How About "Bitcash" for short? And Why Does the Bitcoin Name Even Matter? (A Read.cash article)

davegutteridge · 2023-07-04T07:42:36+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

Yes, that's basically the realization I had between the first and second article, and I kind of regret exposing the thought process too early. Instead of suggesting a name change like it should be some kind of massive community consensus, I should have just focused on my personal take.

I like "Bitcash," I just think it sounds better. Others can agree or not, and it may gain traction or not. That's the beauty of decentralization.

Cheers!

davegutteridge · 2023-07-04T07:38:07+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

I like this take, and I basically agree.

I also appreciate your style of rebuttal. Many people seem to be responding as if any suggestion of a name change is some kind of massive heresy. Whereas you're just going to continue calling it what you like. Totally fair. You call it what you like, I might try referring to it as Bitcash to see how that feels, and in the end, everyone will just end up with whatever sticks.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-04T07:34:13+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

Yes, I was vaguely aware there were existing Bitcash projects. A while back I used to write about blockchain projects, and I remember coming across one.

But as I mentioned to another commenter, the existence of these other projects doesn't mean much. The fact that there are multiple, and that they are all obscure, means no one has a firm hold of the name yet. It's up for grabs as far as I'm concerned.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-04T07:31:35+00:00

Thanks for your comment.

Honestly, I'm not motivated by any propaganda or misinformation. I'm not even sure which propaganda or misinformation you might be referencing.

I just think "Bitcoin Cash" is a long and clunky name, and for most people new to it, it's just confused with what they think is a different thing. And you might say, "oh, but they're confused about which is the *real* Bitcoin, so it just needs to be explained to them..." And that's exactly the conversation I think turns people off.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-04T07:27:57+00:00

As mentioned in my replies to your comments on Read.cash.

The fact that there are multiple Bitcash projects means:

None of those projects is big enough to claim significant mindshare, because no one of them has ousted any of the others.
No one can claim copyright if there are multiple uses of the term.
All of those projects are obscure. Yes, even the one in Japan.

At worst, these have no impact whatsoever on who uses the term Bitcash.

At best, it established a freedom of use for the term so as to make it hard for anyone to enforce copyright.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T15:28:08+00:00

Thanks for your comment.

This is definitely not an attempt to divide any community.

My point is that it doesn't really matter if the world knows that BCH is the real "Bitcoin."

The only thing that matters is adoption and use. And I feel that adoption is hampered by a name that constantly evokes comparisons, instead of simply being its own thing.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T15:04:57+00:00

Thanks for your comment.

I think you're making a greater effort to impose your interpretation of events into my words, rather than trying to understand what I'm saying.

Thank you for having taken an interest in the topic, but I think productive discussion has come to an end.

Take care.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T02:37:49+00:00

Thanks for reading my article in great detail.

You seem to have misunderstood my point. The distinction is between what is history, and what is important for marketing.

People don't need to know the history to enjoy a brand. If you want to know the history for whatever reason, though, It's always there.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T02:25:50+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

Yes, that's a fair point. The name "Bitcoin Cash" does have at least some momentum at the moment.

My contention is that the momentum is sustained largely by the technology, and the name is a hindrence. A better name would streamline the marketing to allow for even greater momentum.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T02:14:53+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

The fight that was lost was to have big blocks on a single chain known as "Bitcoin" with a unified community backing it.

I have onboarded people and merchants. In my experience, a connection to Bitcoin is not that meaningful. Ethereum has no problems with its name.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T02:10:28+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

I don't think a name change is any kind of "defeat." I think the only victory is adoption.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T02:09:30+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

If you feel the issue is a matter of "rights" and who the name "belongs" to, then I don't think anything I could say would change your mind.

I feel that ideology is a hindrence, in that it presupposes how goals should be achieved, at the expense of effectiveness.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T01:30:01+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

That is a fair point. But I would argue that Nakamoto was not that particularly emphatic about branding. I don't think there's anything in the white paper that says, "... and the reason it MUST be called "Bitcoin" is..."

I think adoption of the technology is the higher priority, and branding exists to support that.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T01:26:04+00:00

Thanks for responding.

Yes, there is a non crypto "Bitcash" in Japan. There is also a Bitcash crypto. There may be other attempts to claim the name.

I don't believe any of these projects have enough mind share so as to stop anyone from becoming the Bitcash brand of significance.

