Another well-written post, @attalis. I share your perspective on bitcoin cash being a copy-cat basically, only changing a few things from the original bitcoin, like many other altcoins do.
If investing in other than BTC, why not invest in any of those instead of a clone...
Will it survive long-term? Probably. Will it overtake BTC? Probably not.
The only major competitive cryptocurrency of any kind that has a chance to overtake BTC as the top contender, I believe, will be a platform-based crypto filling in the gaps that still exist.
Another important factor you brought up:
The mining power is centralized and is therefore very susceptible to a 51% attack.
If you're going to release a fork or new blockchain, at least spread the wealth out. Allow other miners to get on board. Napoleon complex much? :)
Thanks Tunnelrat, appreciate the comment. Guess we are on the same page on this one. Which alts are you liking at the minute?
Still holding my UNO of course. The altcoins that interest me most right now are platform based actually. I can see them having a strong future with mass adoption of blockchain tech applies. As we get blockchain-based social media, e-commerce and the likes built with DAPPs or otherwise.
Just looking into SCL, which is still in ICO, it's the Social coin for Nexus platform I just read about on this post by @sanees today. Seems to be designed to cater to the Facebook crowd.
Library (LBC) also looks like a good concept in the early stages, but development and UI seem a little slow. That is a Proof of Storage model for sharing media.
Another platform is NXT, while a lot like ETH, the proof of stake requires a significant amount of NXT to forge a block; upwards of 1,000. It is a Java-based wallet.
I am still holding a little Lisk (LSK) and looking forward to EOS, being a @dan project.
Trouble with most altcoins is that they are currencies, which will most likely never compete with bitcoin. Introduce a platform that is scalable while distributing wealth on an equal (or fair play) basis that third-world users can profit from and you have something.
What do you think? I'm sure there are plenty more out there like NEO that I haven't looked into yet, hard to keep track. :)