Bitcoin Forum

Because bitcoins are being treated as assets, if you use bitcoins for simple transactions, such as buying groceries at a supermarket, you will incur a capital gains tax (either long-term or short-term depending on how long you held the bitcoins).
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/040515/are-there-taxes-bitcoins.asp

1. User Autonomy
The primary draw of bitcoin for many users, and indeed one of the central tenets of cryptocurrencies more generally, is autonomy. Digital currencies allow users more autonomy over their own money than fiat currencies do, at least in theory. Users are able to control how they spend their money without dealing with an intermediary authority like a bank or government.

2. Discretion
Bitcoin purchases are discrete. Unless a user voluntarily publishes his Bitcoin transactions, his purchases are never associated with his personal identity, much like cash-only purchases, and cannot easily be traced back to him. In fact, the anonymous bitcoin address that is generated for user purchases changes with each transaction. This is not to say that bitcoin transactions are truly anonymous or entirely untraceable, but they are much less readily linked to personal identity than some traditional forms of payment.

3. Peer-to-Peer Focus
The bitcoin payment system is purely peer-to-peer, meaning that users are able to send and receive payments to or from anyone on the network around the world without requiring approval from any external source or authority.

4. Elimination of Banking Fees
While it is considered standard among cryptocurrency exchanges to charge so-called "maker" and "taker" fees, as well as occasional deposit and withdrawal fees, bitcoin users are not subject to the litany of traditional banking fees associated with fiat currencies. This means no account maintenance or minimum balance fees, no overdraft charges and no returned deposit fees, among many others.

5. Very Low Transaction Fees for International Payments
Standard wire transfers and foreign purchases typically involve fees and exchange costs. Since bitcoin transactions have no intermediary institutions or government involvement, the costs of transacting are kept very low. This can be a major advantage for travelers. Additionally, any transfer in bitcoins happens very quickly, eliminating the inconvenience of typical authorization requirements and wait periods.

6. Mobile Payments
Like with many online payment systems, bitcoin users can pay for their coins anywhere they have Internet access. This means that purchasers never have to travel to a bank or a store to buy a product. However, unlike online payments made with U.S. bank accounts or credit cards, personal information is not necessary to complete any transaction.

7. Accessibility
Because users are able to send and receive bitcoins with only a smartphone or computer, bitcoin is theoretically available to populations of users without access to traditional banking systems, credit cards and other methods of payment.
Source: What Are the Advantages of Paying With Bitcoin? (https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/what-are-advantages-paying-bitcoin.asp)

Personally, there are *many* barriers remaining before I will use bitcoin over my credit card and even a few significant barriers where I would use it over say cash (I never use a debit/check card myself). 

I would like like to hear from bitcointalk members about what barriers YOU believe are preventing you from using bitcoin today.

The second barrier is more mental than physical, and we all know that there is a large percentage of those who do not perceive Bitcoin as a currency, but only as an investment.

I would like like to hear from bitcointalk members about what barriers YOU believe are preventing you from using bitcoin today.

#2 I make money by using my Credit Card today Again, Personally, I like CC which is easy to use for purchasing and with autopay I don't even need to think about it after I make the purchase. Plus I get a rebate $ back and an extra month earning a whopping 0.0001% interest  ;)  Even eliminating all of the technical barriers so that bitcoin was as easy as a CC swipe and universally accepted like VISA (better than a Discover card please ;) ) it still would be like me using a debit/check card which I never do today.

4. Low credibility - there are many instances happened where people have ordered illegal drugs using bitcoin and then caught by the enforcement authorities. Every newspaper highlighted such newses involving the name bitcoin. For a layman in my country, bitcoin is a scammers money used only for illegal stuffs.

These are main reasons why I can't use bitcoin in my country!

but for me it is about usage as a replacement for fiat money.

i don't see it that way. bitcoin doesn't have to replace fiat to be considered "gone mainstream". the bitcoin adoption, or the ultimate one mass adoption is when people have the option to pay with bitcoin if they choose to or continue using fiat if not.
and i have never read anywhere that Satoshi said anything about "replacing". even in the paper it is referred to as something like an alternative method.

as for advantages, i'd say the main thing is the control and power one has when they use bitcoin compared to using fiat where they have to rely on banks, credit card companies,... to have access to their own money. and that comes with a lot of limitations.

Unfortunately, I do not use nor do I see much use of bitcoin in the USA in this fashion today....hopefully that will change one day.

i don't see it that way. bitcoin doesn't have to replace fiat to be considered "gone mainstream". the bitcoin adoption, or the ultimate one mass adoption is when people have the option to pay with bitcoin if they choose to or continue using fiat if not.
and i have never read anywhere that Satoshi said anything about "replacing". even in the paper it is referred to as something like an alternative method.

