If usdcoin (the digital construct) is successful at the expense of bitcoin, why would bitcoin be used at all?
My “bitcoin value collapses” scenario list includes the cryptocurrency space being won by an altcoin. I should probably give some more analysis to the specific altcoin of “something pegged to fiat, with government backing”.
But if that coin succeeds, won’t it be the fee currency? Why would btc coexist in a meaningful but not dominant position?
(I can see BTC coexisting with USD and EUR if you can’t pay taxes in BTC, but if BTC succeeds in that scenario, I think there’s still lots of headroom for the price.)
Lack of counter-party risk. There are a variety of mostly technical reasons why it is desireable that fees be paid in a peer-to-peer issued currency vs a central-party issued currency. For example, if there are multiple competing currencies in use (e.g. usdcoin and eurocoin, or more likely bitstampusd vs bitreserveusd), then a p2p currency like bitcoin provides a neutral platform for setting fee policy.
If usdcoin (the digital construct) is successful at the expense of bitcoin, why would bitcoin be used at all?
My “bitcoin value collapses” scenario list includes the cryptocurrency space being won by an altcoin. I should probably give some more analysis to the specific altcoin of “something pegged to fiat, with government backing”.
But if that coin succeeds, won’t it be the fee currency? Why would btc coexist in a meaningful but not dominant position?
(I can see BTC coexisting with USD and EUR if you can’t pay taxes in BTC, but if BTC succeeds in that scenario, I think there’s still lots of headroom for the price.)
Lack of counter-party risk. There are a variety of mostly technical reasons why it is desireable that fees be paid in a peer-to-peer issued currency vs a central-party issued currency. For example, if there are multiple competing currencies in use (e.g. usdcoin and eurocoin, or more likely bitstampusd vs bitreserveusd), then a p2p currency like bitcoin provides a neutral platform for setting fee policy.