[craigc]

I think dismissing Bitcoin and promoting blockchain technology kind of misses the point. Sure, a lot of companies will invest in blockchain tech and maybe roll out their own blockchains, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

A blockchain without a peer to peer/decentralized network and a crypto currency/incentive system is nothing more than an over-architected centralized database.

The trust provided by using a blockchain is based mostly on the incentive for people to secure the network. Sure you can use hashing and encryption to verify transactions without it, but if it is a private chain, then one person with access can perform a 51% attack and alter all of the transactions. That is the exact thing something like Bitcoin is trying to prevent.

I agree that Bitcoin itself may not end up being the final coin that survives in 5 or 10 or 20 years, but it has the first mover advantage and strong brand recognition, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.