Also: The opportunity cost of spending bitcoin rather than fiat.

Of course one can always spend and refill, but that can be (1) relatively cumbersome and (2) come with unwanted tax implications.

The more valuable bitcoin has become, the more people are using it to buy stuff.  ”We have definitely seen a ‘wealth effect’ pattern when the bitcoin price increases,” says James Walpole, BitPay’s marketing manager. In other words, if you already owned bitcoin and it rose in value, selling some bitcoin would give you more dollars to spend.

The bitcoin “wealth effect” is also evident in the buying patterns of customers at CheapAir, which sells plane tickets, hotel reservations and car rentals online. CheapAir was one of the earliest merchants to accept bitcoin payments in November 2013, and founder Jeff Klee says his bitcoin customers are now feeling flush. “With bitcoin we tend to generate more sales in premium cabins like business class or first class,” he says. “Certainly the average spend for the bitcoin customer is higher than a non-bitcoin customer.”

https://qz.com/931810/cheapair-and-bitpay-data-show-rising-bitcoin-btc-payment-volumes/

You will not get widespread acceptance of bitcoins in supermarkets and stores. Because there is no economic feasibility for their owners. To date, Bitcoin makes ~350 thousand transactions per day, distributed around the world. If we take 1 billion people from civilized countries, then on average out of 3 thousand people, only one can make a single transaction. One in 3 thousand. If 3 thousand customers pass through the supermarket every day, you will receive only one payment per day in bitcoins. If 500 people pass through a restaurant a day, then one bitcoin payment is made in 6 days. In reality, this figure will be much lower, because most bitcoin transactions are buy - sell.

Stop dreaming. You want to pay with bitcoins, but you don't want to change anything with Bitcoin. This won't work. If you want to use bitcoins, make it possible to make 50-100 million transactions a day. Then, perhaps, you will see the bitcoins in supermarkets.

The number one reason why I can hardly spend my Bitcoin is that there are almost no market, stores, and other businesses which are accepting Bitcoin. However excited I am to try to experience spending my Bitcoin in an actual purchase of goods and services, I am always confronted with the reality that these purchases can only be done online for now. And even online, purchases using Bitcoin is very limited.

Pain for services or goods using bitcoin makes it possible to explore many opportunities globally which would have been difficult to do using a debit cards. To be specific, the central bank in my country has made it impossible for many people to use a debit card on an international website. However, using bitcoin makes it easy to break this barrier as long as it is accepted on such platforms.

You will not get widespread acceptance of bitcoins in supermarkets and stores. Because there is no economic feasibility for their owners. To date, Bitcoin makes ~350 thousand transactions per day, distributed around the world. If we take 1 billion people from civilized countries, then on average out of 3 thousand people, only one can make a single transaction. One in 3 thousand. If 3 thousand customers pass through the supermarket every day, you will receive only one payment per day in bitcoins. If 500 people pass through a restaurant a day, then one bitcoin payment is made in 6 days. In reality, this figure will be much lower, because most bitcoin transactions are "buy/sell bitcoins".

Stop dreaming. You want to pay with bitcoins, but you don't want to change anything with Bitcoin. This won't work. If you want to use bitcoins, make it possible to make 50-100 million transactions a day. Then, perhaps, you will see the bitcoins in supermarkets.

You will not get widespread acceptance of bitcoins in supermarkets and stores. Because there is no economic feasibility for their owners. To date, Bitcoin makes ~350 thousand transactions per day, distributed around the world. If we take 1 billion people from civilized countries, then on average out of 3 thousand people, only one can make a single transaction. One in 3 thousand. If 3 thousand customers pass through the supermarket every day, you will receive only one payment per day in bitcoins. If 500 people pass through a restaurant a day, then one bitcoin payment is made in 6 days. In reality, this figure will be much lower, because most bitcoin transactions are "buy/sell bitcoins".

Stop dreaming. You want to pay with bitcoins, but you don't want to change anything with Bitcoin. This won't work. If you want to use bitcoins, make it possible to make 50-100 million transactions a day. Then, perhaps, you will see the bitcoins in supermarkets.

The only barrier that prevented me to use my bitcoin mostly in my daily transaction is it's not acceptable in online shops, stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies.

The only thing that stops me from using Bitcoin to buy things is lack of acceptance. I can use amazon via payment processors but that's online shopping. I can't buy things in stores.

