Topic: what hinders bitcoin to become a mainstream currency? (Read 46186 times)

Bitcoin is simple cannot be hack we know that but the government cannot risk there money or currency if they are going to make bitcoin as a maincurrency we know that bitcoin is successful but at this time bitcoin is still in the process of test so we cannot use bitcoin maybe in the future also what i this hinders bitcoin the most is bitcoin it self we know that bitcoin is anonymous and many transaction can be illegally made everywhere .

how lucky you are embraced bitcoin in 2010 even though you didn't buy anything at that time, well from 2009-2017 which is 8 years i think bitcoin is too young to be a mainstream currency, however i agree with you  that lack of adoption it's a major factor why bitcoin can't be a mainstream currency this is due to people are just too lazy or ignorant to use bitcoin, but i believe 50 years from now bitcoin would be more accepted globally, the other reason is government we all know that the government will not adopt bitcoin since they can't control it.

If still waiting or there is an obstacle to turning bitcoin into a valuable currency.

Is there any other solution to speed it up?

In fact, the question is not so much "on chain" or "off chain" ; that's only a technical matter.  The question is: what use case can crypto in general, and bitcoin in particular, bring to the mainstream that they didn't already got solved ?  I don't see any mainstream use case for these things, because the "law abiding citizen" has already all he needs for his payments.  You can buy stuff on the internet already with credit cards.  You can send money where-ever you want with your bank.  *in practice* bitcoin or most crypto don't help in anything a mainstream, law-abiding citizen may want to do with money, because you first have to obtain crypto through an exchange (a kind of dangerous bank on the internet where you can lose your money, where you have to send money from your actual bank), then do your payments, and don't make a mistake because there's no recourse.  It is only in those cases where it is difficult, expensive, dangerous or impossible to do the payment with your bank directly, that you go through the hassle of paying an exchange with your bank, withdraw the coins, and then pay using them.  There ARE such cases, but it is not to pay for the rent, to buy a car, to buy your groceries, to book a trip, to pay for a cab, .... where paying with a credit card works perfectly, and in any case with a lot less hassle than with crypto.

In all the useful cases, you certainly *don't* want the thing you're using to be like a bank, with legal control, transparency etc... because in almost all those cases, your normal bank can do the thing too, and you get legal protection on top of it.

The only "general use case" I can think of crypto, is when the local fiat system will be disfunctional, but you can for sure count on the fact that in those cases, there will be a serious crack-down on crypto ; and most probably, it will be extremely dangerous to try to pay your groceries with crypto, unless on top of that, the rest of government control crumbles.  I wonder whether the internet will continue to function in such areas.


Bitcoin has never been anonymous, but has been considered like that by error.  If it is accepted and regulated by government, one has already a working system, that's my point.  I really don't see the use of "regulated crypto".  That's a contradiction, which has strictly no use case.

The only mainstream use case I see is "greater fool game".  If you hodl bitcoins or other crypto because "the price will increase because more people will buy it", then the last layer of users buying it will not see a price increase any more.  To what greater fools will they sell then ?

That is a really good point for me, I dont know how can anyone not agree with your opinion, that the crime doesnt make any influence on the bitcoin, because as you said every single currency may be used for the same purpose, like the gangs in US are using $ for paying gang members and to make settlements between criminal groups.

I think that the biggest roadblock for bitcoin currently, is that the price is way to volatile to see big part of the world using it as a another payment method.
It is because that the people who do not want to speculate, won't use bitcoin because it is simply not stable enough to use it as a store of value for them.

I am pro bitcoin, but bitcoin can not make it in the mainstream if other countries would not make it as one! well each countries represent their own unique Fiat that are rotating in and outside their country, and by exchange rates this have made possible, and bitcoin was not really a country but a community and many people would not use it because of the knowledge they truly known with it.

it cannot be hold or cannot be seen in reality, yes it has all the guts to be known all over the world but it takes more time for it to be popular enough, it need also more people that serves our witnesses that bitcoin is real and it may help us everyday.

You are forgetting one thing. You want to do everything on-chain forever. I expect that won't be the case with bitcoin.
Off-chain solution are only matter of time and will happen whether we like them or not.
Bitcoin will evolve, it won't be as anonymous as before, it will be quite transparent, but that is the price we shall pay for mass adoption.
We can't have private and anonymous coin which will be accepted and regulated by government. It won't happen.

Yes, but I doubt that the government will make a proper regulation that will benefit both people and the government. Instead, they will implement a law or policy that will surely let them control people using bitcoin and it will only benefit them.

the transaction issues, it maybe one of those reason, many people are being disappointed in the transaction of every payment that we are waiting, it takes hours or day , and in our online wallet, as time passes by, the transaction fee are getting big too.

I personally think a lot of it the news it gets. Outside of Bitcoin related media outlets the only news that hits the mainstream is negative news. You will see articles about someone getting scammed through the use of bitcoin. Or you will hear about a healthcare company getting hit with Crypto locker and they have to spend X amount of Bitcoins to get their data back.

Stuff like this happens anyways, its just unfortunate that it gets tied to Bitcoin then ignorant people assume that people are doing this BECAUSE of Bitcoin.

It would be great for positive news to hit the mainstream news and get some traction.

these coins do not have physical form that's why they cannot be used as mainstream currency. there are people who do not have access to the internet, these people certainly cannot use bitcoins. if bitcoins are accessible by the poor then there could be a chance of it becoming a mainstream money.

