What can replace Bitcoin?

Bitcoin sparked a revolution that has spawned numerous digital currencies. For example:

ARCH    Archcoin Miner Fee: 0.002 ARCH

BTC       Bitcoin Miner Fee: 0.0001 BTC

BLK        Blackcoin Miner Fee: 0.0002 BLK

BTCD    BitcoinDark Miner Fee: 0.01 BTCD

BCY       Bitcrystals Miner Fee: 20 BCY

BTS        BitShares Miner Fee: 0.5 BTS

BitUSD BitUSD Miner Fee: 0.01 BitUSD

CLAM   Clams Miner Fee: 0.001 CLAM

DASH    Dash Miner Fee: 0.003 DASH

DGB      Digibyte Miner Fee: 1 DGB

DOGE   Dogecoin Miner Fee: 1 DOGE

ETH       Ether Miner Fee: .01 ETH

FLO       Florincoin Miner Fee: .01 FLO

FTC        Feathercoin Miner Fee: 0.1 FTC

GEMZ   Gemz Miner Fee: 1 GEMZ

HYPER  Hypercoin Miner Fee: .01 HYPER

LTC        Litecoin Miner Fee: 0.003 LTC

MAID   Maidsafe Miner Fee: 10 MAID

MINT    Mintcoin Miner Fee: 0.3 MINT

MONA Monacoin Miner Fee: .001 MONA

MSC      Mastercoin Miner Fee: 0.1 MSC

NBT       Nubits Miner Fee: 0.01 NBT

NMC     Namecoin Miner Fee: .005 NMC

NVC      Novacoin Miner Fee: 0.01 NVC

NXT       Nxt Miner Fee: 1 NXT

POT       Potcoin Miner Fee: 0.05 POT

PPC       Peercoin Miner Fee: 0.01 PPC

RDD      Reddcoin Miner Fee: 0.02 RDD

SDC       Shadowcash Miner Fee: 0.0001 SDC

SJCX      StorjcoinX Miner Fee: 0.01 SJCX

START  Startcoin Miner Fee: .01 START

UNO     Unobtanium Miner Fee: 0.0001 UNO

USDT    TetherUSD Miner Fee: 0.5 USDT

VRC       Vericoin Miner Fee: 0.0002 VRC

VTC       Vertcoin Miner Fee: 0.001 VTC

XCP       Counterparty Miner Fee: 0.1 XCP

XMR     Monero Miner Fee: 0.02 XMR

Source: ShapeShift

The concept of value exchange is really decades or even centuries old, depending on how you look at it.  Obviously currencies by their nature were designed to allow a trusted transfer of value between two parties. This third-party source of value allowed one to trade without the unwieldy requirements of the barter system that was the basis or original trade. Trading two cows for a shovel has problems when you try scaling up to 100 cows for 25 shovels, some sheets of marble, and the services of a stone mason. Solution: Money, Of course!

Decades ago, the non-exchange movement of value such as securities is a phenomenon that has evolved at companies like Instanet, which was created to allow private transfer of securities between institutions. Mostly to avoid fluctuations and fees incurred going through the exchanges.  Today Dark Pools are all over the globe, which also avoid exchanges, but use standard settlement systems to close on these trades. In the near future, with the aid of the internet, coupled with Blockchain technology, people will be able to easily buy and sell securities directly without a third party for trading or settlement. One can do this today, but it is like the barter system, very unwieldy.

The arrow though the Bitcoin is a representation of the prediction that it will be replaced by a ‘son of Bitcoin.’  The Trillion Dollar question is … who?  There are examples already in play as noted above in the variety of digital currencies that have evolved. Also with companies like SWIFT seeking a digital solution for traditional currencies, it is clear that the market is ripe for evolution. We also need to consider concepts like “Smart Contracts” that allow us to go beyond simple currency exchange, to exchange of assets and securities.  Resource Bank of Sullivan Country in New York has a ‘barter like’ system that used a value like currency to allow local vendors to buy and sell among each other. Itbit, a newly formed trust company is the first blockchain member of SWIFT and does swap transactions. This list is long and interesting. But … there are services like Orbian and Billtrust who can move credit value from client to client – – – This is where the future may well develop – – – credit markets using corporates.

Corporates as the future currency: Just as nations moved off the gold standard and now use the value of their land, people and corporations to determine their FX value, Corporates alone can do the same via blockchain. These “Corp-Creds” can be used like bitcoins.  A corporation can use its value* to add to a currency pool. It would be a win-win – – – Users of the currency would enjoy a coin that has a real underlying value (like Dollars or Euros), and contributors to the credit corporate currency basically have interest free loans with no payback date.  Yes, this is an oversimplification, but it gives one the initial concept of how such a system would operate.  The main idea is that a ‘currency’ with a real value rather than a ‘perceived’ value such as Bitcoin would be more sustainable and scalable. Or ?????

* These ‘exchanges’ would pool the credits of various corporations into one ‘crop-cred’ coinage. The key would be that participants would have a requirement to join – only AAA rated multi-billion dollar entities like Walmart or Unilever would be creditworthy and secure enough to be allowed to contribute credits to this blockchain. Anyone could be a recipient or holder of this currency, much like Bitcoin users.

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