We have no bitinstant debit card in the news. A preloadable debit card is bitcoin's only hope for any introduction into mainstream usage, while too many members of this forum make a big deal over something as silly as bitcoin taxi payments or vending machines.
Bitcoin price is inflated by irrational, Atlas-esque bulls who think bitcoin will succeed by proselytizing its merits to the masses. The notion that bitcoin will grow by getting our collective relatives' small businesses to all accept bitcoin is as delusional as canvassing for a presidential 3rd party.
We need to piggyback bitcoin's decentralized characteristics onto the popularity of a mainstream currency, thus acting as a medium between "real" currencies, so to speak. Only once this niche role is established can bitcoin hope to make the next leap as a self supporting currency. The Bitcoin Foundation and the pre-loadable debit card have been the only significant bitcoin news as of late, the rest is all noise.
How will another bitcoin-accepting small business with ZERO bitcoin transactions help bitcoin?
How will ASIC's that do nothing but further secure an already impenetrable network help bitcoin?
How will planting proselytizing media stories that reach only libertarians and techies help bitcoin?
Meh, I can remember when the web was a bunch of text with no images. Bitcoin is (in my opinion) pretty much inevitable now. There may be some false starts and some missteps but I don't think there's much need for anyone to be running around pushing things, just take advantages of opportunities as they occur and it will grow by itself. If it needed to be forced, it *deserves* to fail.
I'm not saying that anything should be forced, only that those innovative energies of the bitcoin community should be focused on that which is most essential. Promoting bitcoin in its present form as a currency is, in my opinion, a complete waste of time. If we intend to grow the bitcoin economy, we need greater interactivity with the real economy, with innovations that promote seamless osmosis with
those real currencies. Trying to defy and ignore the real economy with bitcoin-as-currency innovations like in-person phone payments is doomed to fail until there is a sufficient base of support and usage --- a foundation that can only be be brought about by promoting
bitcoin as a protocol, as a tool for the dollar, euro, etc.
Two example innovations I can think of that fit this bill would be:
1. Pre-loadable debit card that holds value in bitcoins until sale is made, at which point an instant dollar/euro conversion is made.
2. Micropayment protocol that enables users to tip content with bitcoins in a format easier than copy-paste lengthy alphanumeric address.
I've grown quite fond of settling small everyday stuff (like when someone picked something up for me (or the other way around)) in bitcoin. Bitcoin already works for me in that regard and it's really useful. I don't see why this use case alone wouldn't be able to make bitcoin big at all, it just takes time. Just today I had 2 "bitcoin newbies" (they actually had fully synced bitcoin clients on their laptops with 0 transactions) buy bitcoins from me. So the userbase
is growing and these dudes didn't even seem to me like they needed the stuff for silkroad. Neither were they hardcore libertarians or anti-establishment in any way, they just genuinely thought bitcoin was a cool idea and maybe they should get some.
Slowly moving towards critical mass without any hot-shot corporation pulling a humongeous biggie seems to be a viable path to me. Protecting ourselves well along the way against the various attacks and problems that will undoubtedly occur we should be fine in the end.
I'm still silently hoping for some kind of a big kaboom, but it's not necessary in my mind.
Falkvinges assumption of it taking 10 years from inception to widespread use might turn out to be correct.Why do you insist on having to interface with that shoddy payment system credit cards resemble? The people behind that are our competition.
Why do you insist on having to interface with that shoddy debt-based fiat currency? The people behind that are our competition.
I don't wanna be a tool for the Dollar!Bitcoin is real money, not the Dollar.I'm not talking about "defying and ignoring the real economy", I'm talking about that economy using real money.
