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Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

nytimes.com

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Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#3

My parents know about bitcoin, so as far as I'm concerned digital coins are already mainstream. I'm still waiting for them to ask me what an ICO is.

What is an ICO?

(I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#4

My parents know about bitcoin, so as far as I'm concerned digital coins are already mainstream. I'm still waiting for them to ask me what an ICO is.

What is an ICO? (I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

I have a theory that once you can define ICOs, they will cease to exist in their current form. If the layman buying ICOs for their speculative value understands the asset they're buying, they might not want to buy it anymore.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is an ICO? (I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

I have a theory that once you can define ICOs, they will cease to exist in their current form. If the layman buying ICOs for their speculative value understands the asset they're buying, they might not want to buy it anymore.

I have another theory, that this has already happened.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#6

My parents know about bitcoin, so as far as I'm concerned digital coins are already mainstream. I'm still waiting for them to ask me what an ICO is.

What is an ICO? (I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

An ICO is the process of providing liquidity to early coin miners and investors.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#7
We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example:

When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream. When I could use Google Maps to zoom in on the house I used to live in it wasn't mainstream. When I could publish posts on Blogger it wasn't mainstream. When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. But when my parents could figure out how to get on Facebook on their mobile phones, I knew that the web had become mainstream, even thought it's debatable how much of the web is really left.

In the same way that today's web users don't care about html, http, or urls, digital currency won't be mainstream until they don't have to care about private keys, bitcoin addresses, or even (gasp!) the blockchain. We're a long way off.

EDIT: Since I get the sense a lot of cryptocurrency proponents are taking this as a dismissal, let me say that I do think it has a bright future. I just think there's a lot of work ahead until we get there.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#8
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is an ICO? (I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

I have a theory that once you can define ICOs, they will cease to exist in their current form. If the layman buying ICOs for their speculative value understands the asset they're buying, they might not want to buy it anymore.

Don't be so sure. The penny stock market is alive and well. People love to gamble.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#10
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is an ICO? (I'm only being half-serious. But it's amusing that there isn't a consistent definition. It's basically "you can buy an asset I created out of thin air that may or may not have any utility.")

I have a theory that once you can define ICOs, they will cease to exist in their current form. If the layman buying ICOs for their speculative value understands the asset they're buying, they might not want to buy it anymore.

I have another theory, ICOs will evolve with public due diligence, real products instead of whitepapers, etc. In this way, companies and people from developing countries and below could raise money faster and with less friction. I am not saying that scams will be surpressed but interesting projects will find a better destiny.
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