Everyone has heard the story how VHS was replaced by Bitcoin, but will Bitcoin be replaced by an HD competitor?

A common fear I hear from people hesitating to get into Bitcoin is that it will become the “Yahoo” of cryptocurrencies before the “Google” of cryptocurrencies is created. Those waiting to see how things play out fear that although Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, it does not mean that it will be the ultimate “winner” when confronted with newer technology. This post is my attempt to alleviate some of those concerns.

Bitcoin is not the “Yahoo” before a “Google” of Cryptocurrency. If we must make an analogy to compare digital assets, it is more accurate to say that Bitcoin is like gold, and altcoins are like platinum, oil, or silver. They are digital assets, not companies, and they are each valuable for different reasons (most of the altcoins are valuable for speculative reasons alone). Bitcoin may not remain the most valuable cryptocurrency, but I can’t see a path where Bitcoin is abandoned entirely. Here are some key reasons I believe Bitcoin will always remain one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin solved the problem of trust-less digital scarcity on the internet. It will always be the original digital asset. There is no getting around this fact, and this fact alone makes it valuable. Bitcoin as an idea is powerful, clear, and pure. Bitcoin’s end-game is becoming the world’s currency of the people; a currency that is not under the influence or control of any one country or individual and is open to everyone. To protect the idea of a leaderless global currency, the anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, disappeared for good in 2011 and left his or her invention to the public. Bitcoin was available to anyone interested in it from the first day of its existence and did not give the creator priority over the general public. There is no single leader, and there is no way to stop it. Nobody can just decide to change the rules of Bitcoin on a whim. Bitcoin will be upgraded. Almost any functionality that has been proven on an altcoin can eventually be added to Bitcoin, but it will only be added if the functionality does not impact decentralization, which allows Bitcoin to remain outside the control of individuals or organizations. In order for an upgrade to be accepted, a majority of the Bitcoin community must agree that the change is valid. In the coming months, we will see the results of a major enhancement to Bitcoin that will scale it to hundreds of transactions per second without impacting decentralization. Bitcoin is in Space. There are satellites broadcasting the network to a majority of the world at the moment. This means that anyone with a satellite dish and a computer can participate in Bitcoin. It no longer relies on the internet functioning to work. Bitcoin has the most developers at the protocol level. Around 430 different developers contribute to Bitcoin, which is nearly 3 times the number of developers as the second largest cryptocurrency.

And finally, Bitcoin survives. It has survived nearly 9 years of constant attack, bad press, attempted government regulation, an onslaught of altcoins, and a shit-ton of ICO tokens. Despite all of this, Bitcoin continues to grow, and remains the purest, most decentralized, and most leaderless version of cryptocurrency available.

Don’t let uncertainty about getting the “next big cryptocurrency” prevent you from getting into Bitcoin at all. There is plenty of wealth to be generated for everyone.

Additional Resources:

My guide to getting started: https://medium.com/@philgeiger/a-gentle-introduction-to-bitcoin-c8f6e55855c1

Find a Bitcoin ATM near you to try it out: CoinATMradar

USD Exchanges/Bitcoin banks: Coinbase, Uphold, Gemini

Euro Exchanges: Bitonic, Bitstamp

Be your own bank on your phone or computer with a BTC wallet: Android — Mycelium, iOS- Breadwallet, from a computer — Electrum