@polynya: Bitcoin block size wars proved gambling TAM beats utility by 1000x

In 2017, Bitcoiners fought tooth and nail over block size, with one camp claiming Bitcoin will die without drastically increase throughput, while the other saying Bitcoin will die by increasing system requirements and compromising decentralization. In November 2017, Bitcoin Cash got to nearly 50% the market cap of Bitcoin under this premise, with a substantial minority convinced Bitcoin Cash would flippen Bitcoin They were both wrong! 8 years later, Bitcoin despite its anemic block size is barely utilized, but it's become a multi-trillion dollar success story. Bitcoin Cash, meanwhile, is 0.5% the market cap of BTC, 1/100th of its peak The lesson: the TAM for gambling is thousands of times greater than whatever "blockchain utility" you can think of Re: "subsidy sustainability" - also doesn't matter, as by the time that happens, most BTC will be owned by ETF custodians, and they can effectively turn it into PoS or PoA or whatever they want. All that matters is belief and religious fervour in the ticker