Bitcoin vs. The Banks "battle talks" have really quieted down in the last year.

Mike Hearn went silent. The former Googler turned Bitcoin developer sold his coins and signed on to work with the banks while publicly dissing Bitcoin as a "failed project". Meanwhile, the tentacles of the R3cev.com distributed ledger project have apparently grown, albeit underground and out of sight.

Since Hearn sold his coins, the Bitcoin price more than doubled. The project, "failed" or not, marches onward, oblivious to the heresy.

Whether banks would beat Bitcoin with blockchain is already a dying debate. It's difficult to imagine RC3ev not being successful on some level. They are the top team among a small field of entrants. There aren't many players worldwide who have the skill sets to be on such a team to begin with. It could take years for blockchain seeds to germinate into crops of blockchain experts.

Whatever they believe "blockchain" is, banks will inevitably be transporting fiat currencies. Maybe that's why the debate faded. Did everyone, including the banks, realize they are comparing apples and oranges?

Some short years ago I was the second hire of a mobile payment technology startup company. It was my job to architect a method by which people could pay with their mobile device at brick & mortar point-of-sale devices. When this was completed, I hit the road on the sales side to partner with big banks. This is where our startup hit a quagmire it never recovered from.

I learned that big banks won't do things on their own. Technology, especially the new, cutting edge variety, scares the hell out of them. In their defense, employees are too afraid to make decisions that could lead to losing their job. It's much safer for them to do nothing in most cases. In the rare event they do act, it will be with a project that others have endorsed before them so there can be no blame.

RC3ev satisfies this requirement well. By virtually all major banks getting on board, any potential for failure is widely distributed.

So, who are the blowhards in all of this? I don't believe it's RC3ev. They are capitalizing on fear and the necessary change that must come within the industry. It's not the banks, either. They're fighting for survival in a low interest rate world, chock full of workers worried their next job could be managing a fast food restaurant. Is it the Bitcoiner's who claim blockchain is a term only they can own? Jamie Dimon?

That tech startup of mine didn't completely die. Tiny chunks of it live on inside of Apple Pay. Apple. One of those "safe" companies a bank exec wouldn't risk getting fired over partnering with.

Could Bitcoin suffer a similar fate? Current bag holders end up with nothing while bits and pieces of it living on inside of RC3ev?

Time will tell, but I wouldn't bank on it.