Revisiting Persistent Bitcoin Criticisms [pdf]

> #2 Bitcoin has failed as a means of payment.

This one kind of side-steps the actual problem, which is that Bitcoin needs to be a means of payment (at L1) to be sustainable once the block reward is decimated in a few halving cycles. Satoshi called the paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. The “electronic cash system” part is not just a cool trick it can do, it’s a load-bearing part of the design -- if people aren’t using it as cash and driving up transaction costs, the security of the network falls apart regardless of how valuable the coins are.

The big issue there is that just keeping the network alive becomes enormously expensive right? So if miners aren’t being incentivised by processing transactions (because they’re way too expensive mostly) then there will be fewer miners?

The base layer will settle large sums that people are willing to pay $50+ for. $50 is not much to pay for transfer and final settlement of $1M - it's a 0.0005% fee.

Can't help but think this is just an attempt to fuel the next hype cycle/pump and dump. Surely this time it will be different.

So bitcoin is officially a store of value now, not a currency?

Missing 90% of Bitcoin uses: Scams, Money laundering.