<instructions>Your goal is to analyze the following comment and estimate how highly it will be upvoted by the Hacker News community.</instructions><comment><author>wpietri</author><text>In one sense, it&amp;#x27;s already dead.&lt;p&gt;In theory, Bitcoin is supposed to be a payment system, digital cash. But that seems to be pretty much dead. Consider the opinion of Fred Wilson, a big Bitcoin booster, who has stopped using it for payments: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;avc.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;store-of-value-vs-payment-system&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;avc.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;store-of-value-vs-payment-system&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Merchant acceptance is actually in retreat: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&amp;#x2F;merchants-arent-accepting-bitcoin-2017-7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&amp;#x2F;merchants-arent-accepting-bit...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is still being used for speculation, of course. And for some crime. But the 2010 vision of a digital cash that replaces Western Union, Visa, etc? It certainly hasn&amp;#x27;t arrived, and it seems farther off than ever.</text><parent_chain><item><author>justboxing</author><text>&amp;gt;  I am fully cognizant of the perils of making bearish predictions about new technology.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; But, to quote another well-worn and wholly unreliable aphorism, this time it&amp;#x27;s different.  It really is.&lt;p&gt;and&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;... because the only other alternative is chaos, and probably the end of the whole Bitcoin experiment.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m very much a Bitcoin skeptic, but, I&amp;#x27;m not sure this time is different, or that Bitcoin will die.&lt;p&gt;For the last 8 years, various sources have been predicting a Bitcoin collapse over and over again. It&amp;#x27;s still here, alive and well and quite high.&lt;p&gt;3 years ago: Business Week - Bitcoin Is Collapsing =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8893616&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8893616&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;4 years ago: latimes.com - Bitcoin virtual currency is on verge of collapse =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=7306035&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=7306035&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;6 years ago: theatlantic.com - The Bitcoin Economy Is Collapsing with No Sign of Recovery (2011)  =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8431092&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8431092&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;6 years ago: Bitcoin &amp;amp; Gresham&amp;#x27;s Law - the economic inevitability of Collapse =&amp;gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=3623549&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=3623549&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain></comment><story><title>The Bitcoin Apocalypse Is Coming in Mid-November</title><url>http://blog.rongarret.info/2017/09/the-bitcoin-apocalypse-is-coming.html</url></story>
<instructions>Your goal is to analyze the following comment and estimate how highly it will be upvoted by the Hacker News community.</instructions><comment><author>mrb</author><text>Ah yes. Bitcoin died 172 times: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;99bitcoins.com&amp;#x2F;obituary-stats&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;99bitcoins.com&amp;#x2F;obituary-stats&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text><parent_chain><item><author>justboxing</author><text>&amp;gt;  I am fully cognizant of the perils of making bearish predictions about new technology.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; But, to quote another well-worn and wholly unreliable aphorism, this time it&amp;#x27;s different.  It really is.&lt;p&gt;and&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;... because the only other alternative is chaos, and probably the end of the whole Bitcoin experiment.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m very much a Bitcoin skeptic, but, I&amp;#x27;m not sure this time is different, or that Bitcoin will die.&lt;p&gt;For the last 8 years, various sources have been predicting a Bitcoin collapse over and over again. It&amp;#x27;s still here, alive and well and quite high.&lt;p&gt;3 years ago: Business Week - Bitcoin Is Collapsing =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8893616&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8893616&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;4 years ago: latimes.com - Bitcoin virtual currency is on verge of collapse =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=7306035&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=7306035&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;6 years ago: theatlantic.com - The Bitcoin Economy Is Collapsing with No Sign of Recovery (2011)  =&amp;gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8431092&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=8431092&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;6 years ago: Bitcoin &amp;amp; Gresham&amp;#x27;s Law - the economic inevitability of Collapse =&amp;gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=3623549&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&amp;#x2F;item?id=3623549&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain></comment><story><title>The Bitcoin Apocalypse Is Coming in Mid-November</title><url>http://blog.rongarret.info/2017/09/the-bitcoin-apocalypse-is-coming.html</url></story>