Bitcoin vs the Alts

Reasons to bet on Bitcoin:

• You think there will be a pull back from Bitcoin’s market dominance shrinking from 85% to 35% in 2017.
• You think the lightning network will solve enough of Bitcoin’s scalability problems.
• With a market cap of $180B, you feel there’s enough financial pressure on Bitcoin to solve all of its problems.
• You think Bitcoin will begin competing with Ether and others as a smart contract platform.
• You think it will be the entry point of a lot of new money entering the crypto space.
• You the nine year track of Bitcoin and the proof-of-work consensus mechanism safe and reliable as compared to newer technologies.

Reasons to bet on something else:

• You think the decline of Bitcoin’s market dominance from 85% to 35% will continue.
• You think there are many niches and value propositions which Bitcoin does not address.
• You think the lightning network is not a full solution to scalability.
• You think “mining” and proof-of-work, as compared to other consensus mechanism, is stupid (perhaps because of wasted electricity).
• You’re worried about infighting in the Bitcoin community and its lack of formal governance mechanisms.