I think in the future, as speculation dies down, what we may see happening is that certain coins will emerge as being better suited for specific applications, and those are the ones that will ascertain real value. Here are a few niches that could be filled…
- Microtransactions
These would be transactions that are of very small value, and to give an arbitrary number I’ll say $1 or less. Right now, I don’t think very many microtransactions occur on the internet, mainly because up until the release of Bitcoin the fees for sending small amounts were relatively high. PayPal, for example, charges $0.30 + 2.9% per transaction. That would be almost a 33% fee for sending someone a dollar. (I think PayPal used to have a micropayment program with lower fees for small value transactions, but may have recently closed it.)
An example of an instance where one might want to send a microtransaction would be for tipping digital content. I’m hoping that in the future it becomes easy to “Like” content on the internet and at the same time send a small tip (a few cents maybe), so that websites and content creators aren’t so reliant on advertising revenue.
Peercoin does not seem well-aligned for this purpose if its value rises because of the 0.01 PPC transaction fee. Even at the moment, that would be around 4 cents. Other coins have lower fees.
- Moderate, Regular Transactions
By these I mean purchases that are not out of the ordinary. Buying groceries or eating out would be good examples. I’d quantify these purchases as regular and moderate. Bitcoin is probably already decently-suited for typical transactions, but Litecoin might be even better because of its speed. Peercoin does not seem great for these purposes if it rises much more in value.
- Large, Infrequent Transactions
In this case I am referring to larger exchanges that happen less frequently. For example, the purchase of a vehicle or a home. Again, Bitcoin may be best suitable for this purpose because the low transaction fee would be advantageous. Peercoin could possibly end up a viable option for these transactions as well.
- Non-Transactions (Saving)
I think this may be the purpose for which Peercoin shines. If it is truly is one of the more secure and sustainable coins, then it seems safe to hold Peercoin and convert to other coins for frequent spending purposes.
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Does any of this make sense? Did I overlook any pertinent transaction types? What do you think? I ignored the energy efficiency of Peercoin, which in reality might mean the lower transaction fees of other coins come at a greater cost, but that still needs to be proven.