What does a dead bitcoin look like?

We're still in the terminally slow and boring correction of the impulse from last December and it doesn't look like its finished. Meaning, as long as no impulse up can be counted from a bottom (not even a small one), more downside must be expected.

Images of a dead bitcoin come to mind.

And yes, recently at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where they usually state the technology is interesting but the currency is useless (as if you can separate them), some panellist said bitcoin will go to zero (https://www.ccn.com/bottom-at-3k-davos-talks-says-bitcoin-price-will-tank-to-zero/).

Now, it's one thing to declare bitcoin dead, but another saying it will go to zero. Must bitcoin go to zero to die? Which prompts the question: what does a dead bitcoin look like?

Bitcoin has been declared dead so many times it has become quite funny by now. Especially since the king of crypto has the habit of rising from death more often and more energetically than Lazarus or John Snow have ever done.

Nonetheless it seems a valid question to ask what a dead bitcoin would look like? So, at least when it happens we will know, as the decentralized digital phenomenon does not breathe like a living creature. Will it really have no value anymore? Will nobody be using it? Will the price go down to zero? Probably not since, most likely, there will remain a hard core of believers. However, it is possible that bitcoin will lose so much popularity that it becomes esoteric and turns into a hobby for the eccentric few; like collecting stamps or communist art.

There can be several different possible paths for bitcoin to enter obscurity. A more potent competitor might arrive and outcompete bitcoin in the same way as Google's search algorithm outcompeted all others. For the moment there doesn't seem to be anything like that on the horizon. Another possibility is that bitcoin forks itself into oblivion like the world boxing association at one point, due to controversy, divided itself into five separate versions, each with their own champions. With the result that nobody knew or cared anymore who is the real world champion. The fact that we've had many forks already, with bitcoin core remaining firmly in the lead, does not exclude the possibility of another split; this time more divisive than the previous ones. It remains a threat.

In order to know when bitcoin is dead, maybe we should first know when it is alive. Thankfully there are some parameters we can look at: network usage, the fullness of blocks, the total amount that is transferred, mining activity, hashrate, the number of wallets, the number of people and organizations accepting bitcoin, and, of course, price. When looking at price alone, yes, you may conclude bitcoin resembles a wounded animal bleeding dry while laying helplessly on a stinking garbage belt, waiting for a predator to deliver the coup de grâce to end its pitiful existence. But price is only one parameter of many. If we look at the network as a whole, bitcoin is very alive, its popularity and usage is rising in almost a straight line and actually, it has never been dead, near dead, sick or injured. There is nothing flatlining with the crypto king except price. The Lightning Network is moving forward faster than expected and more money is being transferred via the LN. It's just that the price hasn't understood it needs to move up with all this good news, yet.