I would think that the money on my bank account doesn't exist in any other physical form than as a number in a bank computer (and hopefully, its backup).  I think that most people, since they use bank cards and credit cards, are used to "plastic money".
I simply think that for most people, bitcoin doesn't solve any problem that they can't already solve, in any more practical way, on the contrary.

I essentially only use bitcoin to buy services on the internet (like VPN and VPS) when I don't want it to be too easily traced to me (I have no illusions about the safety of that towards 3-letter offices, but I don't think I'm a problem for them).  But buying stuff on Amazon is easier with a credit card, and less stressful about making a mistake.

Let's turn it more in the right path. As people know that money is something that has a physical form that is, ofcourse, used as a medium of transactions or exchange. Bitcoin on the other hand has no concrete form that only exist in the cyberworld hence judge it without a proper knowledge aside from what they know and in connection with this is the infamous news about online scams which weakens the credebility of the things goin on in the online world.

Ignorance might be one of those major reasons together with its complexity at first glance which drive the older people (those who work especially in government offices) to stay away with this for they can't really underastand it without trying to.

Awareness together with proper knowledge and having a wise decision in regards with the risk it shoulders like the fiat money that we have today but only with a touch of a new and more modern way.

The main reason is the inflation since volatility is the cause why some traders are affraid to trade bitcoin. Crime doesn't belong since any for of money can he used negatively. Regarding the security, bitcoin is proven to secure its holders.

But you realize that in doing so, you create another problem.  There are a few whales out there that, if bitcoin were the world's money, would possess essentially several percent of the whole world economy, for the sole feat of being early adopters, the ultimate winners of the greater-fool game, when the whole world bought into it.  The Bill Gates of this world would be small players against some Roger Ver, MPex, and those twins, and, who knows, the owners of the original Satoshi keys if that was a group or if he was an employee.  You'd have the ultimate kings of finance there, like no banker's family ever dreamed of in its wildest wet dreams, and nothing to say about it.
On the other hand, whatever entity would be "mining" / "signing" or whatever making the block chain, would be the ultimate financial control institution.  Right now it is a few Chinese guys.  What will it be then ?  That's far worse than the current fiat system as matters of control, permission, seigniorage and wealth.

I think you've illustrated perfectly what "hinders bitcoin to become mainstream": there's no need for it.  Bitcoin doesn't offer to the mainstream, any marvellous possibility that they don't already have: be able to pay for things on the internet.  Most people buying stuff on the internet, have credit cards that allow them to.  Most people that could use bitcoin, have bank accounts (fiat bank accounts) that they use for receiving payments and sending payments.  Even though it costs some money to do so, this works very well for most people, and bitcoin doesn't solve a problem for them.
The fantastic possibility that bitcoin offers: "paying people on the internet", has already a widely used solution for most people, a solution they know, works well, and they are comfortable with: their bank and their credit card.  So why would they use bitcoin ?

The very fact that you say that this will make bitcoins very expensive, means that you are essentially (like most people) into it for "gains".  But what are gains in bitcoin ? They are: buying bitcoins cheap (and hence, early) to sell them expensively (and hence, late) to the last layer of adopters: a greater fool game.  Greater fool games come down when one runs out of greater fools.

Of course, there is the possibility of a global financial crisis that brings down the entire fiat system.  THEN, of course, people will not trust their banks and their credit cards any more.   Then bitcoin or other crypto will offer them something they can use, and that solves a problem for them.

But as it is now, there's not much in normal usage that can create a demand for bitcoin by most people.  If you tell them that they can stop using their bank, but now they have to go to an exchange on the internet, do a registration with AML/KYC rules, send their fiat money there, to get bitcoin, do finally their payment in bitcoin on the internet, what's the difference between a bank that is strictly under legal scrutiny, and an exchange that is somewhat more risky ? You have to use your bank, an exchange, and bitcoin, and pay fees on all of them, instead of just using your bank.  What good is that ?

There ARE applications of crypto: where fiat cannot go.  But most people don't go there either.

And yes, the greater fool game of "buying bitcoin now, when there is still low adoption, and sell it later, when there's full adoption" can still go on a long time.  But if you see that almost everybody already adopted bitcoin, why would you join ?  And who will pay for it then ?

Indeed the government is the main reason why bitcoin does not become a mainstream currency. Because the legality is the issue in some country where the government tend to block bitcoin on transaction because they know that there is a higher chance to develop bitcoin resulting  for choosing bitcoin instead of fiat or paper money where they can manage and control. We all know that bitcoin is not legal in terms that the government cannot manage people transaction. So in other they cannot have a part of money out of bitcoin or in other term corruption. So for me bitcoin being a mainstream currency is not so need by bitcoin for now because bitcoin is good as of now to its transaction and price changes. And for me its the best way to attract people on using it as it develop more to become a true mainstream currency.

Bitcoin being accepted by the mainstream would be pretty nice. That would mean that the price of Bitcoin will be pretty high because there would be more people are using it to make payments and that such.
If Bitcoin does get to the point where it's worth a bunch of money then I kind of have a feeling that Bitcoin's Blockchain will slow down because there won't be as much people wanting to spend to coins online or offline for fiat.

I thinks is luck of partnership bitcoin needs a lot of partnership in many company in order to become the mainstream currency if no store is accepting bitcoin no one will gonna use bitcoin in some cases but still bitcoin have anonymous transaction.