Every currency in the world is being used for illegal things and I've never heard of anyone who turned away from money just because it's being used for illegal transactions.
Alas! Alas! The world is already changed. In Italy for example you can be stopped on the street and your wallet checked. If you get more then allowed amount of cash in there you are in deep shit. This nice feature coming soon to other "free" countries of the EU. 
Topic: What is holding Bitcoin back? - page 2. (Read 2636 times)
Merchant adoption and volatility. There's just no real reason for most people to use bitcoin yet unfortunately. I fear it may always be a niche thing. Hope I'm wrong, though.
volatility can be negated only with adoption, great adoption, so the issue is only one, adoption, and always will be unless 1B(or around that) people start use bitcoin
bitcoin can also work as a niche thing imho, i don't see the problem with that, maybe not forever because miners need an incentive in the future to keep mining with a smaller reward...
Imo. Volatility and adoption are not the current issues of concern.
Security is.
If we try to get wider adoption into the joe average population before we solve the cold/warm wallets etc issues of trying to keep slightly safe then it will end bad once many people loose their Btc that they were supposed to keep safe themselves with their insufficient computer skills. Getting wide adoption too early before the security issues are solves could destroy bitcoin. We have seen other good inventions that dies forever because they were out too early.
Volatility is only really an issue as adoption increases and Btc is used for everyday purposes by everyday people. Then we need more stability. Right now investors and early adopters don't mind some volatility to make money off of it.
So until security issues are solved, adoption and volatility are not really pressing issues.
you rised a good point, security is what is holding back adoption, which is what is holding back bitcoin, from skyrocketing
security however is not only a bitcoin fault, but it's primarely a "average users" fault, if we repeat to them that they cannot store bitcoin online because it is dangerous but they still ignore use, this is only their fault, if they cannot keep they computer clean than it is again their fault
there should be a good guide about this, on the biitcoin.org, that tell newbie how to secure 100% their bitcoin, because apparently they cannot get it
I would say it is the early adopters that are at an advantage and the ones who don't want to know about it is holding it back. Because lets face it, people don't like change because that means learning something new and the human species are inherently lazy when you put those two factors together. Just like when mom woke you up for school(to go to learn something new). "Ah, mum. Do I have too?!" ring a bell? 
I think most of the rich and wealthy people are holding bitcoin back even some part of the bitcoin users, the facts are if part of the rich and wealthy did fear bitcoin because is making new people rich they feel like oh i dont want to use my money to make others rich, most rich and wealthy are selfish when it comes to richness and if some of the bitcoin users wont be selling at the current price things could be a lot better.
Bitcoin is not used in the commercial industry. Because many people fear it's unpredictable value, 1 day it might go up, and one day it might drop to less than $100. If more places even banks start to incorporate bitcoin or at least the blockchain technology, bitcoin will have a chance to rise again. Imagine if we can use btc to watch movies, order pizzas and pay our credit card bills. It's still not a proven currency in everyone's mind that's why, it needs to take market acceptance just like actual currencies to achieve that trust in people. People is the most important factor, once you please the people, and they invest, bitcoin will increase in value and decrease the inflation.
Unpredictable value is a double edge sword, since it makes some people sceptical and lures other into speculation investment.
And why would you want to use bitcoin to pay for CC bills; it would make much more sense to just use bitcoin instead of CC; then you would have people's attention, or atleast from the ones
that can pay their goods straight up, without the need to use credit line to make a purchase..
cheers
I think one of the biggest thing that is holding back bitcoin is its regulation
because if a website wallet got hack, its very hard to retrieve it
because if a website wallet got hack, its very hard to retrieve it
Bitcoin is not used in the commercial industry. Because many people fear it's unpredictable value, 1 day it might go up, and one day it might drop to less than $100. If more places even banks start to incorporate bitcoin or at least the blockchain technology, bitcoin will have a chance to rise again. Imagine if we can use btc to watch movies, order pizzas and pay our credit card bills. It's still not a proven currency in everyone's mind that's why, it needs to take market acceptance just like actual currencies to achieve that trust in people. People is the most important factor, once you please the people, and they invest, bitcoin will increase in value and decrease the inflation.
i totally agree.this price instability is doing the most harm to bitcoin, as it prevents new people and businesses consider accepting bitcoin. anybody who searches bitcoin price and looks at a price history chart he can see a bad history. falling down from $1200 to $200 is something that is going to make them think twice before using bitcoin.
i guess if we can continue this slow price growth over long time, then it can attract more services to start accepting bitcoin.
Bitcoin is not used in the commercial industry. Because many people fear it's unpredictable value, 1 day it might go up, and one day it might drop to less than $100. If more places even banks start to incorporate bitcoin or at least the blockchain technology, bitcoin will have a chance to rise again. Imagine if we can use btc to watch movies, order pizzas and pay our credit card bills. It's still not a proven currency in everyone's mind that's why, it needs to take market acceptance just like actual currencies to achieve that trust in people. People is the most important factor, once you please the people, and they invest, bitcoin will increase in value and decrease the inflation.
bitcoin can also work as a niche thing imho, i don't see the problem with that, maybe not forever because miners need an incentive in the future to keep mining with a smaller reward...
Bitcoin is too great an idea to have just niche applications. It is still very young, but has got the imagination of millions of people. If you compare it with technologies like telephones or internet, adoption has been much faster. I am sure you will see adoption increase quickly with time.
Merchant adoption and volatility. There's just no real reason for most people to use bitcoin yet unfortunately. I fear it may always be a niche thing. Hope I'm wrong, though.
volatility can be negated only with adoption, great adoption, so the issue is only one, adoption, and always will be unless 1B(or around that) people start use bitcoin
bitcoin can also work as a niche thing imho, i don't see the problem with that, maybe not forever because miners need an incentive in the future to keep mining with a smaller reward...
