Classic error in understanding nominal price vs. total market cap. If ETH went up to $20k, it would be worth $2 trillion, which is 10x the current value of Bitcoin.  Simple math... there's many more ETH coins compared to BTC.

More importantly, we are getting price divergence with the other cryptos. Ripple moving down, Ethereum moving up, while Bitcoin is moving sideways. Investors are starting to distinguish between coin specifics.

Agreed... we will definitely see lower prices at some point in 2018.

But does that mean the sky is falling and Bitcoin is going to enter a secular bear market??  Not anytime soon. That would take a genuine reversal of the entire notion of cryptos. And there is no sign of that happening anytime soon.

You definitely need to be willing to do heavy research into projects before buying. Read white papers from cover-to-cover, research the team, and look for confirming indicators (like VC backing). If you aren't willing to do that kind of homework (I'm talking many hours per ICO) then you are better off sticking to the big, known coins.

It's just like any other currency, stock, or commodity: you want to buy into weakness and sell into strength. Of course, easier said than done.  And always keep some cash around to take advantage of opportunities.

Just because it doesn't share all of the characteristics of an "ideal" crypto, doesn't mean it's not in the same family of digital currencies. In fact, what matters is if the predominant public opinion considers it a crypto. Then, it certainly has the potential to steal market share from ETH, BTC, or any other coin.

Price-wise, it's a decent time to buy in. We've had our first major correction since passing $10,000.

But why not diversify a bit? Put 1/3 into BTC. Then put 1/3 into an alternate major coin like ETH or LiteCoin. Finally, put 1/3 into several up-and-coming coins. This way, you'll be broadly exposed in crypto generally.  And you won't be subject to a single event on a particular coin.

Well, now that ETH has gone up by 2X in just the last month, it's starting to look more frothy. Still has room to run, IMO... but the risks of a correction are growing.

Yes, Bitcoin is not good for buying small things. But that's not because the price fluctuates. It's because the entire structure of the crypto (in it's current form) is not scalable. The current transaction fee for BTC is $25... that's absurd for buying anything less than about $1000. And that high transaction fee is a direct result of the network being overloaded.

Maybe that's because SegWit and Lightning Network are just bandaids to the problem. For Bitcoin to be a true currency, it needs a lot more than just going from 1 MB block size to 1.8 MB.  Maybe they just see that altcoins are handling the problem more robustly...

Avoiding using BTC is not a 'solution'. That so many posters are suggesting it bodes poorly for Bitcoin. Segwit or not, if the crypto can't handle the volume without a $26 transaction fee (which is the current average), it has lost it's original purpose.

For comparison, the average transaction fee for VISA or MasterCard is $2.

... and sell your own holdings. The un-informed are always last to the party.  Just sayin'

Yup, artful bodger doesn't know what they are talking about. US Taxes also don't permit wash sales, which are selling at the end of the year and then buying back within 30 days. And even if they did, why would they sell to lock in gains??

It will also mean all the micro / dust transactions are going to leave, if they haven't already. Fees have averaged $30 to $50 this month... that's insane. If this continues, Bitcoin will cease to be a payment vehicle for the average person. It will only be for investors and people doing large transactions. Ironic, since it was all those smaller transactions that helped Bitcoin become established to begin with.

Accepting Bitcoin also means restaurant owners are subjecting themselves to volatility risk. On this most recent plunge Bitcoin dropped some  33% in just a week. It then proceeded to rebound 23% over the next 5 days. That's some wild swings.

A restaurant owner that accepted Bitcoin one evening could wake up to find his earnings worth a big chunk less (or more) the next morning. He / she would have to be constantly converting Bitcoin to <insert local currency> to avoid volatility risk. They would find themselves becoming crypto trader... which isn't the business are in. Why do all this when they can just keep accepting cash and cards??

Not necessarily. It could be that restaurant owners are ignorant, but there are legitimate economic reasons to not accept Bitcoin. One is simply the cost of transactions. The average cost in November was around $8 USD.  So if a customer buys a $40 meal, that's 5%. Who pays for that 5%?  Does the restaurant owner eat it?  Do you bill the customer?

Okay, so even if you solve that problem, what happens when a month like December rolls around? Transaction fees have averaged $30! (See https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bitcoin-transactionfees.html).  No restaurant in their right mind would tack on $30 to their meal cost, just to accept another payment form.

And now, we resume our regularly scheduled uptrend... already in progress.   

Ah... sweet silence.  Another scammer leaves, tail between the legs.

The way to answer this question is to look at other currencies (since cryptos are essentially a form of currency). A medium-large currency is the British Pound.  It's not a monster like the Yen, Euro, Yuan, or Dollar. But it's not small either.

The current money supply of the British Pound is roughly $2 trillion. Given that, could cryptos reach $1 trillion market cap? Almost certainly. But can it overtake stocks? That's like asking if the British Pound can "overtake stocks". Any trader will tell you that is comparing apples to oranges. Instead, what would happen is that cryptos would become an accepted store of value and transaction media for buying stocks.

Fees are a fixed, dead-weight loss. It may not seem like a lot, but if you convert them into a reduction in odds or payout, it really adds up. High fees also encourage larger, single transactions (as do slow transaction times).  Neither are good trends.