What is weak about selling for a profit and using that btc to make more profit on other coins. It's not weak it's smart.
I agree with this remark.
But I don't think I agree with you about competition.
There really is no substitute for working at something and pushing it till you have a practical solution. That seems to be what's going on here. I've been playing around with some "crypto note" stuff lately and I can confidently declare that I think they are garbage. I can't even get my Monero off an exchange because there's nowhere for it to go - no wallet that doesn't require you to be a Unix geek for example.
I lost a load of it getting it onto an exchange because I didn't have a "Payment ID". That stuff is going nowhere. The devs can't even get a GUI wallet together for a Mac after weeks of it being launched. The two coins that actually are "happening" right now in terms of development and dedication are:
[1] - Darkcoin
[2] - Jackpot coin
You may think that that second one is a joke - it isn't. I just included it because it's a dream to use and seems to have a Dev that is determined to come up with a complete product that is rock solid, Those two have those things in common and the cryptonote stuff just doesn't.
Cryptonote coins are still in their early stages. Darkcoin has 4 months of development lead. Then there is the fact that a QT wallet already existed for Darkcoin to use since it is basically a bitcoin clone. Anyone that doesn't think that cryptonote coins will not be serious contenders if not leaders in anonymity are seriously underestimating them. I'd bet that you have taken at least a small stake in them.
Hey, I hope Dark succeeds. To many people have invested more than they should have in it and it would be a shame to see them lose money. But the longer the main feature that has been hyped for months keeps getting pushed back the more people will lose faith in Darkcoin and it will continue to lose both value and support. Without the anonymity feature functioniong 100%, Darkcoin has nothing.