Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin was launched in January 2009; it was both the first cryptocurrency and the first blockchain. Bitcoin, as trustless and censorship-resistant money, was the only blockchain “killer app” for many years.

And third, the user base had to grow over time; the more people that use email the more valuable it is to each user, and this virtuous cycle of adoption takes time to play out. In 2013 we saw the first hint of broader adoption as companies like Coinbase made Bitcoin more accessible to non-technical users, but in 2013 Bitcoin still faced technological problems (like an unintentional hard fork), few user-friendly interfaces, and a minimal network effects.

By 2017, Bitcoin had a proven stable protocol, a plethora of user friendly interfaces (including ATMs in most big cities and an Exchange Traded Note (ETN) that allowed Bitcoin investment via an IRA or 401k), and a user base that had reached critical mass such that Bitcoin could be purchased, traded, and spent throughout most of the world. Combining data from Coinbase with work by researchers Hileman and Rauchs (2 - Crypto Adoption Study) we estimate that the total number of bitcoin users and holders is around 45 million people today, representing about 1/2 of 1% of the global population.

Like email in 1994, Bitcoin is a robust technology ready for widespread use, but very early in its adoption curve. And like email in 1994, the small network of users means that there are few people to whom you can send Bitcoin, and this leads many to question its usefulness.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/apaul/2017/11/27/its-1994-in-cryptocurrency/#7830637cb28a

Very well said honestly. I always said that we're in the very early stages of bitcoin and this technology will be adopted by much more people. After my argument, lots of people replied me like this is not trure and bitcoin won't make another peak. All the time bitcoin reached new peaks.

If you think people find Bitcoin weird, imagine a time when they told them gold is no longer the money, bits of paper are… they were like you gotta be kidding me. So that idea was so radical, it took 400 years before it became broadly deployed in mainstream society.” — Andreas Antonopoulus .     These are great words from Andreas about Bitcoin at the early days of Bitcoin

That's true! We are still in the early stages of bitcoin and we don't yet have a fair idea about its power. We can just speculate that bitcoin will go up to so and so amount, but no one knows for sure. Bitcoin has just started reaching the critical mass and the financial institutions have just started accepting it for broader use. We don't know what's next! Excellent example you have given like email. Email has changed the world communication structure. So similarly, bitcoin has just started its large scale expansion. No one knows where it will end for sure. We can just speculate and hope for betterment.

Visual cryptography is a cryptographic technique which allows visual information (pictures, text, etc.) to be encrypted in such a way that decryption becomes a mechanical operation that does not require a computer

Thanks for this information,massive adoption on bitcoin will reach the potiential of bitcoin alot of people buying bitcoin coz it's like a tons of gold that is develop in our technology era..

I sort of agree with you.  The problem is email is entirely different than Crypto Currencies.  Right now, as it is Bitcoin is not a currency in any form, it is just like a stock.  Wide spread adoption will not happen for over 50 years, if it ever happens.  Furthermore, you are more than likely looking at 100 years to be realistic, so we will all be dead anyway...

Although I understand what you mean, we are still a long way away from mass adoption. The price increase alone does not mean that mass adoption is near. We are definitely getting closer to that day by day, but we still have a long ways to go yet.

This a really good article in my opinion, that addresses the real difficulties and problems bitcoin will have to overcome, and stays away from the "this is a bubble" perspective. Bitcoin has a lot of potencial and is real innovative but it is still in it's early adoptions process. It's no longer restricted to tech people, and it's not coming to investors that need to decide if they should go for it or not. Bitcoin has real use cases, but it needs adoption for fulfill its potencial. For adoption to happen it needs to get really simple for everyone to use. That will take a while, and only time will tell if bitcoin got open to the institutional investors to soon.

I think that everything will work just fine. Let's not forget that internet is widely spread now, so it's easy for a new technology to get mass adoption once it is released. Bitcoin is not ready to be released to the masses yet, but with time and good development it will.

Well written article, it is nice to see the estimate of 45 million people world wide are adopter of bitcoin, 0.64% of total population in the world.
If this number multiply by 15 times to 10% of total population, it would be huge

Bitcoin is not the first currency using cryptography. There are three others before, I don't remember their name but you can about this on any search engine. Bitcoin itself is using some features from one of this 3 virtual currencies.


thanks wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_cryptography