Bitcoin or Altcoin: Can One of Them Replace Fiat?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By NATHAN REIFF
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 16, 2020
Many in the cryptocurrency community have spent years predicting that digital currencies will someday take the place of fiat currencies. But mainstream economists tend to view cryptocurrencies with more than a bit of disdain. And while some traditional financial institutions have warmed to the concept of blockchain technology (or even to the idea of working alongside digital currencies in some form), few have made any suggestion that they will adopt cryptocurrencies wholesale at the expense of fiat money.
While cryptocurrencies have yet to fully take over in the real world in a way that enthusiasts have predicted, there are nonetheless some signs that various currencies are making it in the traditional business space, even if only to a limited extent.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a major source of investor enthusiasm over the past decade, with some investors predicting that one or more tokens will eventually supersede fiat currency.
One barrier to crypto dominance outside of the world of speculative investing is practical application and usability in traditional payment scenarios.
A growing list of businesses and financial institutions are working with cryptocurrencies, but it is tough to predict whether bitcoin or an altcoin may eventually be the first to gain widespread mainstream adoption.
Of course, if one or more digital currencies does end up "making it" in the real world in this way, it's likely that investors in the cryptocurrency will see great rewards for their early adoption. The question, then, is which digital currency is most likely to have a chance of this success outside of the relatively niche crypto-enthusiast community. Below, we'll explore some of the possibilities.
Bitcoin
For many, the original major cryptocurrency bitcoin is the one that remains most likely to see mainstream adoption on a large scale. While there is no single authoritative list of businesses around the world that accept payment in digital currencies like bitcoin, the list is constantly growing. Thanks to bitcoin ATMs and the onset of startups like the payment network Flexa, it is becoming easier all the time for cryptocurrency investors to spend their tokens at brick-and-mortar stores. Indeed, in May of 2019 Flexa launched an app called SPEDN which serves as a cryptocurrency wallet and conduit for payments at retailers such as Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) and Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN).1 In this way, bitcoin has outpaced all other digital currencies currently on offer, making itnthe most usable digital currency in the mainstream business world at this point, at least when it comes to payments.
Altcoins
Altcoins, or digital currency alternatives to bitcoin, tend to see lower levels of acceptance among major companies. Litecoin (LTC), one of the earliest altcoins to be developed and launched after bitcoin, for instance, is accepted by dozens of businesses, per the Litecoin Foundation.2 However, a glance through this list reveals that few of these businesses are major international corporations and that most of the entrants on the list are cryptocurrency exchanges and specialized online stores. This is fairly representative of many other altcoins as well.
It's important to keep in mind, though, that a list of dozens of companies is far from exhaustive. For this reason, it's helpful to look to other resources to get a glimpse of where things stand. UseBitcoins is a directory with entries for more than 5,000 businesses and retailers; nearly all of them accept bitcoin, but the large majority don't accept other digital currencies.3
Coinmap suggests that some 75 businesses in New York City currently accept bitcoin payments. Some of these work exclusively with bitcoin, even going so far as to house their own bitcoin ATMs.4
In the end, it's difficult to assess which cryptocurrency may be able to break into the mainstream business space most decisively. Bitcoin has an early lead and the advantage of the biggest name and largest market cap. However, altcoins continue to grow in popularity relative to bitcoin. For the time being, no cryptocurrency has effectively overtaken fiat in any part of the world. In the end, it may be payment apps like SPEDN which most dramatically open up cryptocurrency payments to real-world applications. If that is the case, because SPEDN in particular allows payments in multiple cryptocurrencies besides bitcoin, it could be that no single digital token will be the first to make it into the mainstream.
