Bitcoin Daily: Bitcoin Alternatives Drive Trillion-Dollar Predictions

A number of bitcoin rivals, such as Stellar, on their way to making a dent in the cryptocurrency’s dominance.

Though the marquee name in crypto might be bitcoin, as a famous baseball player once noted (and as we paraphrase), something might be gaining on that cryptocurrency.

We’re speaking, of course, about those digital offerings decidedly not bitcoin, the ones that haven’t been around for nine years, the ones that are notching stellar gains right out of their respective trading gates.

Financial publications, such as Fortune, noted that there are a number of bitcoin rivals on their way to making a dent in the 800-pound gorilla’s dominance. Consider the fact that the marquee name in cryptos has recently seen its market share slip to 36 percent from 56 percent last month.

Names previously off the radar and new to the trading game, such as Stellar, have doubled in their first few trading days (and that currency is now in sixth place, as measured by market cap). Along the way, the total market cap of digital currencies has more than doubled in roughly a month to about $700 billion.

Some analysts see much more ground to cover. As noted in Barron’s, analyst Mitch Steves of RBC Markets predicts that the crypto-asset market will be worth as much as $10 trillion.

Excitement begat excitement, then, on Wednesday, when the analyst said that he envisioned a “world computer” and remittance system, truly decentralized, where “successful tokens drive more users, more miners and higher network value,” as Barron’s reported.

Separately … to curb the (literal) power drain of bitcoin … curb the suppliers?

So seems the reasoning of the People’s Bank of China, where, as Bloomberg reports, a plan is taking shape to investigate energy consumption tied to the production of bitcoin. There may be curbs enforced by regulators, such as the National Development and Reform Commission.

The power consumed in China that is part and parcel of bitcoin production and transaction monitoring is significant, enough to power 3.4 million homes in the United States, said the newswire, citing the Digiconomist Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index.

And in a nod to security or lack thereof in crypto, TechCrunch reports that Opera has debuted the 50th version of its desktop browser, which in turn ensures that mining currencies through the browser is a no-go. Opera, it is worth noting, also has a currency converter that encompasses bitcoin, bitcoin cash and Litecoin, among others.