re: Bitcoin, Darkcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, et al..
I was listening to a podcast yesterday with one of the Ripple guys. I know almost nothing about Ethereum but I'm assuming its similar to Ripple. That's to say, a massive system that makes it possible to transfer assets globally, be it currency, contracts, whatever.
Here's what I don't get. Why the need for a native Ripple currency inside this system, if the stated purpose is a system to make it safe for transfering BTC, dollars, etc.. What would be the point of the "native" ripple currency? What's the point of "Ethers" in ethereum? What's the point in having 500 different "altcoins"?
Err nope. Ethereum plays a complete different game on a complete new level.
Here please educate yourself:
http://forum.ethereum.org/https://blog.ethereum.org/Of course we don´t need 500 alts. That´s one thing Ethereum is about. A featurless platform instead of many altcoins, everyone with one special feature. An Ethereum you can build everything, and that very easy.
Do they still plan to use their own custom language?
I am not 100% sure, and maybe not uptodate, but I think they provide a costum lanuage for creating Apps and smart contracts.
But it should be easy to learn for coders with html, etc. skills.
But don´t cruzify me if I am wrong.
Maybe this articel helps a bit:
http://etherscripter.com/what_is_ethereum.htmlIf you want to get deeper in it, you have to watch Vitaliks Videos or read his blogpost. But that´s kind of hard for a non-coder like you and me :-)
I got my info on Ethereum from CIYAM (he has his own project, AT, but I have only seen him to be balanced in technical matters). He is critical on the basis of the custom language and the need for a dedicated browser to use it.
I get the feeling Ethereum will be a slow burn, there is friction to adoption and use that can't be solved before launch (end march 2015 IIRC? I am dubious they will be ready by then too). And there is currently know appetite for Smart Contracts (as Come-from-beyond argues and seen in the wild). There are already blockchain options out there (
http://www.smartcontract.com for one) that have had little visible impact.
If I held Ethers, I would sell down through launch week/month (I think there will be a pop, could be a big one depending on mainstream media coverage) and look to buy back in at 15-30% the initial price and have a 3-5 year outlook form there. I think anyone expecting to get rich on holding ethers quickly will be disappointed.