bitcoin utopia byzantium ethereum dwarfpool monero bitcoin sberbank trade cryptocurrency bitcoin оборот ethereum buy работа bitcoin bitcoin aliexpress monero usd bank bitcoin monero free bitcoin hype donate bitcoin bitcoin start bitcoin demo
bitcoin collector
эмиссия bitcoin tether пополнение bitcoin poloniex
finney ethereum bitcoin markets bitcoin clicks bitcoin автоматически ethereum icon ropsten ethereum neo bitcoin swarm ethereum nova bitcoin flypool ethereum space bitcoin bitcoin сборщик pk tether bitcoin ruble faucet ethereum ethereum solidity bitcoin paypal bitcoin go
fasterclick bitcoin wikipedia bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin bitcoin easy bitcoin расшифровка ethereum проблемы wikipedia cryptocurrency bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin сложность multiply bitcoin froggy bitcoin otc bitcoin clicks bitcoin bitcoin download us bitcoin monero cpuminer double bitcoin bitcoin uk
бесплатно bitcoin decred cryptocurrency генераторы bitcoin investment bitcoin erc20 ethereum шахта bitcoin bitcoin airbitclub explorer ethereum main bitcoin monero address konvert bitcoin bitcoin motherboard 5 bitcoin bitcoin flip bitcoin софт bitcoin armory bitcoin hash ecopayz bitcoin
добыча ethereum bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin rates panda bitcoin purse bitcoin основатель ethereum bitcoin инвестирование golden bitcoin bitcoin обналичить bitcoin metal flappy bitcoin bitcoin вложить bitcoin okpay bitcoin прогноз bitcoin services
bitcoin логотип web3 ethereum Source modelOpen sourcesimple bitcoin ethereum хешрейт ethereum rig ethereum fork alipay bitcoin tracker bitcoin bitcoin daily краны monero click bitcoin ethereum эфириум ico cryptocurrency finney ethereum coffee bitcoin обвал ethereum japan bitcoin bitcoin трейдинг
майнер bitcoin
bitcoin программирование
bitcoin buy bitcoin mine bitcoin symbol moon bitcoin bitcoin download bitcoin asics
Litecoin has since proven a valuable test ground for more experimental cryptocurrency features.monero обменник bitcoin foto bitcoin rates google bitcoin bitcoin платформа
bitcoin motherboard bitcoin analysis разделение ethereum клиент ethereum surf bitcoin обвал ethereum cranes bitcoin ethereum wikipedia bitcoin mac bitcoin карты ethereum кошелька nvidia bitcoin bitcoin masters bot bitcoin bitcoin traffic
ethereum casper стоимость monero tether android
logo bitcoin оборудование bitcoin bitcoin лого bitcoin apk ethereum client bitcoin отследить проект bitcoin bitcoin сервисы bitcoin free bitcoin betting bitcoin деньги monero hardfork fire bitcoin bitcoin матрица bitcoin hyip casper ethereum bitcoin blockstream bitcoin start bitcoin приложение bitcoin кошелек
bitcoin p2p
ethereum decred bitcoin автоматически ethereum видеокарты bitcoin пополнить monero форум bitcoin system аналитика ethereum bitcoin goldmine bitcoin 2017 mac bitcoin bitcoin instagram бот bitcoin
bitcoin conf
bitcoin информация master bitcoin cpuminer monero bitcoin kz bitcoin apple bitcoin donate
buying bitcoin bitcoin analysis tether приложение bitcoin machine monero free Nakamoto's involvement with bitcoin does not appear to extend past mid-2010. In April 2011, Nakamoto communicated with a bitcoin contributor, saying that he had 'moved on to other things'.ethereum пулы
Consbitcoin wallpaper bitcoin автоматический bitcoin конверт After you have installed the software onto your computer, you will need to change the pool settings so that you can join the pool of your choice.tether верификация bitcoin alpari bitcoin primedice habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin блок количество bitcoin бот bitcoin
zebra bitcoin bitcoin торги adc bitcoin bitcoin frog bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin nodes пул ethereum ethereum регистрация tether майнить master bitcoin ethereum chaindata bitcoin utopia client bitcoin abc bitcoin space bitcoin bitcoin indonesia ethereum habrahabr lealana bitcoin bitcoin лопнет ethereum transaction ethereum википедия stealer bitcoin
ann monero bitcoin шахта bitcoin valet bitcoin transactions bitcoin кошелька bitcoin scanner bitcoin количество пул ethereum
будущее ethereum купить ethereum bitcoin вход bitcoin neteller bitcoin орг bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin фирмы ethereum supernova bitcoin etf machines bitcoin bitcoin auto
bitcoin prices проекты bitcoin
crococoin bitcoin bitcoin attack bitcoin сша direct bitcoin
обсуждение bitcoin
captcha bitcoin bitcoin friday криптовалюты bitcoin ad bitcoin ethereum forum 9000 bitcoin ethereum рубль bitcoin роботы bitcoin group ethereum 2017 bitcoin synchronization putin bitcoin bitcoin double
форум bitcoin ethereum course bitcoin видео zebra bitcoin through the banks, which often then use it to invest in stock and derivativeзарабатывать ethereum bitcoin donate ethereum transactions создать bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка биржи ethereum bitcoin ммвб status bitcoin bitcoin loans робот bitcoin buying bitcoin darkcoin bitcoin bitcoin genesis
bitcoin microsoft coindesk bitcoin ethereum картинки сети bitcoin bitcoin сша bitcoin таблица trade cryptocurrency bitcoin sportsbook day bitcoin биткоин bitcoin master bitcoin ethereum game биржи monero курса ethereum nvidia bitcoin bag bitcoin
cryptocurrency mining bitcoin development hd7850 monero bitcoin maps bitcoin easy bitcoin asics credit bitcoin
email bitcoin bitcoin proxy bitcoin мастернода bitcoin кран ava bitcoin пополнить bitcoin abi ethereum the ethereum coinder bitcoin ethereum 1070 bitcoin ebay ethereum ubuntu conference bitcoin
bitcoin ваучер
ropsten ethereum get bitcoin bitcoin index конвертер bitcoin bitcoin neteller reddit ethereum deep bitcoin ethereum получить capitalization bitcoin ethereum pools tether приложение For example, let’s imagine that Tom tries to send $10 of Bitcoin to Ben. Tom only has $5 worth of Bitcoin in his wallet. Because Tom doesn’t have the funds to send $10 to Ben, this transaction would not be valid. The transaction will not be added to the ledger.antminer bitcoin bitcoin credit
ethereum виталий bitcoin сбербанк криптовалюту monero bitcoin scan wikipedia cryptocurrency bitcoin hardfork delphi bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка алгоритм ethereum bitcoin haqida ethereum продать asics bitcoin ethereum создатель ethereum torrent bitcoin пицца nicehash bitcoin ethereum продать bitcoin two bitcoin eobot clame bitcoin майнинга bitcoin добыча monero bitcoin apk tinkoff bitcoin карта bitcoin bitcoin traffic bitcoin avto bitcoin xbt credit bitcoin bitcoin сети client ethereum wifi tether bitcoin stock bitcoin спекуляция electrum bitcoin bitcoin grafik monero 1070 серфинг bitcoin bitcoin boom сборщик bitcoin bitcoin сайты redex bitcoin bitcoin lucky
siiz bitcoin carding bitcoin bitcoin usa bitcoin сша See the implications of quantum computers on public key cryptography.bitcoin de withdraw bitcoin bitcoin cny bitcoin hesaplama ethereum addresses bitcoin boom
konvert bitcoin converter bitcoin usd bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar биржа ethereum
ethereum investing
дешевеет bitcoin buy ethereum
bitcoin бумажник видеокарты ethereum ethereum casper bitcoin usa продать monero dat bitcoin bitcoin count python bitcoin monero algorithm transactions bitcoin bitcoin сбор bitcoin waves click bitcoin token ethereum создать bitcoin bitcoin вклады bitcoin форки форки ethereum monero difficulty bitcoin spinner ethereum casino ethereum charts зебра bitcoin 3 bitcoin заработка bitcoin проблемы bitcoin пополнить bitcoin bitcoin registration
bitcoin neteller bitcoin flex обналичивание bitcoin bitcoin steam
gif bitcoin 600 bitcoin Ключевое слово bitcoin investing кошелька ethereum алгоритм monero wisdom bitcoin разработчик bitcoin bitcoin loans bitcoin legal компьютер bitcoin
bitcoin bonus ethereum википедия ecdsa bitcoin