Re: Bitcoin seems dead as a currency. Be welcome to share your thoughts
Lol @ the Mr. Robot reference!
In a nutshell, you should consider creating a SegWit-enabled address and start using it to transact bitcoins. I've sent several super-low transaction fees for my past several payments, mainly to test the network... And they've all cleared within the first few blocks after initiating the transactions.
26sat/byte: https://blockchain.info/tx/c46fd90647cc0c1071339e2b09c1643b8574487c0cdd7014b34b4bf50068f76a
15sat/byte: https://blockchain.info/tx/1c925686d899759c0793ac51e75eb634f8dbfeb01b3628bfdfb55dfbed34ee6a
As SegWit-enabled wallets become more commonly adopted by Bitcoin users, it should help with the network congestion. While the effects are pretty minuscule now, I can only imagine what would happen if the large exchanges like Coinbase and Bitfinex and Binance were to implement SegWit wallets...
As far as how "dead" it is as a currency? I pay my rent monthly with Bitcoin. I top up my phone with Bitcoin. I purchase food at restaurants (locally here in Belize, of all places) with Bitcoin. I use it on a regular basis, so I don't know about you, but I'm using Bitcoin as it was originally intended. Yes, I absolutely believe that the fees can and should be lower, but I assure you that it is alive and well, my friend.
Oh, and welcome back to the forums. Congrats on your new find!
In a nutshell, you should consider creating a SegWit-enabled address and start using it to transact bitcoins. I've sent several super-low transaction fees for my past several payments, mainly to test the network... And they've all cleared within the first few blocks after initiating the transactions.
26sat/byte: https://blockchain.info/tx/c46fd90647cc0c1071339e2b09c1643b8574487c0cdd7014b34b4bf50068f76a
15sat/byte: https://blockchain.info/tx/1c925686d899759c0793ac51e75eb634f8dbfeb01b3628bfdfb55dfbed34ee6a
As SegWit-enabled wallets become more commonly adopted by Bitcoin users, it should help with the network congestion. While the effects are pretty minuscule now, I can only imagine what would happen if the large exchanges like Coinbase and Bitfinex and Binance were to implement SegWit wallets...
As far as how "dead" it is as a currency? I pay my rent monthly with Bitcoin. I top up my phone with Bitcoin. I purchase food at restaurants (locally here in Belize, of all places) with Bitcoin. I use it on a regular basis, so I don't know about you, but I'm using Bitcoin as it was originally intended. Yes, I absolutely believe that the fees can and should be lower, but I assure you that it is alive and well, my friend.
Oh, and welcome back to the forums. Congrats on your new find!
I'm glad to hear that BTC is still being used as a currency but. What do you mean by "SetWit-enabled address"? Do you mean moving to a Bitcoin fork?
No. All it means is that you use a wallet that's SegWit-enabled. Considering the nature of the question you just asked, it's highly doubtful that you have any hardware or cold wallets... So I will recommend the SegWit wallet that I've been using.
GreenAddress: https://greenaddress.it/
It's available for PC or Mac (via the Chrome browser/extension), iPhone and Android
The biggest "inconvenience" is just having to switch your Bitcoin address. GreenAddress uses change-addresses, as well, which I believe is the most secure practice that you can have for accepting Bitcoin.
Look into it, and start doing some research about SegWit.