 3.5 million ATMs in the world being used by our current financial system, and they consume more electricity than the entire bitcoin network.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Does that mean we should abandon the current financial system because it uses too much electricity? I can't say I ever heard anyone say that, ever.
Not only that but most of the electricity usage by bitcoin miners is taking place in areas where there are surpluses of electricity.
Places like Iceland and Canada, and right next to major solar power and hydroelectric plants are the major bitcoin mining hubs.
I'm not sure about you, but why did it ever become considered a good thing when your money loses 2%-4% of its value every single year?!
(Source: https://www.ccn.com/beware-jamie-dimon-and-warren-buffett-double-down-as-bitcoin-critics/)
Conclusions:
Take everything with a grain of salt.
The next time you hear or read some critic talking about why bitcoin won't work, make sure he actually understands what he is talking about. Also, consider where he is coming from...
It's hard to take anything a banker says seriously when it comes to Bitcoin.
That would be like asking horse drawn carriage owners to comment on the first automobiles.
They have every reason to hope it doesn't succeed...
Stay informed my friends.
Image Source:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/bitcoin-bulls-bears/
Follow me: @jrcornel
Here Here! Good analysis 😁👍😁
Thanks.
I totally agree! Thats why I resteemt your article on my blog.
The technology is there and it's wonderful... no doubt... now it's a matter of belief, and would the mases accept it... my personal view is that it's just need time.
I agree. The longer it doesn't go to zero, the better its chances.
awesome bro....the blockchain technology is wonderfull but still some time needed to grow for all in world
i am new in steemit so please follow me and support ne
getting back upvote
Yes, it will take some time. Though, prices often outpace development with new technology.
yes, you are right bro
GOD'S TIME IS PERFECT. FAITH AND HOPE..1 GREETINGS jrcornel
Yes, we should!
Debt-is-money is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the world!!!
Completely agree... and now it is considered normal and even "good" by banks and economists.
This is so true! Cryprocurrencies are definitely going to take over the world in the future, but at the moment, lots of people are criticising it because either they don't understand it, or they work for a big bank that is too stubborn to start using and encouraging the use of Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.
Hopefully this will change in the near future.
It may take some time still.
Completely agree...
Nice one.
As usual there's multiple aspects to this I guess:
You're right that most people openly criticizing Bitcoin don't really understand what its potential is and how it can disrupt. And I'm also a huge believer that Bitcoin has a bright future.
Zimbabwe got rid of their currency because of instability almost 10 years ago, and Bitcoin would be a great replacement.
However, we're yet to see an application on top of Bitcoin that provides value at scale. You can obviously send money across the border, but can you buy something with Bitcoin there, or exchange it (again, at scale) for local fiat currency.
Mass adoption comes with usable and valuable solutions, not with a protocol.
That said, the internet also took a while to mass adoption after TCP/IP and HTTP got created, so there's a lot of hope for Bitcoin and other decentralized protocols.
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Good points. Though gold is in a similar boat, IE basically mostly serving only as a store of value, albeit with a much longer track record. Which apparently is roughly a $7 trillion dollar market. Worst case scenario, bitcoin should be able to take a significant portion of that. With some meaningful upgrades, perhaps a lot more.
I don't fully understand it...but my harshest criticism of it is that they haven't updated it...but then again, if they choose to update it eventually, after all the other coins have tested out the changes, that's quite alright I suppose. Even at it's highest, the worst was that it cost as much as a wire transfer.
Of course, who you're speaking of understand it far less than even I do.
Time has proven that we who did want Bitcoin to upgrade were perhaps a bit hasty with our criticisms. It still needs to be upgraded, but the value that it needed to be upgraded for was only a peak. I certainly hope they upgrade it to allow for such values, if it reaches them for more than just a peak, but they need to be sure about the changes.
As to the articles...I don't even bother reading them, since the idiots just repeat the same thing over and over again. That's pretty well proof it's propaganda, whether there's truth in it or not.
