Meme? I can't understand how it could possibly be categorized as such.
Meme - "a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable"
Google "Bitcoin network effect." It is repeated literally everywhere online. To the point that it is accepted as a fact instead of having a healthy debate about it.
Example from a first page result:
"I have often had to field the question, “Does the fact that Bitcoin can be cloned threaten its long-term viability?”
The stock answer from the community is, “No,” due to the “Network Effect.”
I get nervous whenever I hear, "this won't happen because X" from too many sources. It becomes groupthink more than objective criticism.
Other notable memes include:
"Property will always go up in value."
"Gold will always be a useful storage of wealth."
"Social Media will never replace Search."
There are/were some valid points to support these statements, but they're just speculative theories.
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A protocol is an agreement between multiple people on how exactly to do something.
The bitcoin program is an agreement between multiple people (miners) on how exactly (keep a blockchain with bitcoin's specific stats) to do something. (Public ledger of ownership.)
I can't put it any more simply than that... How could it not be a protocol?
Okay. I am willing to accept that Bitcoin is a protocol in that aspect.
However, that does not mean that it automatically has power to the same degree as http.
At some point, everyone HAD to use http to connect to everyone else if they wanted to be relevant.
There are tons of currencies. no one has to opt into Bitcoin for transactions to occur.
The real power in this scenario are the payment processors of cryptocurrency.
If Coinbase gets mass acceptance, consumers and merchants will make transactions through it.
And Coinbase can just as easily accept any currency it wants.
They can even sway users to "pay in X currency for a 5% discount."
Bitcoin is nowhere close to ubiquitous yet. There are going to be limits to it that we don't even realize yet.
The three pillars of network effects I mentioned a week or two ago in the Doge thread. Basically a synergistic, forward momentum of new hashing power, users, and Merchants together... Two cannot do it, it takes all three.
Hashing Power is the biggest advantage that Bitcoin has going for it. I'll admit that. First movers advantage.
As for Merchants accepting Bitcoin, that part hasn't actually happened.
What is happening is that merchants are coming to trust CoinBase as a reliable payment processor. Again, CoinBase has TONs of leverage in this cryptocurrency space.
Those are accepting separate protocols simultaneously. I once had both a DVD player and a Laserdisc player at the same time... It happens when tech is young.
Yes, the Payment Processors like CoinBase can accept separate protocols simultaneously. This is exactly why saying "Bitcoin is a protocol" holds little weight. Protocols are easily interchangeable in this system.
Bitcoin is either the DVD player or the LaserDisc.
Payment Processors are the TV.
Most consumers don't care what technology they use to watch the movie, they just want it showing up on their TV.
Those reasons strengthen bitcoin, not altcoins. The more money on the table, the more you want security. The only coin with any security at all is the one with the most hashing power.
My point regards future investors.
Bitcoin is still only worth about $9 billion at this time.
There are Trillions of $$$ still not invested in cryptocurrency.
Why do billionaires and hedge fund managers want to invest in a currency that makes early miner "Joe Bitcoin" a trillionaire overnight? (Joe Bitcoin would instantly become one of the most powerful people in the world)
They could (and have a vested interest in) making their own coin.
Hashing power is nice, but most miners have no "brand loyalty" to Bitcoin. Show them something consistently making more profit, and watch their ASICs and GPUs slowly migrate away...
Then why have I been saying the same thing about bitcoin since 2012?
You have been pimpin' up Bitcoin way before most. I give you props on that.
However, you can't say you knew exact prices and movement. But no one can say that. Bitcoin isn't invincible. There needs to be a healthy amount of acceptance that it MIGHT fail IMO.
Again, this is mostly playing devil's advocate. It would be ignorant for me to say I know with certainty where any of this will be in 3+ years. There's just wayy too many unresolved variables.
The crypto space is definitely exciting to watch though.
Like Marc Andresson says, "its the biggest thing to happen to the internet since the internet."