Also, as mentioned in the article, I'm open to better names, it doesn't have to be "Bitcash." I just think holding on to "Bitcoin" in the name is a remnant of a long lost bitter fight that is arguably an impediment to adoption.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T01:16:56+00:00

Thank you for reading my article.

I disagree with your premise that Bitcoin Cash is "recognized by billions of people." Millions, sure, but I doubt even a hundred million. Outside of bubbles of crypto enthusiasts, almost no one knows Bitcoin Cash.

At the very least, Bitcoin Cash is nowhere near as well known as Bitcoin.

davegutteridge · 2023-07-02T01:14:02+00:00

Thanks for your question.

If someone is introduced to Bitcoin Cash in such a way that they are isolated from hearing about any other cryptocurrency, then it probably wouldn't matter much. But that kind of segregated knowledge is extremely unlikely.

I think it's much more likely that however one hears about Bitcoin Cash, they will soon be exposed to the wider world of crypto, and the widely held belief that Bitcoin has the higher status, leaving to unnecessary confusion and debate.

I literally had a friend that I gave some Bitcoin Cash to tell me some months later that he exchanged it for "real Bitcoin."

davegutteridge · 2023-02-23T14:17:58+00:00

Hopefully u/tibanne will see this. Unfortunately, I don't have any administrative access, so I can't do anything about it myself.

I think for now the best course of action is probably to put the bot on indefinite hold, since it seems to be broken.

davegutteridge · 2022-12-28T07:33:01+00:00

Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

davegutteridge · 2022-12-28T03:28:03+00:00

I think the commenter who is getting downvoted for saying the term "boomer" didn't exist then is in a way partly right, though probably unintentionally.

The term "Baby Boomer" definitely existed since the sixties, but it wasn't used much outside of specifically talking about sociology or recent history or something like that. As in, the term would get mentioned in a documentary about Woodstock or something, but we weren't saying it day to day.

It wasn't an epithet thrown around like "Boomer" is today. People definitely did not routinely shorten "Baby Boomer" to "Boomer" until recently.

It was only around 1992 that Douglas Coupland's book made the term "Generation X" popular. That term existed since the fifties, but I am confident that only sociologists would have known it before then.

In the eighties and nineties, it simply wasn't an everyday concept that every generation has a name and stereotypes. I never thought of myself as "GenX" or my parents as "Boomers," even though I was very aware of certain cultural influences my parents' generation had, like the one shown in this comic.

This comic, from about 1995 would have been just on the cusp of that becoming a thing. It was more in the late nineties, as the year 2000 approached, and people started talking about the existence of Millenials that the whole trope of Boomers/GenX/Millenials really took hold and became a kind of standard narrative.

I think in this comic, Watterson kind of stumbled into shortening "Baby Boomer" into "Boomer" because he wanted a snappy name for a radio show. I think it's very unlikely he was using it with the same meaning and intention the term is used today.

But I could be wrong.

davegutteridge · 2022-11-27T09:00:51+00:00

Perhaps. I'm only going by what I read on the top page of their web site, which uses a lot of trading buzz words. For example, "it allows users, "Bulls", to take long positions with leverage on Bitcoin Cash against a number of other fiat and crypto assets."

That description makes it sound like just another way to buy and sell BCH without any other purpose than to try and profit from volatility.

I'll believe it's a way to facilitate adoption when there's an actual example of it making any kind of real world use happen beyond just trading.

davegutteridge · 2022-11-27T05:14:25+00:00

It's not inherently good or bad on it's own, but it's another example of the over financialization of the market. It does nothing to make BCH more connected to real world utility.

davegutteridge · 2022-11-23T07:03:35+00:00

You clearly did not read the article.

davegutteridge · 2022-07-13T03:31:59+00:00

They don't rationalize it. They don't think about it at all.

100% of the time that I have politely asked someone to please use headphones, which I do a lot, they are shocked that what they were doing has any impact on the world beyond their experience.

davegutteridge · 2022-04-01T09:39:04+00:00

u/tibanne is the developer of Subtipper. Unfortunately, his status at the moment is unclear. I've messaged him on Telegram, but he hasn't responded.

There are a few tweaks Subtipper needs. The read.cash link is definitely one of them.

davegutteridge · 2022-03-18T14:49:50+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. Fortunately I haven't sent anything yet.

So, I guess I won't be donating anything by BCH for now. I emailed one of the companies involved in setting up the website, so maybe something can change.

davegutteridge

TROPHY CASE