There is no doubt that all of us in the field of cryptocurrency owe a great debt of gratitude to Bitcoin.
That said, Bitcoin isn’t going to die in a blaze of glory, it’s going to die with a whimper.
It is said that we stand on the shoulders of giants, and a dozen years from now we have no doubt Bitcoin will be listed among the most spectacular innovations of the new century, right there among the invention of WiFi, Quantum Computers, and Artificial Intelligence. That said, there is a growing rumbling among the major players in the cryptocurrency world that the long reign of Bitcoin is finally in its twilight.
Before we really dig into why this is the case. Let me start by qualifying the above carefully. Bitcoin will slowly decline, after a series of rises and falls, which will still take several years. Even then, it is unlikely to ever disappear. In reality, Bitcoin simply will become less useful than other forms of cryptocurrency and will fade into increasing obscurity as it is replaced by stronger and more useful replacements. Its impact, however, will live on indefinitely. In fact it may eventually be the case that a Bitcoin is treated like an old piece of art. Owning one may become tantamount to owning a piece of history, a status symbol among those in the industry.
Below we list the reasons why we believe, Bitcoin is ready to gracefully step down as the king of Crypto:
1. No way around it, Bitcoin is OLD.
We should begin by stating a few obvious facts about the evolution of blockchain, perhaps most importantly, beginning with the fact that it is now closing in on its 15th birthday. In the world of technology, that is an eternity. We would never expect for example, to be using the original iPhone 15 years after its invention, but in truth, both blockchain and iPhone were invented at approximately the same time, right about the time we were still checking our MySpace profiles and listening to Lily Allen. Today I am holding an iPhone 13 Pro Max, but we are still basically using the same old Bitcoin. This should speak to how transformative and original the technology was at the time when it was introduced. It should also be a harbinger for its coming decline. Very rarely if ever, do old things in technology stay relevant for long.
2. Bitcoin has no real utility.
Relax, crypto bro. We realize that Bitcoin DOES serve a purpose as a reserve currency and as a method of exchange. That said, its all Bitcoin can do. The rise of utility coins, smart contracts, and decentralized applications, means that increasingly users and investors will be looking for more than just a currency.
3. Bitcoin is (extremely) energy inefficient.
For comparison, each Bitcoin transaction expends approximately 150,000 TIMES as much energy as a SINGLE Visa transaction. There is no way to spin this, Bitcoin simply could not be adopted globally without drastically affecting energy expenditures worldwide. This is a major flaw in its utility, and no matter what the pro-Bitcoin pumpers say, Bitcoin can never be the global standard.
4. Bitcoin is too slow to be used worldwide.
The average Bitcoin transaction time is about 10 minutes. Wait…What? For reference, your Visa card settles in about 3 seconds. A few modern cryptocurrencies take less than 1 second. This just isn’t the kind of transaction time that will ever gain widespread adoption, no matter what the proponents say.
5. Bitcoin is expensive.
The price constantly fluctuates, but each one, always, is several thousand dollars. Of course, we understand why pennies exist. They are portions of a dollar. But it’s would still be weird to pay 0.000001 BTC for a cup of coffee. Worse yet? the USD equivalent is approximately $15… plus the actual cup of coffee. Sorry guys, this latte has too much foam.
6. Bitcoin is in governmental crosshairs.
See #3. Bitcoin is so energy inefficient it has been banned from some countries (including China) for messing with their energy grid. There is no fix for this, Bitcoin mining throws away 99%+ of the energy, time and equipment dedicated to mining the coin. Governments don’t want you to to spend all of their energy only for you to lose the lottery on a piece of a single bitcoin, and literally gain nothing from it. When countries don’t like a product, they pass legislation to ban or restrict it. That is precisely where Bitcoin is today.
7. Bitcoin’s security has been one-upped.
Quantum encryption is the future. It is being done right now, on this very platform. The only redeeming quality of Bitcoin is its difficulty to falsify. Now that this facet has been matched (or rather, that it has been surpassed), Bitcoin no longer keeps its only edge. What is it good for?
To close, let’s sort of sum these objections together and pretend they aren’t Bitcoin. Let’s call them Oldcoin and pretend nobody is hyping it up.
Who is ready to sign up?
Bitcoin was an icon of its time. So were the DeLorean and the Cure. But even good things come to an end. The truth is it’s time for a post-Bitcoin cryptocurrency market. The emperor has no clothes on.