Imo. Volatility and adoption are not the current issues of concern.
Security is.
If we try to get wider adoption into the joe average population before we solve the cold/warm wallets etc issues of trying to keep slightly safe then it will end bad once many people loose their Btc that they were supposed to keep safe themselves with their insufficient computer skills. Getting wide adoption too early before the security issues are solves could destroy bitcoin. We have seen other good inventions that dies forever because they were out too early.
Volatility is only really an issue as adoption increases and Btc is used for everyday purposes by everyday people. Then we need more stability. Right now investors and early adopters don't mind some volatility to make money off of it.
So until security issues are solved, adoption and volatility are not really pressing issues.
Merchant adoption and volatility. There's just no real reason for most people to use bitcoin yet unfortunately. I fear it may always be a niche thing. Hope I'm wrong, though.
volatility can be negated only with adoption, great adoption, so the issue is only one, adoption, and always will be unless 1B(or around that) people start use bitcoin
bitcoin can also work as a niche thing imho, i don't see the problem with that, maybe not forever because miners need an incentive in the future to keep mining with a smaller reward...
Merchant adoption and volatility is holding bitcoin back. There's just no real reason for most people to use bitcoin yet unfortunately. I fear it may always be a niche thing. Hope I'm wrong, though.
Another problem is the unstable price.
This is exactly what I was thinking. The price fluctuates way too much for it to be widely adopted. But interestingly enough, wide adoption would cause a price spike, so I guess you just can't win.
We can win with a steady and slow price increase. That also gives time to improve security and features that appeal to the wider public.
Volatility can also make you win tons of money, which is an attractive "feature" at least during the development process. Of course, this will only attract people that enjoy risk, which is why, still to this day, the rest of Bitcoin users are still somewhat tech-crypto-mathhead related people.
In other words, whales, day traders and day trader wannabes. That's not attractive for most people. At least if they want to store their money there for some amount of time and not use it instantly and get rid of it.
Another problem is the unstable price.
This is exactly what I was thinking. The price fluctuates way too much for it to be widely adopted. But interestingly enough, wide adoption would cause a price spike, so I guess you just can't win.
Volatility can also make you win tons of money, which is an attractive "feature" at least during the development process. Of course, this will only attract people that enjoy risk, which is why, still to this day, the rest of Bitcoin users are still somewhat tech-crypto-mathhead related people.
Another problem is the unstable price.
This is exactly what I was thinking. The price fluctuates way too much for it to be widely adopted. But interestingly enough, wide adoption would cause a price spike, so I guess you just can't win.
Although a lot of people are now accustomed to using credit cards. There are people (young and old) who are so used to money being a physical entity that they just can't seem to grasp the idea of currency being an entirely digital entity.
A few more years and they will get used to it though.
A few more years and they will get used to it though.
There is frankly no reason for us/them to spread the word much wider.
As the word get's spread to less IT savy people the issues with cold/warm storage, paper wallets etc.. become overwhelmingly huge and will only damage the whole endeavor more than help it.
We need security innovations to take place before it can and should get much wider adoption in the general population.
So - I can certainly understand if the man on the street would have an easier time swallowing bitcoin if there was not the added confusion and issue of all these other currencies.
The man on the street barely knows about bitcoin. Altcoins get very little attention compared to it. So I don't see the money in alts would otherwise go to bitcoins if they didn't exist. For now it's mostly just people diversifying their portfolio. And as others said altcoins can help drive innovation too.
Although a lot of people are now accustomed to using credit cards. There are people (young and old) who are so used to money being a physical entity that they just can't seem to grasp the idea of currency being an entirely digital entity.
A few more years and they will get used to it though.
A few more years and they will get used to it though.
1. the problem with adoption is that all the geeks that want to tell their friends about it, fail.
this is because their friends dont need to know what sha256 is, they dont need to know what petahash is. they dont care about mining or exchanges..
this is because their friends dont need to know what sha256 is, they dont need to know what petahash is. they dont care about mining or exchanges..
*lol* Your'e right on that point. It's so hard to explain bitcoin and i often end up explaining things that are too hard to understand. Simply because there is no good way to avoid this since the questions lead to that direction at one point in the conversation.
My grandmother and the neighbors next door would not use botcoin even if it was accepted everywhere. As long as dollars is also accepted they will not bother with bitcoin because of the perceived nerdiness needed to keep them secure. No normal person is likely to transfer wealth into a currency that they alone are supposed to find ways to keep safe on their own computers. That is just far too risky a proposition for most people. And the solution to that issue will be when the real breakthrough of bitcoin can happen.
Which is, of course, one of the reasons bitcoin exists - so you can be your own bank.
I don't know what you mean by "holding bitcoin back". Bitcoin is doing fine. 6 years strong.
Holding it back from taking over from FIAT or at least being a serious alternative. We are really far far far from this.
So far Bitcoin is a geek currency. Let's be honest. If we want bitcoin to really take off it of course needs to break into the general population too.
yes but by your logic the way to achieve adoption would be to create entities that keep your bitcoin safe (otherwise known as banks). And once you have organized central concentration of bitcoin (i.e., the banks hold your private keys), you can use fractional reserve to increase the money supply.
So all you've really done is transferred monetary control from one entity (a federal reserve of some kind) to these bitcoin banks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2wnspl/psa_youre_using_coinbase_circle_etc_wrong/
The first bitcoin bank to offer loans will be a milestone.
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