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What is a Bitcoin fork?

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#101

Post by alexasmyths »

prewett wrote: post #60
alexasmyths wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the comments above lead me to understand that basically anything can happen with BTC and this kind of undermines it's value as a 'hard currency'. The whole point of decentralization was that nobody could control it, and devaluation was based on some algorithm, limited by tech. If these rules can change, then the intrinsic value of BTC is truly up in the air. What business would invest in using BTC as a currenc…

Businesses don't invest in currency, they invest with it. Businesses don't use cash for investments, either. Investing is buying something that will generate returns, and cash cannot generate any return, kind of by definition. Fiat currencies have no intrinsic value, either, but everyone still uses them. But since one has to keep some cash on hand, a stable currency is preferable. The only reason people are investing…

Yes, I get what you are saying but BTC - as a currency - will require a lot of investment 'in' BTC for transactional purposes, accounting etc..

BTC is already waning as a currency - fewer vendors using it.

As a 'store of value' it's really too volatile - there are just too many other, better options.

So what's left?

Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#102

Post by BinaryIdiot »

nikcub wrote: post #40
acchow wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could hold your own bitcoin in your own wallet.

That's the moral of the story - but a lot of people don't I still haven't convinced my own brother that he needs to move his coins off-market - he said he'll "get around to it at some point" Also have tech friends who keep coins in Coinbase/Coinbase Vault

It's hard to ignore how handy it is when someone else holds your money. When my bank holds my money I can send it to anywhere from any place. Using a crypto wallet I now have this file I have to somehow keep safe and with me at all times. What happens when or if it gets stolen? Like cash it's gone.

So I understand why people do it. Ease of use typically outshines most security issues. Someone needs to figure out how to strike a better balance.

Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#103

Post by CydeWeys »

mrb wrote: post #98
CydeWeys wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, anyone can start a fork. It's hard to get momentum on it though, as it'll likely just be a shitcoin that no one cares about. Witness what happened with Bitcoin Gold. So far there's only been one successful hardfork of Bitcoin (Bitcoin Cash) in all its history. Anyone can try, but few succeed.

It is much too early to judge Bitcoin Gold. The launch has not even taken place yet. They forked a few weeks ago, the developers are currently mining privately, and the public launch will take place in a few days. People criticize the pre-mine, but it's only 0.6% of the total supply of coins. Perfectly reasonable IMHO.

Most people don't think that pre-mines are reasonable at all. That's a good way to know which coins are scams. Why do they deserve 0.6% of a total market that could be worth billions of dollars, exactly? Because they changed a hash algorithm and released a marketing website?

Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#104

Post by mrb »

CydeWeys wrote: post #103
mrb wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is much too early to judge Bitcoin Gold. The launch has not even taken place yet. They forked a few weeks ago, the developers are currently mining privately, and the public launch will take place in a few days. People criticize the pre-mine, but it's only 0.6% of the total supply of coins. Perfectly reasonable IMHO.

Most people don't think that pre-mines are reasonable at all. That's a good way to know which coins are scams. Why do they deserve 0.6% of a total market that could be worth billions of dollars, exactly? Because they changed a hash algorithm and released a marketing website?

Why did Airbnb founders deserve X% of the shares of their company that could be worth billions of dollars? Because they made a stupid simple website to rent out your apartment? Same question, same answer. We live in a capitalistic world, I think it is reasonable that people try to launch for-profit ventures. Ethereum did something equivalent to a pre-mine + instant sale: they created the initial ETH supply out of thin air, and immediately sold it for BTC to investors.

Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#105

Post by guiomie »

tmlee wrote: post #20

We attempted to snapshot the current situation with https://imgur.com/Zlopq7S May be outdated now that 2X has been called off

I like your graphic. A cool metric to have on it would be transactions per second for each new fork.

Re: What is a Bitcoin fork?

#106

Post by CydeWeys »

mrb wrote: post #104
CydeWeys wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't think that pre-mines are reasonable at all. That's a good way to know which coins are scams. Why do they deserve 0.6% of a total market that could be worth billions of dollars, exactly? Because they changed a hash algorithm and released a marketing website?

Why did Airbnb founders deserve X% of the shares of their company that could be worth billions of dollars? Because they made a stupid simple website to rent out your apartment? Same question, same answer. We live in a capitalistic world, I think it is reasonable that people try to launch for-profit ventures. Ethereum did something equivalent to a pre-mine + instant sale: they created the initial ETH supply out of thi…

Startups aren't comparable to cryptocurrencies. There is serious resistance to pre-mining in the cryptocurrency world.
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