Bitcoin Transactions Hardly Grew in 2015 -- Still Used Less Than Linden Dollars

While consistently declining sales of PCs in 2015 strongly suggest virtual reality is over-hyped, let's look at 2015 data for another over-hyped technology, Bitcoin. Drawn directly from the source, here's how many transactions of the virtual currency were made every day last year:

So Bitcoin transactions have been fluctuating mainly between 100K and 200K transactions a day, with very little upgrowth, and definitely no hockey stick growth (the kind of curve beloved by Silicon Valley). To put this in perspective, there's still about 400,000 people who regularly spend Linden Dollars in Second Life, which means the virtual currency of a niche MMO is still more regularly used than what many in tech have predicted to be the future of money. (For like the last five years.) But like noted monetary policy analyst Danny Devito says:

"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money." With the corollary being, if no one needs your money, that's why they don't call it money. (Notwithstanding Silicon Valley's many yet-adamant enthusiasts.) Though to be sure (as we've said before), the blockchain tech beneath Bitcoin still has promise.

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Comments

[Carlos Loff]

Star Citizen and another MMOs will change this back

[D Crystal]

Hi Hamlet,

Have you ever considered accepting Bitcoin tips/donations from readers who find your SL coverage valuable?

You might find a number of your readers already use Bitcoin to tip creators directly for web content they've enjoyed. It's the only internet tipping method that makes sense to me, as it's as simple as adding a Bitcoin address to your blog (QR code).

Like many, I run a Bitcoin wallet app on my phone. And for content I enjoy, if they accept Bitcoin, then I just hold up my phone to the QR code (which is usually in the footer of the blog), and send an tip to their address and cha-ching!.

You could do it as a test for a year or so and see if helps change your mind on it's usefulness as an internet payment means. There's a list of good wallets listed at bitcoin.org for instance, "Breadwallet" is an awesome free wallet for IOS, while "Mycelium" is the most popular choice for Android.

Thanks for NWN's many years SL news coverage.