Few people use it for trade because few people accept it. Right now there are more people campaigning to have bitcoin not be used than there are campaigning to use it.
Perhaps that will change one day, perhaps it won't. Unless the price keeps going up greater than 20% per year perpetually(no exponential growth is perpetual) the electricity use will eventually drop. The people who are angry about the idea of it will eventually not care enough to be angry.
>* I figured a realistic max value for 1 BTC would be 500k-1M. So the big money has been made, imo.*
I agree that the big money has been made. If it did actually replace money it might be worth a few million. That's not going to happen anytime soon though, even if things went well for bitcoin it would take decades more to reach that point. It's a high risk investment with a possible yield of 10x to 100x in a timeframe that you could probably get a better return from something far more secure.
Sure you could make heaps buying and selling at just the right time, but trading on volatility can be done in any market, and usually results in people losing all their money to the inside traders.
Perhaps that will change one day, perhaps it won't. Unless the price keeps going up greater than 20% per year perpetually(no exponential growth is perpetual) the electricity use will eventually drop. The people who are angry about the idea of it will eventually not care enough to be angry.
>* I figured a realistic max value for 1 BTC would be 500k-1M. So the big money has been made, imo.*
I agree that the big money has been made. If it did actually replace money it might be worth a few million. That's not going to happen anytime soon though, even if things went well for bitcoin it would take decades more to reach that point. It's a high risk investment with a possible yield of 10x to 100x in a timeframe that you could probably get a better return from something far more secure.
Sure you could make heaps buying and selling at just the right time, but trading on volatility can be done in any market, and usually results in people losing all their money to the inside traders.