Bitcoin Forum

I was just wondering if one day it would be possible for cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC) OR Ethereum (ETC) to become mainstream one day for people to use for day to day transactions on a daily basis. Because I heard that the people in Zimbabwe with their economic difficulties use cryptocurrencies as a means of trade.

Would the world adopt cryptocurrency as a means of transaction, what do you guys think?

There are endless possibilities since future events are unpredictable. As of now, I really think it's still in its early stages. Full adoption would still happen sooner, if negativity would not escalate along the way. However, since its market volatility, and Bitcoin is not an unstoppable thing, there's still some chance that things would go the other way, if opression by the government and several negative news such as usage to illegal activities, it might affect Bitcoin's image and its future.

I think it's possible but it takes time for other countries to accept crypto as a means of payment. plus technological advances that could potentially change the method of manual transactions to digital transactions

I would say that that is a certainty at this point. The adoption and expansion of cryptocurrencies around the world has been on a constant rise for years now. It advances slowly, but it advances. New regulations are coming out all the time in various countries, and more and more merchants are getting encouraged to start accepting crypto. There are still some technical problems to deal with, such as scalability, as well as the volatility of crypto prices, but yeah, give it 5-10 more years, and I think you would be able to use BTC or some other coin to pay for most stuff online, as well as for most stuff in general, in some of the most crypto-friendly countries. It might take longer for technologically-underdeveloped countries, or anti-crypto regions, but that all remains to be seen.

It depends on the mainstream population, I believe that are a lot of people that don't really see it as possible payment option due a lot of the issues that also make it pretty attractive to other people.

If we are able to solve these issues we might see a future for bitcoin and other crypto currencies as a feasible payment method.

-Votality (no one wants to pay 0.01 for something and then BTC changes prices, although other cryptos fix this)
-Mainstream Adoption
-Instant payment confirmations

that might happen but not in a short time because now some governments in the country haven't really inaugurated bitcoin or other crypto to make transactions, even with things like that but I'm sure in the future crypto will have the same role as currencies paper (fiat) used by the community for their daily needs, and if all that happens in the future it might be very helpful to make it easier for the community to transact.

The world already adopted crypto as a means of transaction. You want to see? Go to localbitcoins.com and see how many countries are listed there;) I guarantee far more countries in the world accept Bitcoin than they do most other national currencies,,, or even if they do, like my own national fiat, the price is so bad I never sell except in my own country. But Bitcoin? same price almost everywhere if not higher!

only bitcoin in one form or another (LN), as the rest of the coins could be around only because the current technology allows them. altcoins are not really needed for much, and a proof of that is that there is no serious project that ever became realized, out of all the altcoins

BTC to me is already reaching peak levels of popularity in terms of awareness. However, the amount of people that really need such instrument in their daily lives is limited. How many people can carry the risk of holding something that fluctuates so much in value? Finance as we know it isn't made to allow the vast majority of the population to take financial investment risks. It's something most people simply can't afford. On the other hand, micro-investment is becoming more and more common these days. We might see an increase in the number of people that own crypto in the following years, although that could be through custodianship via third parties.

I think crypto can be best alternative for fiat but cannot be used in terms of daily transactions even if it becomes mainstream because of volatility as not everyone will be familiar with fluctuations. I feel stable coins can be used for daily transactions since it does not fluctuates like other crypto.

Bitcoin is unique, and most people cannot understand how a virtual asset can have real value. But what is value? Denomination it in terms of a valueless asset such as the US dollar, just distorts mass perception. The interesting development to watch is the proposed gold backed Chinese "crypto" currency.

Impossible to happen, for bitcoin... It's already gotten too much bad attention (in the form of it is only used for drug operations or money laundering), and like many other people have said, a lot of the features just don't allow this to be possible.

Although, an interesting option would be ETH. A lot of the programming and new tokens that are done on the platform make it an interesting business platform, and a lot of its features like fast confirmations could lead itself to be seen in real-life scenarios.

As for me, that wouldn't be too impossible to happen. We all know how surprising crypto is so it has a huge capability to reach even the developing countries in the future. Lots of countries are now accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in different transactions so it simply means that it's growing each day which could bring it to the mainstream. We only need more adoptions so more people and countries would choose it as a mode of payment.

That is possible but I am guessing there will be a long time frame before the global adoption of cryptocurrency will happen. Also it will co exist with fiat. We are slowly using btc and eth in daily transactions what's lacking is the additional adoption from the people in the third world country.

Of course, cryptocurrency is considered as currency which has the eligibility/capability to become an alternative option for payments when having a transaction.

It is possible if they don't think the same way as China.
China adopted only blockchain technology and not included bitcoin.

BTW it is eth not etc.

[/quote]Fiat currency is also being used in illegal activities, bitcoin was known due to bad usage of it but I don't think that it will become impossible for it to happen due to this reasoning. Their mindset can be changed if they realize and understand its true function.

