I am not a supporter of other cryptocurrencies. I have simple explanations for this, and it’s not about fanaticism but rather dry logic:
- Ease of use: People love simplicity, and simplicity here lies in not having to deal with a multitude of cryptocurrencies or understanding how their addresses and features work. Ideally, each cryptocurrency requires a full-fledged wallet – which means yet another app on your phone (I do not consider multi-currency wallets because they inherently require trusting a third party that supports the blockchains – in which case, traditional banks are better than such wallets). It’s simpler to use just one.
- A reliable and liquid asset: Bitcoin was the first, and it remains the most studied and reliable. This makes it ideal for preserving assets securely over years. At any time, it can be used for payments or sold in part (liquidity). This is understood by many people and companies who have chosen Bitcoin as an asset, making it highly suitable for long-term savings.
- System reliability, as a result of simplicity. Bitcoin is a well-established technology, studied by experts since 2009 (as the first cryptocurrency). Its simplicity is its strength and reliability (unlike something like Ethereum). Most other cryptocurrencies are essentially copies of Bitcoin, often created because their founders greedily wanted to profit from pre-mining and quickly selling their “product.” For example, Ethereum is a useless technology to me: I don’t believe in a distributed paid blockchain computer. Its potential uses as a computational network are easily solved by conventional databases. Oracles and external data entry points into Ethereum are vulnerable, as they depend on specific people, companies, and internet channels. Similarly, smart contracts are largely unnecessary since they can be implemented using conventional software and trust in a third party. Moreover, the more complex the technology, the more vulnerabilities it potentially has.
- The most secure blockchain (largest mining capacity): Bitcoin is the most secure blockchain simply because it was the first with a long history. Mining protects the network from takeover. Mining is like the thickness of a safe’s walls, adapting to the value it holds: the greater the value, the thicker the walls automatically become, and the lock becomes more resistant to hacking.
- Well-distributed among people and companies (In Bitcoin’s early days, people played around with it, and it naturally spread among users.) This minimizes volatility compared to other cryptocurrencies. Few people and companies hold large portions of Bitcoin simply because many of them lost it or spent it in the early years when its future success was far from obvious. (Many still believe Bitcoin’s success has peaked and that it will lose popularity, so this redistribution process continues due to skeptics.)
- It has the largest ecosystem. By ecosystem, I mean merchants, vendors, payers, holders (“HODLers”), ATMs, wallet applications, educational articles, videos, news coverage, and more. Bitcoin leads in all of these aspects, partly because it was the first to launch, with others imitating it years later.
- Capable of innovation: Features of other cryptocurrencies do not justify choosing their technology. If another cryptocurrency introduces a revolutionary feature supported by most of Bitcoin’s community (node operators and miners), it will be integrated into Bitcoin. Before that, it will undergo thorough expert examination and discussion. If a consensus (e.g., 95% agreement) is reached, the protocol will be updated. If consensus isn’t achieved, the dissenting community can create a “fork” (splitting the technology), allowing everyone to proceed as they wish while retaining their coins on both blockchains. This is why there’s no need to choose other cryptocurrencies with advertised “features.” Additionally, claims that other cryptocurrencies are faster are irrelevant; everything works faster under controlled conditions.
- The scalability problem is already solved. A few years ago, Bitcoin faced criticism for being limited to 7 transactions per second. This was intentional; increasing the limit would eventually prove insufficient, and there would be no turning back. Expanding Bitcoin would require greater hardware capacity for nodes, making it inaccessible to ordinary users and leaving it in the hands of large corporations. Bitcoin nodes are not mining equipment requiring immense power but rather ordinary computers, even microcomputers like Raspberry Pi. Nodes are the “circulatory system,” while mining is like intracellular protein synthesis. The speed issue is resolved through the Lightning Network.
- Lightning Network is the key to Bitcoin’s long-term future. It was inevitable, as software development never stops. Bitcoin is designed for scalability off-chain (using its scripting language from the beginning). The Lightning Network is a network of instant payments using payment channels that only interact with the Bitcoin blockchain during channel opening and closing, benefiting from mining protection while operating independently. In this network, routing has been operational for years (meaning payments can be sent to any merchant). Both non-custodial wallets (where users control their funds) and custodial ones (requiring trust in third parties) exist. Moreover, this technology is already used at a state level (El Salvador). This only strengthens Bitcoin and is another solid argument for choosing Bitcoin alone.
- And most importantly, it has no owner. An owner allows governments to influence the technology if it poses a threat. Additionally, pre-mined coins held by founders pose a risk to users. Recent events involving Ripple, Facebook, and Telegram show what happens when trying to take power from banks. (Even Ethereum has a small group of founders holding the majority of its coins.) Bitcoin formed before governments realized they had lost control. Its creator disappeared, leaving mined coins untouched, possibly even deleting the keys.
No cryptocurrency launched after Bitcoin can surpass it by these criteria. Therefore, if you use cryptocurrency, it should only be Bitcoin. Using others is pointless and a waste of effort.
And finally – a meme from the Nostr network:
