Last week, amid the media frenzy that accompanied the launch of Bitcoin futures on the Cboe, Roger Ver, a.k.a. “Bitcoin Jesus” told CNBC the following:
I think in the short run it can run up a lot more. But it’s no longer a cryptocurrency. It’s just a game of hot potato at this point, and games of hot potatoes can go on for a long time, and lots of people can pump a lot of money into it and it might go on for even decades.
But as far as its [being] used as money, the developers behind that have destroyed that at this point.
I’m really, really concerned about the future of bitcoin.
Of course these days, “Jesus” is “preaching” bitcoin cash which on Monday surged more than 25% at one point:
Naturally, it’s impossible to know what “caused” the move, but some folks are attributing it to an interview published in Swedish Breakit with Emil Oldenburg, the co-founder and technical director at bitcoin.com. Here’s the key quote:
I actually sold all my bitcoins recently and switched to bitcoin cash.
His rationale echoes concerns of other crypto “purists” – in short, he thinks Bitcoin itself no longer serves the purpose it was intended to serve.
“It costs a lot to transfer bitcoins to and from the stock exchanges,” he said, adding that when he sold his BTC he “had to pay 50 dollars and wait 12 hours for the transaction to go through.” That, he contends, is “completely unreasonable.”
And he went further. Here’s what he had to say about the state of Bitcoin:
The old bitcoin network is as good as unusable.
It’s a group of fanatic bitcoin talibans who themselves do not use bitcoin everyday to want it like this. They see bitcoin like digital gold and a technical experiment, not something you should actually use. It will never be a currency used in everyday life or for people who run companies.
Between that and a blog post on Bitpay dated Friday, bitcoin cash is on the move. Here’s the gist of the blog post:
To meet that growing demand, BitPay is moving now to support payments on the other blockchains which Bitcoin has inspired.
We’ve received repeated requests from merchants and users over the years to support additional blockchain payment methods. Many of the top alternative cryptocurrencies’ blockchains make their own innovations on the features which have made Bitcoin great for payments. These range from faster transaction confirmations to greater payment privacy.
We will begin adding support for a Bitcoin Cash payment option this year, starting with BitPay Card loads. All BitPay invoices will include a Bitcoin Cash payment option by default in early 2018.
There you go. Another day in the crypto wars. Choose your side.
maybe one of you guys will actually do some research before posting your articles. Roger has not been called bitcoin Jesus for a long time now. What he is most often called these days is ‘Bitcoin Judas’, criminal, scam artist….
lol. witness crypto crazies at their “finest”
I only have $500 in bitcoin, which is from GPU mining. Ideally I’d convert it to something else, but the idea of taking a 4-10% hit just to move it is annoying.
The real question is what happens when Lightning networks go live in 2018. BCH benefits the large miners and centralizes power but degrades the talent pool developing it. I don’t think BCH is going anywhere for a while but I rank it as less trustworthy. BTC and LTC are likely to continue their synergistic development and given their development community I hold them in higher regard. If I wanted centralized blockchain I would look at Ripple, but of course I wouldn’t buy any Ripple as there is absolutely no reason to ever own any for that blockchain to function.