ETH is really a good option, no questions about it. But there is a lot of consideration that should happen first before it happens, like regulations when creating new crypto using smart contracts.

Possible but far from reality. First, not all governments will adopt cryptocurrency because it's decentralized. Second, not everyone can understand blockchain technology and won't take the risk to adopt it. Third, due to its volatility, it would be hard for bitcoin to be used in everyday transaction because the price are not stable at all.
Zimbabwe are slowly adopting it because of their economic crisis, people are looking for an alternative. Though bitcoin and crypto can still be adopted by other countries, only as an alternative currency but not as a main currency.

Of course yes, it's only a matter of time. I am not saying that Bitcoin or Altcoins will someday replace fiat money, but they will definitely be recognizable and acceptable by mainstream. It's enough that one of the big mainstream companies will start accepting Bitcoin and then the domino effect begins. I've heard that Starbucks is interested in accepting Bitcoin, so maybe it will be launching a Bitcoin mainstream adventure.

Using blockchain technology yes its possible to use it in daily life wait for 5 or 10 years and you will see the differense of online transaction using now and compare to that time. I am not telling it is BTC or ETH there must  be a crypto currency built for every country on that time.

nah, if bitcoin does not make it, eth and others will not make it either...hell, eth network got destroyed with only one cryptokitties app

Majority of governments all around the world are showing zero tolerance towards cryptocurrency since they believe it will take financial control away from them. Let's hope something good comes out very soon so that BTC along with other CC will be used in mainstream payment system.

People have no problems with virtual items having value, virtual assets are almost as old as the Internet, and we have generations that grew up with the Internet. People pay for virtual items in video games, they pay for streaming services, music, software and so on.

The biggest obstacle on Bitcoin's path to mainstream adoption is the fact that people simply don't care about financial freedom. People are totally ok with using banks, and most of them can't find reasons strong enough to justify taking risks of using new technology.

I think its wrong to assume that majority of Governments are anti crypto and have zero tolerance towards cryptocurrencies when in fact some of nations who are perceived to be against crypto are beginning to change their stance!

Take for example with China, which had recently announced its plan to launch its own state backed cryptocurrency together with the statement of its President to embrace blockchain technology. Additionally, we cannot say that China have zero tolerance on crypto when it had been allowing crypto mining on its territory specifically with Bitcoin and is well known for hosting the biggest mining pools on Bitcoin.

I understand that there has been a handful of nations who are against Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency yet its effect on adoption is somewhat negligible right now which I fear would be the opposite if nations with big economy in the likes of USA, Australia, Korea, etc., would totally ban it which I'm sure Bitcoin and other crypto would have no chance of going mainstream.

For further reference, here is a 2017 article (https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/world-cryptocurrencies-country/) and report (https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/10/World-of-Cryptocurrencies-graphic.pdf) on the state of crypto adoption per country.

Bitcoin existed for a decade already, i know for sure some of the country had been using bitcoin already like a mainstream currency in most areas where they don't seem to see it as an investment before. But because the value of bitcoin is always growing each year people value it much just like an investment and they stop spending it like a normal currency.

Bitcoin is in main stream in  most of the countries like zimbabwe and venezuela and Argentina bitcoin is in main stream many use bitcoin ad major currency

It's possible, here in our country, our local exchange are now accepting Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin cash to pay insurance bills and do travel bookings and not only in our country, there are a lot of countries who are doing the same, for Cryptocurrency to move forward, it should not be only about Bitcoin, at least 7 or more Cryptocurrency should be adopted and they are all going to be mainstream and Bitcoin is leading the way.

There are still countries that are strict in implementing crypto or accepting it in used for everyday life, this week I was able to pay my bills and today used my wallet to pay for online shopping. Now that there is able wallet in my country that being used in many tasks like sending fiat/crypto anywhere plus the continuous update and partnership of our countries popular crypto wallet allows me not to rely in banks any longer so soon I know it will be a mainstream in our country as it offers comfort and smooth transactions.

I see the trend going that way.. just look at how Libra and the Chinese cryptocurrency are making a scene worldwide, only cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are able to align the economy of all country around the world.  in the next few decades, we will see mass adoption of cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and others).  even poor countries will be able to use cryptocurrency as long as they are connected to the internet and understand how to use a smartphone or laptop.

Bitcoin is not mainstream in Zimbabwe, because they have a lack of infrastructure to use Bitcoin as a mainstream currency. A lot of the people live

in rural areas with no electricity and no internet access. Yes, they use a centralized payment option called MPesa on their mobile phones, but you

need proper internet access and also a smart phone to use Bitcoin daily. Bitcoin still needs to develop less resource intensive applications for cheap

phones for Bitcoin to go mainstream in these third world countries.  ::)

Definitely. I believe that one day crypto currencies becomes the main monetary worldwide. Be it centralized or decentralized. The Chinese government is even showing to people the importance of blockchain. Big banks are into it. Big companies are watching with interest. Facebook is with its Libra. In 10 years, there will be more big companies in the world that will start its own blockchain or will tie up with an existing blockchain. They do not want to be left behind. They have the money and power and they need to adapt if they want to retain its position. 

The invention of the Bitcoin and the Blockchain has been causing quite a stir these last couple of years. All around the world people are starting to adopt the Block-chain technology. Governments and institutional investors are starting to slowly implement the tech within their own systems. I think in it's current state, it will not be mainstream. I think it has to become much simpler to use first before a mass adoption can take place. Blockchain tech will have to be able to benefit people in remote areas, and the poor and disenfranchised in order to be a mass success. As of right now, you need certain tools to manage your cryptocurrencies, it would be simpler for the average Joe of society to continue using fiat currency than to switch over to cryptocurrency.

Nah,  I don't see them going mainstream any time soon, at least not if by mainstream you mean old people paying their taxes or kids buying gum with BTC.

However, little by little the adoption of BTC and other cryptos does indeed grow and I am sure in the near future a large portion of transactions for specific usecases (e.g. buying stuff online, paying freelancers, transferring money to friends and family overseas) will be done with the help of cryptos and who knows.. perhaps one day... BTC becomes money of Internet, replacing even giants like Paypal! That would be nice!

Absolutely! Its understandable because I believe that Bitcoin has not gone mainstream yet to any country, not even in the USA!

Because for me, the idea of Bitcoin being mainstream is that it should be common everywhere and is at least being utilized by people just as the same as they were using fiat money which unfortunately, seems not possible at the moment.

Not yet! But I think most countries are in the process of getting there sooner or later. And I assume it will be realized within a couple of decades but who knows, maybe it will happen sooner than expected! Imho.

The reports of Bitcoin fever in Zimbabwe this summer were no doubt exaggerated (https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/how-much-bitcoin-is-really-being-traded-in-zimbabwe-4375.htm).

As for the future of day-to-day transactions, I expect Bitcoin fees to rise over the years to compensate for its falling inflation rate. As such, on-chain transactions will become too expensive and uneconomical for your daily coffee and grocery purchases. However, the Lightning Network, sidechains, or cheaper altcoins with lower security could be perfectly economical for low value transactions. So, we'll probably be using protocols other than Bitcoin for most of our day-to-day transactions.

Why there must be a crypto currency for every country on that time? Isn't is more useful if there are some currencies so you do not have to swap your coins often if you want to travel to another country or doing business at different country?

Yes, very few understand it in the right way how a virtual asset function and create value to it. As said without any limitations the fiat is just valueless when we compare both. They just print whenever it is necessary to cope with the economic situation. China's new gold backed cryptocurrency will make a big change over the fiat. About mainstream usage of cryptocurrency, it takes time. Maybe the next generation will experience such a change.

+1

wondering if later in the future bitcoin transaction fee could be as low as a couple cents only, if there is no solution to this then it is a sure thing that bitcoin can not be used as a currency to spend in daily basis , just a digital asset to hold like jewelry.
other than that yes there is a lot of altcoins provide quick transaction proccess , very low fee and easy to use but still the problem is on the price volatility, crypto nature is volatile.

there is a stable coins but most of them charge around 5 uds as a fee, it is not something we wanted.

Sure, why not? I tell you frankly that at this moment, the possibility of world crypto adoption is still very small but you don't know maybe after 10, 50 or 100 yrs. futher this dream of ours will finally do come true. Who anticipated that FB will become very successful during back on its pioneer days where Friendster is at its prime? See? As long as Bitcoin or the crypto community in general is moving forward then nothing is impossible :).

The possibility is big that crypto currencies will become the mainstream for people to use in their daily trade especially eth as the transaction fee is very low and it is very suitable in small transactions while bitcoin can serve for those big transaction due to it's higher fee compare to eth and other currencies.

But this scenario will take a time to become widely accepted as other countries are not yet ready for this kind of evolution, there is a big chance that it will happen slowly.

I think there is a big chance that it will be going to happen because bitcoin technology is already getting popular all over the world as a lot of counties already using it in a lot of transactions and even as a currency. I think the bitcoin needs a lot of time for a lot of countries to adopt completely to bitcoin but still even due the bitcoin technology is already remarkable I still cannot think of a way how the bitcoin is going to replace the fiat money in a lot of countries because the fiat money is already the standard and also we cannot use only one currency around the world as bitcoin also bitcoin has a high value imagine if that happened the bitcoin market price will surely pump.

Bitcoin or ethereum doesn't have the capabilities to become the mainstream.
People don't want to wait several minutes for a transaction confirmed nor have to spend a dollar as a few for direct transactions, it's clearly not for most people who believe in cash as the main means of payment.

I think bitcoin is already mainstream.... nothing is more mainstream than that Lol

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Yes, why not, it has a big potential, it may not be as the whole, but it can be the mainstream or majority of the people will likely to trade, these past few years, even a normal person are doing trading too, unlike when you are doing stock market trade, forex trading wherein you need a lot of capital, and most traders and professionals or has really money, here in crypto everyone can do trading, as you can do it in little amount.

in my opinion there is a possibility the world will adopt cryptocurrency as a transaction tool. but maybe that will take a very long time. due to many factors that hinder the adoption of cryptocurrency. as our society is not ready to use cryptocurrency as a means of payment, they are already comfortable using fiat money for everyday transactions. then crypto values that are very volatile are not ideal for use for payment instruments and also for legal issues. most governments forbid using crypto for payment.

Why not? As a crypto lover i have hope about this. One day every transaction will be connected through BTC or Eth or any other altcoin. Some days ago i correspondence with a taxi driver in Thailand and he said if i want to pay with BTC, i can do it even in hotel also. So i think gradually it will be more acceptable to every country.

If there’s a full adoption in crypto in the future it might possibly happen. In the current situation, people are already enjoying the use of fiat money in our day to day transactions. If there’s no hindrance in the future I can say the adoption would be stronger in crypto and can be means of payment since users of bitcoin are appreciating it’s features.

There are already lots of people that are making use of Bitcoin and there are international companies that are are paying their workers with cryptocurrencies as well. The only thing that some don't like is that it is volatile. Libra would have gained more adoption if it was released due to their partnership with lots of association just like PayPal which is the biggest payment processing company.

I do believe that very soon a lot of people will start making use of Bitcoin, not as a store value, but as a payment method. I already know a lot of people that are doing that, they just receive payment through Bitcoin and withdraw it immediately to their bank, and when they want to send payment they also fund their wallet through their bank and send to whoever they want to send to.

More people still in the traditional financial system,  the journey of cryptocurrencies still needs time and more efforts to campaign for full awareness.
It's a good challenge to each individuals to help and not just waiting and speculating but to also take part of bringing this digital money to more people around their circles. Slow start doesn't means that it won't happen but it will as long as supporters are still optimistic and willing to join helping this industry to succeed.

The government is the first to disapprove of this because they will find it difficult to tax everyone who uses it. Next are people who are not yet familiar with crypto, and adults who are no longer interested in learning how to use bitcoin and ethereum. Third, people who do not have access to the internet and also do not have mobile phones and personal computers. These are the three that may not support the use of crypto for their transactions.

Uh in the future, probably yes. But only to the point that a lot of people will be using cryptocurrency but will not replace fiat. I do believe that even some of the government are against cryptocurrency, in the future, they'll have no choice but to adopt blockchain and crypto as well. We cannot stop technological innovation, even the government so I believe, it just needs time to be accepted globally

Bitcoin and ethereum are mainstream right now but we just don't feel it right now because the value or the market price of bitcoin and ethereum right now are very low so it becomes downstream right now. There are so much possible things that may happen in cryptocurrency as well as we can use it in our daily lives as a currency on our daily basis transactions, it would be great if we will be adapt cryptocurrency as our main currency so that on the future we will just use digital currency.
If I would be the one to decide, if the world will adopt cryptocurrency as a means of transaction I will go for it because if we use this as our means of transaction then we will just use digital money in order to process transaction.

crypto has a unique use relevance so they will continue to be organically used on a large scale without the role of government. This will open their minds more broadly to the principle of revolutionary use, especially in third world countries. I think bitcoin will move the government to be more open with the creation of their own crypto currency in the end, and this is where the mainstream begins.

I think crypto most likely won’t be mainstream currency for at least the next 20-40 years. Right now it is highly volatile and people are mostly betting on the technology eventually succeeding. When the time comes, however, this is how it will be a mainstream currency. bitcoin has a finite supply and is released periodically through mining and authenticating transactions. Once the bitcoin supply is all released, many think that the currency will stabilize much more since the supply won’t be increasing anymore. As this starts to happen and less bitcoin is released to the open market, the price fluctuations go down, and the currency ends up finding it's normal price.

in each country have different laws regarding means of payment sometimes still constrained by law, although there are some countries that do not have strict legal regulations, if asked crypto currency used as a means of payment or transaction will certainly make it easier for people to make transactions in each country, at least without having to go through a third party, but unfortunately we need time to get a lot of adoption

I agree! Bitcoin or Ethereum don't have the capabilities right now to become mainstream, at least for the moment! Because I think that time will come that they will indeed become mainstream once they had been fine tuned to overcome existing barriers needed to promote mainstream adoption. But how?

It is because these cryptos are constantly being developed  that sooner or later, they will emerge more robust and efficient than before!

Moreover, Bitcoin hasn't yet reached its optimum development that we should assume it will be constantly improved upon unless all the developers stops contributing to it or halt its development. Imho.

Bitcoin has the potential to be the currency of the internet, you wanted ETC to become a mainstream currency and it is a real chain by a reckless ETH and now the fork is the real coin and expect more forks in the future :P. The currency situation in bitcoin does not warrant a situation that it must be used for transaction on a daily basis as i am not interested to pay a higher transaction fees and i that is sorted and it can scale on a better way then we might see the transformation.

The future certainly looks bright with a lot of possibilities. I wont be surprise to see many people making use of cryptocurrencies and especially bitcoin for daily business transactions. By the way with regards to OP It's good to get your facts right, I don't believe many people in Zimbabwe makes use of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for their daily transactions.

There are good possibilities that cryptocurrencies such Bitcoin might become a mainstream digital currency for people to use for their day to day transactions. Considering the ten years existence of bitcoin, the number of people using Bitcoin has increased for the first day it was launched till now. I believe the world is gradually understanding the significance of cryptocurrency and how it might change the way people make transactions without having to pay huge amount of charges for every transaction. But this might take a long time for it to happen considering the image the media is feeding people with about cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

Of course its possible but there are a lot of things that must be tackled first:

Stability - Nobody wants to spend money on groceries if the price could fluctuate 5-10% while they walk around the store
Scaling - Bitcoin was never mean for instant transactions, a 10 minute wait is built into the protocol. Layer 2 solutions aim to solve this. Perhaps some other coin will be used
Taxes - Using crypto as a currency, not an investment, is a tax nightmare in the US right now. Nobody will use crypto to pay for goods until this changes.

IMO the best option right now for actually spending crypto for goods and services is DAI, by far. It's a stable coin but its decentralized and not backed by fiat deposits, and its transactions take about 15 seconds.

I think so, but there are some treatment should be added to this platform in order to make a mainstream platform, Number one is the stability, If stability would be here then many people must come to this platform, but due to instability, I think most of them are afraid of joining in this system, because no one can spend or invest his money to an unstable platform, secondly, a set of regulation is very urgent to this system, due to lack of regulation or policy, a group of Bitcoin holders is trying to manipulate this platform according to their will so this platform is getting noisy. and finally, a legal status could bring to this platform a gigantic acceptance, I hope if these three options could be added then this platform must be mainstream at any time.

think again, maybe you're just in the environment of people who use cryptocurrency. I think, very few people know about cryptocurrency at this time, even they only know the name, like bitcoin, but don't know what its function is. however, this can become mainstream when there is government support that enables people to learn this technology. so far, people only know cryptocurrency when there is a problem with it.

If you have heard that people in zimbabwe are already using crypto as means of payment what does that sounds like to you? adoption, its already happening around the world and now china is making it more easier, becoming mainstream won't be hard anymore from now on

With the massive spread and acceptance of technology in our world today, I would say it is very possible for cryptocurrency to be mainstream. Although we can't expect this to happen in the nearest future as it will require more awareness, adoption by Government and corporate bodies for this to happen. Let's take my country for example. In Nigeria a large bulk of the population even amongst the educated folks, are yet to hear the term blockchain and cryptocurrencies hence massive awareness would be required for the populace to adopt the use of cryptocurrencies into mainstream.

Personally, I think it will.
Why?
People will always choose what is easier and more convenient for them.
At first, these were ATMs, then various bank cards and now Internet banking.
Crypto currencies are slowly becoming mainstream.
I can share experience from my country, Croatia.
Recently Croatian post (state owned) started pilot project with one private company.
In one city, Zadar, in several local post offices, Croatian post offered new service to the customers, crypto exchange!
If this pilot project will be successful, crypto exchange will be offered at all major post offices in the country.
So, we are really very close to become mainstream.

Its not just an idea made by optimistic people like me, I think we are stating facts right here. Bitcoin and other cryptos are the future of the world. They are already being mainstream slowly on some countries like Venezuela. Sooner or later, we would see lots of countries having an agreement on regulating bitcoin for the betterment of their people and their economy. We shoud keep our hopes high for bitcoin and other altcoins because we will surely see it mainstream in the future as technology advances more.

Considering the fact that the Chinese Government are now pro-bitcoin and pro-cryptocurrencies, other countries are seriously jumping on the bandwagon and if this isn't progress, then I seriously don't know what it, Bitcoin is rapidly heading towards worldwide adoption and we should all embrace ourselves for the impact because it is coming sooner rather than later.

Inspite of regular news around crypto adoption worldwide, its worth mentioning this kind of news - CEO of Zimbabwean Crypto Exchange Loses Password to Bitcoin Cold Wallet (https://cointelegraph.com/news/ceo-of-zimbabwean-crypto-exchange-loses-password-to-bitcoin-cold-wallet), which tends to undermine crypto adoption among emerging economies adopting crypto like Zimbabwe.


