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Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by hendzen on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:28PM (#18488485)
"people have seen the future and they want more"

Citation needed. The impression I get is that other than a get rich quick/MLM scheme, there isn't really anything there of interest to the general population. And I say that as someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about Bitcoin and crypto in general.

Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by mattdeboard on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:31PM (#18488509)
You can tell everyone wants it by the way demand has crashed through the floor
Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by pc86 on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:41PM (#18488614)
Disclaimer: I made about 13x total ROI speculating on Bitcoin during its volatility between the $1200-8k range. I wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole now.

Demand has crashed because speculation is much more difficult now, and it's much easier to get into a position where your only choices are (a) sell at a huge loss; or, (b) hold and hope it goes up and you can get out even. A few years ago when it was much more volatile unless you were very unlucky with your timing you didn't have to wait more than a month or two to be able to sell with substantial gains, and wait for another drop to buy back in (or buy in pieces on the way down).

Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by adamnemecek on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:37PM (#18488585)
It crashed as currently the technology isn't quite there, however it will be eventually.
Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by ssalka on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:40PM (#18488613)
There are several projects working to put power back in the hands of general consumers, rather than enterprise businesses.

DataWallet[0], for example, is building blockchain-based data hub for users to manage their data, in such a way that they (the users) retain control over it, and companies wanting access have to pay. Simplest use case: enter your contact info in 1 place only, not on every website you sign up for. More generally, I think something like this would be well-received by the public, given recent outcries around privacy, scandals in large tech companies, and the emergence of GDPR (specifically: regular people learning - perhaps for the first time - that they have a right to control the access permissions of the data they create, even on someone else's platform).

Another development of interest is Basic Attention Token[1], wherein users are essentially paid to watch ads. This project is pretty well-known so I won't say much about it other than that it does have consumer appeal.

Granted, the majority of blockchain projects don't (directly) address major problems that consumers have; rather, most address the problems that developers and/or businesses face. The hope is that some of these new technologies will enable said devs & businesses to build better products for their respective users.

[0] https://datawallet.com [1] https://basicattentiontoken.org/

Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by pixelperfect on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:40PM (#18488609)
It seems to have widespread utility in countries with severe currency problems like Venezuela. But I agree, for countries with healthy economies, I don't see why crypto would attain mainstream adoption for much more than black market transactions.
Re:Bitcoin falls below $5,000 by jjtheblunt on Monday November 19, 2018 @01:30PM (#18488500)
Agreed totally.