Bitcoin

Economist Saifedean Ammous, ‘Bitcoin Over Everything’

Eustace Cryptus | Jul 22, 2019 | 13:47

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In a recent tweet crypto analyst Saifedean Ammous says those investing in altcoins are losing a ‘zero sum game’.

Bitcoin Over Everything

Popular crypto analyst and economist Saifedean Ammous recently tweeted that any investor crypto investor not holding Bitcoin has already “lost the battle”. According to Ammous, cryptocurrency is “a zero sum game, and if you’re not in Bitcoin you’ve already lost.”

Ammous explained that the majority of altcoins simply copy Bitcoin and wise investors would choose to invest in the Bitcoin, as the digital asset has already rallied more than 300% in 2019. 

Ammous’s tweet was also a response to Blockstack CEO Muneeb Ali, who tweeted, “You can be long on Bitcoin and support other innovations in crypto. Crypto is not a zero-sum game.”

There is validity to Ammous’s conclusion that Bitcoin serves as an inspiration to all other cryptocurrencies, but the blanked statement that all altcoins are mere carbon copies of Bitcoin is a bit off the mark.

Ammous seems to believe that all other cryptocurrencies are “running an old scam” which is akin to money printing rather than innovation. To date, cryptocurrencies like Ripple and Stellar have found significant use cases, and Ripple is used by more than 200 financial institutions around the world. Both the XRapid and XCurrent products offered by Ripple have also helped to legitimize the crypto-sector in the eyes of large banks and remittance houses. 

Not Everyone Agrees

ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees replied to Ammous by saying: 

This is just not true. Once chain cannot optimize for all variables and all desired attributes of a digital asset. Thus multiple will exist, and further, while in part competitive, they are also in part complementary and constructive. “Only BTC” is a weaker landscape. 

From a developmental point of view, the crypto sector is still in its infancy and the near limitless array of cryptocurrency use cases means that there is plenty of room for the innovations non-Bitcoin networks offer. The ‘Bitcoin over everything’ perspective might be an appropriate phrase for traders but as a payments network there is still room for improvement.

Take for example, Binance DEX recently completed a $1.2 billion transaction using its native BNB token in just 1.1 seconds. All of this was done with a fee of $0.015. While Bitcoin is capable of easily handling these amounts it’s common knowledge that transaction speed is still in need of improvement. 

Do you agree or disagree with Ammous? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Images via Shutterstock