If I'm not mistaken, the Chinese Government had not specifically stated that they are now pro-bitcoin, rather, they are gearing towards full commitment on harnessing the benefits of blockchain technology. And with this, they did announced their plan to released a state backed stable coin so technically I think they are now pro-crypto yet only favors their own, giving less importance to other cryptocurrencies in general. Imho.

With how the world is constantly changing and how we are more reliant on the digital world these days, it is evident that soon people are going to no more use the physical form of money and start making their transactions all through the internet, if they are not doing it already, and cryptocurrency is establishing that already with safer secure way to do it, as of bitcoin and all the crypto that are known to us right now i don't think that they will become main stream, at least government won't let because thy would have no control over the system and they won't be able to collect taxes from them, that is why many are starting to create and develop their own cryptocuurency as they are seeing how it is developing and growing and attracting more and more people.

Yes, bitcoin will be as mainstream as any other payment option. I don't know how popular it will be in comparison but I like to think it will be along there next to names like MasterCard, maestro and the like.
Personal preference per person of how they want to keep their assets basically. I choose crypto always.

If I didn't think that Cryptocurrencies would eventually be mainstream, then I wouldn't be here in the first place because it would mean that I am just intentionally wasting my time for something that is doomed to fail, as Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts, we have been hoping for the day when we wouldn't have to have to explain to people what BitcoinBTC is all about because the majority of the world is already using it to make transactions.

That is the kind of world I envision and that is what makes me leave my bed every morning with a smile on my face knowing that I am a part of the future financial system when the majority in this world are sti either oblivious about it''s existence or think it's just a waste of time.

There is no relation between bitcoin and economic situation of the country IMO. They are freely to use them as means of payment or not. Because bitcoin just will help a transaction become easy, an example through your smartphone you can be able to send your money to different country with as easy task.

Regarding to your question bitcoin/crypto as a whole become mainstream, I'll hope that will happen. But you can't be denied that our government especially who still dissagree to the utilization of it will fight to make it never happen and for another solution they will create their own crypto that can be use as a money as of now in order to their citizen swith of the utilzation of cryptocurrency that have decentralized system with the crypto who created by them who has centralized system. I'll bet it will happen and I just guessing the utilization of cryptocurrency such as ETH or BTC will be limited as an investment place only.

I think I agree with @s92225, btc is already mainstream as it is, whenever I open up Yahoo news to go through all the headlines there is always a news about crypto and it's mostly only btc they talked about,  I believe many people have heard of btc and crypto even though not all are engaged in crypto, it doesn't necessarily mean people around you, the medias are already always reporting about btc e.g CNN, what mainstream can be more than that? Or there is another kind of mainstream other than what btc has already obtain.

I still believe that there may be a new cryptocurrency, which will be many times better than bitcoin, but so far, the victory for bitcoin.

If you are online, cryptocurrency is not a strange term nor a foreign thing but try to get out of it and talk to your neighbors and acquaintances and decide whether cryptocurrency is really mainstream or not. If you are in the online world, crypto is expected to be famous because it is a digital money, it is virtual money, but since we are hoping of cryptocurrency becoming the real currency in the real world, it has to be as famous outside as it is inside the web.

I can't think there. Why.? the reason is, currently the blockchain is being accepted in large countries. but not bitcoin and ethereum or other coins. what I mean is the possibility that the country will make its own currency / move the real currency to the blockchain. so that the crypto currency remains on the alternative coin. and functions as a crypto trading commodity. while daily transactions are still using the currency of the country that runs on the blockchain network ..

Well, there are now some countries have already using these cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin in their daily transaction however, there are some countries are now creating their own digital currency which is centralize. These centralized digital currency created out from Blockchain technology could be a hindrance to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be mainstream for example we have DCEP for China.

Yes it is, it will go mainstream sooner or later, many people tend to use bitcoin now because it is convinient to use and it can be found anywhere in the world because it is a digital asset, there is no doubt that many countries will add that in their local stock market too, as one of the coin and one of the asset that we can invest with. many countries now have a ATM machine for bitcoin, this new could help bitcoin.

if there is a monetary crisis in some countries, riots everywhere might be closed all day BANK so people can not take cash and goods become expensive while the currency becomes worthless, I think bitcoin and crypto currencies can be a solution that problem, because they have the same values in all countries.

I'm sure crypto will be used for daily use, but the coins to be used for that are not bitcoin. the reason is because bitcoin transaction fees are not possible for that. the most realistic option is a stable coin. so in the future all countries will release their own crypto to be used as payment transactions.

this has been asked for thousand times i guess yet being tackled until now ,bitcoin is spreading the world now,maybe its getting slower this past months but still we can see the adoption is getting bigger and bigger.
from Japan and now ,any countries are getting inside crypto,and the latest is Chinese presidents statements about the adoption of Blockchain and bitcoin as well,so this means progress and success for our whole community as crypto supporters

I think in the future cryptocurrencies will crowd out ordinary money. But it will not be soon.

