Topic: Videos of people trying to use Bitcoin for retail purchases (Read 294 times)

Well, that's what the video shows at 4:26; I'd say it's based on what the screen has shown on buyer's phone.
In a perfect world we wouldn't need to speculate on what happened.



Let's agree that we disagree about this point, OK?

Who say that is invalid address problem, it is just guess as ETFbitcoin explained in his post. Seller should be educated what to do and how to use crypto wallets, and I am pretty sure that such things do not happen in Japan. You can not blame only bad written software, biggest problem is in people which are unable to use even the simplest technology.


Not only lazy, they are accustomed that others are doing everything for them. In case of money transfer in bank you only need your ID, bank card and account you want to send money, the rest is on bank clerk who will do everything for you. To be your own bank is just beyond the minds of most people, and they should do what they do best, use credit cards and fiat.

We need to remember that during the early days, even precious metals like Gold were used as a currency and a trading unit rather than using it as a store of value. During these days, currencies were minted out of gold and silver rather than steel (well, probably a non-worthy metal). As days progressed by, the mining cost of gold increased along with rarity and price. Today they have been considered as a investment option rather than a currency.

Similarly bitcoin was created to be used as a currency similar to euros and USD. Most importantly, the primary factor against the usage of bitcoin as a currency is the extreme inflation rates governing them. A volatile material can not be effectively used in retail day to day transactions. Gold and other precious metals does have inflation rates but on a lower percentage when compared to btc. Even the mass adoption will rather increase the volatility in the market which might be a bad sign for its usage as a currency. But we people believe that once all the 21 million has been mined, the volatility might get reduced to an extent.

On top of that, a guy doesnt need to have knowledge on Bitcoin to use it i beleive. With the development of payment portals for cryptocurrencies, it has become easy for one to use btc similar to Visa payment process or other credit and debit card systems. On the other hand, the merchant needs to understand the basics of using cryptocurrencies. Just mentioning a label "Bitcoin Accepted Here!" alone doesnt help him in successfully receiving them as a payment. As ETFBitcoin said, coins present in bc1 addresses can be sent only to segwit supported wallets . The merchant either should integrate his wallet with an exchange and it must immediately convert btc to fiat/Tether to prevent his losses with inflation prices or must be well aware with cryptocurrency techs etc.

Lightning Network just increases the scalability and increases the speed of transactions. Each and every time the sender and receiver should pay to open a channel which might be a little cumbersome and would not go well for all.

About your video, it is indeed pretty simple. But did you watch the first video? Invalid address in the wallet? Maybe it's not the same wallet app, but that obviously is not well written. Do you think that the seller from your video would know what to do if such an error would occur?

That's what I am talking about. And that's why I don't agree with your statement that people should learn, should get more "knowledge to use it".


People are lazy. If your tech is not as convenient with the tech they're using, even if your tech is newer, why would they use it?
So no, it's us who have to make the things as easy as possible. And where is not possible, explain in short simple words what to do.

Thanks for this video mate!
I am not impressed that last time a person paid with bitcoins was a long time ago.
Does anyone know if there are luxury shops accepting Bitcoin in Beverly Hills?

I'm french and when I was in Paris, I called some shops of this street to know if they were still accepting bitcoin,  a lot of them didn't know what bitcoin is so ...
many people say they accept bitcoin at the time because it was like "new" and "hipster style" you know, but they don"t know how it works and how to use it.
In France we are not a crypto nation and not crypto friendly too, so that's not surprising.

What would be prefect wallet for dummies? Can it be simpler than it is today? Just check that video I posted and tell me what is complicated in that?

Buyer need wallet with some balance, seller need wallet and receiving address - buyer scan QR code and sends agreed amount of coins to seller. That's all you need to make a successful transaction. I think the process itself is very simplified, but if we want a simpler payment, then using fiat and credit cards is still the best option for the majority.

I don't agree. I think that the problem is that all the software related to Bitcoin needs a certain amount of knowledge. I didn't see yet a wallet made for total dummies, one that does most of the things you need and force you do the things right.
The fact that bitcoin.com is not really about Bitcoin, the fact that there are 1001 coins with Bitcoin in their name make the confusion get bigger.

Of course, when the seller starts with "what app should I install" and "which one is Bitcoin", it's pretty hard to find other outcome than ... something going wrong.
But "invalid address"? Really? Maybe somebody starts getting my point about the need of better software.

Bitcoin is for sure good choice for daily transaction, but problem is in people who still do not have enough knowledge to use it. We can see in OP posted video that the person who sells obviously has problems with wallet or something like that - therefore a sign We Accept Bitcoin Here does not make any sense.

I found video with completely opposite situation in Japan, payment process was fast and seller was perfectly acquainted how to receive the payment in BTC. This is just an example how it should look in practice, but this is Japan - person can buy luxury car there with BTC, without too much hassle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbNG66nQdqA

IMO the problem in that video is,
1. The merchant don't have much knowledge and barely use Bitcoin
2. The merchant use wallet that isn't intended to accept Bitcoin payment
3.  I never experience invalid address, so i guess it's the problem with the wallet (whether Coinomi generate invalid QR code or Ethos wallet don't support Bech32)

So even LN won't help at all with Bitcoin usage if those problem still persist

This one is in Paris, and it was a failure. It does highlight some of the current problems though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4wJu0YBG_o

My belief is that Bitcoin is a store of wealth, and is not suitable for everyday retail transactions. However, services such as the lightning network can allow Bitcoin to be used in a retail environment, but the Bitcoin itself is still a deposited asset, rather than a currency.

I'll update this thread with some more videos as I find them, or perhaps other members can post some interesting ones from around the world.