Not as contrarian as it sounds: more an argument that the adoption of blockchain technology, or the emergence of a large player, will drive Bitcoin to extinction.
- Yet while Bitcoin has established an economy in which it’s impossible to forge transactions, it provides no defense against replication of the idea itself. No one can copy an individual bitcoin, but anyone can copy the idea of Bitcoin. So how might a government, or a corporation, or even ordinary people, go about doing so in a way that makes Bitcoin useless or redundant? Here are a few scenarios.
Yes and no. Model Ts, at least in the first 40-50 years of their existence, were depreciating assets and everybody knew it. A used Model T cost less than a new Model T. A 4-year-old Model T probably cost less than a 3-year-old Model T etc. Bitcoin, however, is held largely as an appreciating (but legendarily volatile) asset. Bitcoin you bought 4 years ago is worth more than bitcoin you bought 4 months ago. Depreciating assets are the ones you want to let go or write off. Appreciating assets are the ones you want to hang on to as long as you can. The argument of the article is that Bitcoin is fragile to innovation because any number of forces could come out with the Model A and then nobody is going to want a Bitcoin model T because you can't even hot rod it. Make sense?