In maximum 10 years world will be better for all of us and money system governement and banks are changing we will all be able to be our proper bank and dsnt need to work for food and drink but for pleasure because free energy will be used for protect bitcoin network

We have to be patient because they all need a process and development that is clearly visible and gradually many people are adopting it, and some countries have issued their own crypto currencies and some countries have also legalized bitcoin and many other news, including the latest news about Chinese President Xi Jinping will implement the blockchain in his country and it all shows that the development of crypto continues to grow and will be close to what we expect.

I can't predict the future, but I can tell there is a competition as well. There are lots of other payment methods that are out there competing as well, though bitcoin selling point is the anonymity. You also have to know that it is not everyone that is interested in being anonymous, there are people who feel that it's just criminals that have to worry about such. And others are afraid that they can lose their money while making use of bitcoin because it is volatile; these people still don't pick interest in stable coins and I don't know why, maybe because they feel that they are not to be trusted.

If Facebook's coin should be a success it's going to be really huge, lots of people are going to adopt it. Bitcoin might also gain more adoption; it's already gaining adoption, I see those that use it for a transaction.

We have every possibility that one day people will eventually be using just these two coins alone for their transaction. We might still be in that era where every government, every country and every companies wants to come up with their own cryptocurrency just like in the case of Zimbabwe, and also has we have seen thousands of altcoins in the market in the case of companies, but even at that, the choice of people is still very much more on these two coins.

These two coins are still the best and still the most used coin in the market, they have stringer community more than every other coins you see, so overtime, everyone would learnt to see that bitcoin and Ethereum is the main coin that is fit to be used as a global currency which they will drop their own personal interest to accept this.

bitcoin hitting the mainstream is possible to happen
because bitcoin has a lot of potential in terms of payment method

Bitcoin to go mainstream is not that simple as people starting to use online wallets. We've got lots and lots of payment service renders, and these were much used as they're being promoted by the respective authorities. When we talk of bitcoin it is all spread with the word of mouth. This way reaching the mainstream usage takes more time.

Yes, It's fast transactions will be beneficial to all (countries, companies, small business etc..). it is only logical that cryptocurrency is accepted worldwide.
one of the reason why cryptocurrency's adoption is slow is because of its volatile nature and it being decentralized and lack of knowledge about cryptocurrencies.
making it undesirable to some business owners and lack of knowledge about cryptocurrencies.

Crypto currencies? Highly likely. Bitcoin as one of them? Highly unlikely. Bitcoin has various drawbacks right now to be using it as a means of making day to day transaction. Imagine you are going to your work in the morning. On you way, you decided to grab a cup of coffee. You go over there pay using bitcoin and then you have to wait like more than 10 minutes for your transaction to be confirmed before receiving your coffee. Waiting for like more than 10 minutes for just a cup of coffee is quite unreasonable.
Though there are other altcoins that confirm within few minutes. Those are perfect for using it as a traditional currency.

I hope the lightning network will spread quickly and address this long time issue. This has always been the issue ever since. How are we to spend our Bitcoin if it is very inconvenient to use? You cannot just waste time waiting for several confirmations for just a cup of coffee. Or pay a fee which as high as the cost of the cup of coffee itself. But this issue has been dealt with and hopefully addressed very soon. 

If we talk about the benefits of bitcoin, one of which is as a means of payment. Many merchants already accept payments with
bitcoin.Especially in countries that indeed legalize bitcoin, but in my opinion bitcoin in the near future cannot be adopted as a means
of payment. Because the average person is still in the transition from a manual transaction to a digital transaction. If the whole
country has legalized bitcoin and the majority of people have already done their daily needs with transactions online. Then it will be
very easy for bitcoin to become mainstream. But the possibility of bitcoin changing the role of fiat and becoming mainstream is very
it might happen, just takes a long time.

Considering the state of the crypto market and its ecosystem, there is high probability of cryptocurrencies becoming  mainstream currencies just like fiat currency. The nature cryptocurrency presents a decentralized platform which makes it easier for faster transactions with low fees.  But its gonna take some time for it to be adopted worldwide...

btc being used on a daily basis is present now but of course not all are doing that because there are still shops and other services that btc is not yet accepted but even common payment methods like creditcard or debit card is not also useable on these establishments  but they only accept the tradtional payment method  .

 btc becoming mainstream is i think not possible because we cant just replace and throw away the fiat  . people value tradional currency the most

Not only Zimbabwe, but other countries are having a very hard time economically, Venezuela and Argentina among them.  From what I've read, tho, people in those countries are using currencies from neighboring countries or the USD for transactions.  They haven't really been turning to cryptocurrencies as much as people might have hoped.

