...
I still think that for BTC to really succeed, it needs BOTH a much larger user base (people like us) as well as many more merchants who accept it as payment. We are not very close on either count to reaching "critical mass". There is only ONE merchant that I have used multiple times re buying with Bitcoin, and frankly, it would have been cheaper to write an old-fashioned check and mail it to them.
Improvements in blockchain technology might help (if the developers can agree and then get it done right)...
OROBTC, I've been thinking about this of late during this run up and my opinion is changing.
We all want more merchant adoption but what leads to more of it and more consumer interest? Seems to be in places where SHTF, right? As has been mentioned frequently, Average Joe in the west doesn't have too many incentives to use bitcoin. His cash / card work perfectly well and the fees / minor dramas with paypal or ebay etc are mostly just inconveniences. He also only really hears about bitcoin during pumps, dumps or crimes / hacks.
Yet we look around the world and see where interest in bitcoin is surging: countries with hyperinflation, bans on cash or crippling remittance fees. This suggests that bitcoin will catch on when it offers protection from something. From this I've been thinking that bitcoin will become a safe haven
before merchant / consumer adoption picks up. I've always considered bitcoin a crisis asset & hodling was always my plan but I assumed we needed Amazon or someone to accept it to reach critical mass. Maybe not?