I agree with you about the upgrades. Though I have read some that say the lack of upgrades is a positive as opposed to a negative. They say that is what makes bitcoin important as a store of value. The fact that it doesn't upgrade and change every month likely will help give people more confidence to trust it as a store of value.
It likely shouldn't be updated every month, but it certainly is annoying when you can't use a coin because the price spiked. Ideally, anything should update as much as they need to, but not too often.
I just found it funny that what many say is a criticism of bitcoin, others say is a feature. One man's trash is another man's treasure I guess...
They say the same about Linux distros...and they're right to a point. I'm on a bleeding edge distro. Occasionally I have issues with conflicts, but not so often. Supposedly other distros are more "stable" by using code that is often months or even years old...but they also are a security liability. Nowhere near what Windows is, of course.
Excellent article my friend.
You canot stop thinking why they are still sticking to banks rather than adopting bitcoin and they are world’s best economists. Pity
Change takes time, especially when you are going against the status quo.
Thats true
Be patient
well may be the jp morgan group is more affected with the popularity crypto has gained over the time for sure hahah
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Bitcoin has good attributes and bad attributes.
Its decision makers' decision to keep the bad is what makes it bad.
Fees have both good and bad in them too, but Bitcoin's high fees, sluggishness and waste of energy make it bad overall.
Maybe in the past it was good.
I comprehend what is good in it, but is it better than Byteball?
Bitcoin is a very bad tool for transfers of value.
It is also impossible to scale to make it a world reserve currency.
Worse case scenario, a decentralized immutable store of value that transcends borders and can't be controlled by central banks or governments and has a known limited supply still has significant value. In theory, at least a significant portion of the gold market. And that is worst case scenario...
Exactly, even if it 'fails' as a payment system, a store of value is almost certain. People carry on about intrinsic value but then seem to completely disregard 'art' that is literally just subjective value.
Exactly. Many things have value only because people say it does. Just about all money operates this way. Though gold is another example, it just has a longer history of being a store of value than something like bitcoin.
What you wrote ignores every bad attribute that Bitcoin has.
I do not like Ethereum either, but if I wanted to buy into the digital currencies with fiat money, I would have seeked to use Ethereum instead, or Litecoin.
I read that even Bitcoin Cash is a much better mean to transfer value.
Litecoin has everything that is wrong with Bitcoin and is less secure, but at least is faster and cheaper to transact.
What are the bad attributes you are referring to? My points were being made about its store of value potential... currency potential is another story.
The bad attributes of Bitcoin:
2.1. computing equipment,
2.2. energy
2.3. and even physical space.
These resources could have been used for scientific purposes or to lower purchase costs for retail consumers.
Early adopters and miners kept it in secret and abused public resources for their personal benefit.
Why would I want to pay to these people in order for them to sell in profit?
I prefer that it will go to zero.
How is it a good store of value with such huge fees for entrance and for exit?
Have you made a wire transfer recently? Bitcoin's fees are still substantially cheaper and substantially faster. Try sending money across boarders, it's not easy nor is it fast. Bitcoin is extremely fast by comparison.
Also, regarding energy use...
There are currently over 2.5 million ATMs in the world, the sum of which consume far more energy than bitcoin mining.
If you want it to be more widely dispersed, all you have to do is buy it.
The entire bitcoin network is only worth $100 billion. That is literally a drop in the ocean in the world's financial markets. Apple for comparison has roughly $250 billion dollars in cash on their balance sheet. They could buy the entire bitcoin network 2x over and that is just one company.
You may dislike bitcoin compared to your favorite cryptocurrencies, and that is your right, however there is a good chance that whatever bitcoin doesn't do currently, it will in the future.
After all, it is only software and software can be upgraded and updated regularly.
It's also still the most decentralized crypto project in the world currently, even if it is not perfect.
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This is cool. Thanks.
Not sure what you are saying here.