Serious question; why do you think Bitcoin will become mainstream?

>>2168519

2/3
The issue is that Amazon actually had great advantages in that it turned out to be cheap and convenient--more so than your average shop in the middle of town. People can browse loads of stuff that would require numerous shops whilst sitting in their underwear and have it delivered to work. Great. Online dating broached the gap of having to actually go to bars regularly, spending money and building up the courage to try and talk to someone who is probably taken and who may have nothing in common with you. Great.

But what about Bitcoin?

Whenever I explain it to people they are very clearly intimidated by its complexity, and if people can’t get an understanding of something, they are very reluctant to put their hard-earned money into it. With a bank that does the job, they ask why would they go from something that they understand to something they can’t get their head round?

Also, the lack of a central authority simply doesn’t play well with people who are used to having a higher institution, such as their bank, taking responsibility for their financial security. People are used to having somebody they can call to sort out any issues and having somebody with whom the buck stops. They are used to being able to go to their branch and complain to the manager, show them a statement, and demand that the issues of their missing funds is sorted out. To these people, Bitcoins are just floating around in god-knows-where and if they fall through a gap that’s it.

>>2168531

3/3
Related to the last point, a number of wallets are insured and do keep records in cold storage, but when I tell people that if Bitcoins are lost or stolen, that’s it; they’re gone, most people say there’s no way they’d risk putting funds in Bitcoin.

When you add to that the fact that the network is starting to get very slow (though that will hopefully get sorted out shortly) and that there is an up-front charge that people aren’t used to paying (it’s generally included in prices, so people assume there is no charge for using their card), it starts to put people off even more.

Lastly, most people don’t care about the democratisation of money; they don’t understand what a fiat currency is; they don’t understand how debt and money are created; they don’t understand the effects printing money has on its value; they don’t have a distrust of authority or central banks. They are wary of the scary internet with all those hackers around and they don’t give a fuck that Pajeet in some village can transact without a bank account or some Venezuelan can buy bread with it.

To sum up, Amazon and online dating filled niches or improved what was already available; what niches does Bitcoin fill and what does it do better than cash or card that you average guy will appreciate enough to ditch regular banking? How do these advantages overcome the disadvantages enough that Joe Public will even bother listening to you, let alone adopting it?

(Apologies for the spacing, I’m posting on my phone at work.)

Not necessarily Bitcoin and perhaps not Ethereum either, but cryptocurrency in general? Yes. Trust in institutions can only decrease as information increases, as governments do pretty shady stuff in general and the banking system is a house of cards.

There is an age problem in the cryptocurrency space. Adopters are too young and don't understand acceptance takes time. The Internet became available to the masses in 1993 but it took until 2007 to take off for the average person, and even to this day most people stick to social media. Cryptocurrency does not need any kind of specific innovation to suddenly become mainstream. It is already so incredibly innovative the average person has a hard time wrapping their head around it. Adoption will come with time, and it will take years still.

Kind of depends on if BTC remains the dominant crypto pairing or if ETH ever supplants it. Bitcoin by itself isn't worth much (barring what you can sell it for on a fiat gate). It's values lies in a whole bunch of high growth assets being denominated in satoshis. It's like the price of oil being mostly denominated in dollars or if you needed a special currency called shekels which were only good for buying stocks and bonds but weren't accepted to buy a loaf of bread.

>>2168519
You fucking idiot.

People wont be the reason why bitcoin will go mainstream, businesses will.

Think of bitcoin as more of a raw material that needs to processed rather than just a product itself.

>>2168663
It's clear from my posts that when I use the term 'mainstream' I am referring to adoption by the general public. Please look at the context before posting. Thank you.

>>2168519
Microsoft went mainstream even though it's shitty software. Whether something is better or not is a small factor in success. Bitcoin is a platform

>>2168843
But Microsoft effectively ran a monopoly in an emerging market thar people didn't understand. Everyone had their money in a bank that does everything they want it to and they understand. Why would they change to Bitcoin?
I certainly hope they do, but optimism can often cloud logic.

>>2168891
*has

Why don't Bitcoin and Ethereum devs hate each other like Microsoft vs Apple? Would make me feel more comfortable in using this analogy.

>>2168519
I don't think Bitcoin will become mainstream.

Normies are already aware of Bitcoin and they don't really like it.

Blockchain like technologies can be excellent for stock settlements though as it will be instant and not in T-3 days. That is where it can truly gain global adoption. But not necesserily Bitcoin, just blockchain tech in general.

Here's what's going to happen: a coin/blockchain technology will become mainstream but it will not be Bitcoin. Bitcoin has gotten itself too far intertwined with dark shit that scares normies. Drugs, ransomware, etc. "Muh anonymity" is NOT an attractive feature for real money looking to partake in crypto. All that means is "prone to be used for illegal shit and thus prone to government intervention."

Enter Ethereum. The same concept but immensely streamlined, more built in capability, and optimized against the shortcomings Bitcoin is facing now. Plus, it's got major industry backing. Banks, investment firms, tech firms, you name it. THIS is what attracts normies and real money investors. By design or coincidence, Ethereum is positioned to be the white stallion the real world rides into the crypto universe. They want to dip their toes into crypto, but don't want to deal with Bitcoin's baggage to do it. That's why Ethereum is mooning.

>>2169262
I hold more ETH than BTC but Bitcoin has an excellent reputation. And a track record of nobody losing their investment except for fat-finger errors by the user himself.

Bitcoin's rep is tainted by drug dealers and money launderers, this is sure a major turn-off for normies. But some other coin might take off instead.

>>2169334
Absolutely it does. I don't expect it to go away. But Ethereum is obviously on course to outpace it soon, and mainstream interest will be focused there.

>>2169423
Definitely. If something were to happen with Ethereum to shake confidence, the field would be ripe for something else to step in. The interest is out there, the proof-of-concept was accomplished with Bitcoin. We're just waiting for someone to step up and mainstream it. Ethereum is the closest so far.