Bitcoin and Eth might not be used as money in every day transactions, but they're both in the mainstream consciousness thanks to media coverage, and that's progress from just a few years ago.  In 2013-14 when bitcoin was going exponential, that's when there started to be a lot of stories in the financial press and now you hear a lot more about bitcoin and even altcoins. 

It's going to take time for mass adoption to happen, and it may *not* happen if fiat stays viable, which it likely will.  There needs to be a very good reason for people to want to own and use crypto to pay for things that they could easily pay for with cash.

not only on Zimbabwe, in some country many platform accept payment via bitcoin. some store, transportation, service, and in every country there are many people use this method with small area. a lot of people just dont know about bitcoin, what exact bitcoin is. so, spread of bitcoin is not equally

It doesn't need to become mainstream. Already you can spend crypto in many places. It doesn't have to be as mainstream as using debit and credit cards though. For me right now it is almost good enough. I would like to be able to spend crypto on more mainstream items like essentials or groceries. Even if I have to first buy some sort of points for my crypto and then spend the points in the supported shop or on the supported service. Being about to topup uber for example by buying uber credit is a good example.

Bitcoin and Ethereum will be mainstream if the volatility issues is addressed. The fiat currency is well regulated and volatility is addressed,  but cryptocurrency claimed to be decentralized but we still have centralized exchanges plus untraceable transactions. These are part of the issues that restrict it mainstream.

I think bitcoin is already popular but when it comes to using it in our daily transactions, we might find it hard realizing it. The volatility is there that keeps its price always changing and its transactions are still not traceable. People will adopt bitcoin and ethereum but it will take a lot of time for it to be fully adopted.

As long as the blockchain of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies in general could keep up with the demand of the public that is increase in transactions especially in a time where mass adaption would happen then if the current state continues then I am afraid that it would significantly increase the transaction fee and the time it would took for the transaction to process. Though during economic crisis, one of the alternatives that a country or a person can run into is cryptocurrencies since converting your assets into Bitcoin for example would take a less hassle and you can secure it enough yourself unlike gold which is quiet complicated and not that convenient compared to the former.

Yes, what we need is more adoption. This is the only way for bitcoin to be mainstream. If more shops are accepting it, the people will opt to choose bitcoin. We need to encourage more establishment, another different sector to use, utilized and accept bitcoin. But as for the rate of adoption, we see more in the coming years. Remember China is open to this technology already.

Well, the trend of using bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies is gradually gaining the hearts of many users, most successfully as you say, many countries accept, continually use and allow businesses to businesses and companies feel about bitcoin and crypto. And with such huge attraction, I also believe that in the near future, currencies like bitcoin will appear more in daily transactions but of course, the mainstream is still for fiat is more, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can not change this position when users understand what is most appropriate and safe for them.

Well, this is possible, but it will be serious changes so the time is needed for such crypto adaption. On the other hand there are more and more places where BTC payments are accepted, but for mainstream acceptance we have to wait a bit. Maybe some of you don't know, but New Zealand is the first country to legalize salary payments in cryptocurrencies (BTC). I think that is huge step forward.

Bitcoin has inbuilt deflation which means that the supply is limited but the demand can very well increase. Whenever the supply and demand are not in proportion, price changes. In this case, price is likely to go up with increasing demand and limited supply.
Because of this people have incentive on holding the bitcoin instead of spending it on day to day transactions when there is a fiat alternative available which has inflation and will lose the value the next year.
I believe that Bitcoin can go mainstream but not as a currency but as an investment. 

Its been 10years since bitcoin is created , still it is not yet in the mainstream, many factors needed to be consider before we can see the bitcoin there. Also, goverment will be one of the main reason why , they did not legalize it until now , maybe yes it is good for us because there will be no tax for us.

I am thinking that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will only go mainstream when the government changes the system. If the system should remain fiat , a lot of people will still prefer to make use of the fiat system and refuse to use crypto. Or maybe everything will be step by step - maybe as time goes on a lot of people will start to recognize Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general and how good they are and then will they start to adopt it.

Though one thing that discourages me about people adopting Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies is the fact that it is being viewed as an investment. When it's being seen as an investment then there will be lack of much interest and those that joins will only come to just make money expecting bull run and once they have that, they will quit.

sooner or later there would be another chain for sure  ???

Yes, bitcoin will remain the king of the crypto market, it is unlikely that any other coin will be able to compete with it.

There is a great potential, especially now that people are becoming more aware of the latest technologies, emerging and constantly increasing to help us, In our work I believe bitcoin and other altcoins can be used as well as alternative payment online, in-store purchases and much more. As more and more people acquire crypto knowledge I'm sure there are many companies, store owners will be making a way for them to keep up with the latest payment methods.