There are certain and distinct barriers that is affecting why you are being prevented or prohibited from using Bitcoin which varies depending upon the certain country you do belong. Some of the common barriers we do know includes (1) Legalization this is the first thing that is the main concern of Bitcoin users for they do reside on countries where Bitcoin usage is not yet being legalized to be used freely which prevents them from using it. (2) Accessibility and Adaptation the next thing being the main concern after legal matters is of course the massive adaption on using cryptocurrencies because their main issue is that accessibility cannot be attained by people due to lack of capacity and capability all due because of legal matters abiding that prohibits Bitcoin usage.

Those two that I have mentioned above are the main and the most common barriers that can be observed and the main issue why certain crypto users are being prevented on using Bitcoin freely according to their own will. I know there are still lots of barriers but I have just mentioned some of those.

What's preventing me from using Bitcoin is that none of the services that I use accept Bitcoin payments, and since most of them are big companies, there's no point in asking them, cause my voice won't change anything. And the second problem is fees, when there's a lot of market activity, the fees tend to get to a few dollars on average - no way I'm paying that for my consumer transactions, unless the deal is so good that it covers the fee.

Of course, the transaction fees cost too much sometimes. I think if bitcoin fees become lower forever many would like to use it in their businesses and daily transactions.

There are certain and distinct barriers that is affecting why you are being prevented or prohibited from using Bitcoin which varies depending upon the certain country you do belong. Some of the common barriers we do know includes (1) Legalization this is the first thing that is the main concern of Bitcoin users for they do reside on countries where Bitcoin usage is not yet being legalized to be used freely which prevents them from using it. (2) Accessibility and Adaptation the next thing being the main concern after legal matters is of course the massive adaption on using cryptocurrencies because their main issue is that accessibility cannot be attained by people due to lack of capacity and capability all due because of legal matters abiding that prohibits Bitcoin usage.

Those two that I have mentioned above are the main and the most common barriers that can be observed and the main issue why certain crypto users are being prevented on using Bitcoin freely according to their own will. I know there are still lots of barriers but I have just mentioned some of those.

I definitely agree with you. You have pointed out my thoughts about this precisely. Most of the time, people are going on converting their Bitcoin into flat then use it to make transactions. And others are only being able to use it to pay someone who is also a Bitcoin enthusiast.

Besides decentralization and more privacy, there are probably more advantages with cash/card payments than there are with BTC when it comes to payments. The balance inclines towards an advantage of fiat vs crypto most of the times: it's instant, easy to pay, very very hard to pay at a POS and have your funds go towards a completely different card, it's waay easier to make older people understand how it works etc.

However, I personally think decentralization and more privacy outruns the fiat advantages over the long term. Think about it: you can have a Bitcoin cold wallet for savings that you will use for 20 years straight and there will be zero fears of your money being seized. You can transfer literally a billion bucks to the other side of the world and nobody'd know a thing if you do it the right way.

But the thing is, I don't think it'll ever really be a reliable fiat replacement. I can only see it right now as a store of value; for it to become a mainstream currency as in a replacement of USD and other fiat currencies, you'd need either centralization or a technology that doesn't exist yet.

So I sincerely believe Bitcoin has a tendency more towards a "digital gold" kind of asset than the perfect solution for a cashless society. Moreover, the decentralization may be a big advantage to us as users of it and citizens of various countries, but in the end if you think about it.. governments will never agree to lose control over something as important as money. That would not only be something that's never happened before, but also something very very risky.

What's preventing me from using Bitcoin is that none of the services that I use accept Bitcoin payments, and since most of them are big companies, there's no point in asking them, cause my voice won't change anything.

And the second problem is fees, when there's a lot of market activity, the fees tend to get to a few dollars on average - no way I'm paying that for my consumer transactions, unless the deal is so good that it covers the fee.

One of the biggest factor why many of us still refuses to use bitcoin or any other crypto currency to use in our daily lives is it's VOLATILITY because we cannot predict whether it will at it's highest value today or it will be at it's lowest value tomorrow that's why a lot of countries are not in favor on using bitcoin because somehow it can affect the economy of a certain country.

I like that it can't be stopped because there are so many different miners mining all over the world. It is not as if it is a few companies mining and if they disappear, bitcoin disappears. That security feels good. The fact it is not in the hands of companies or governments. Being in control and not needing any external help like you do when you set up a bank account. Spending and using it is also easy and fun. Again no reliance of a banking system which is great.

For me the biggest barriers to being able to spend Bitcoin, is not the absence of merchants that accept Bitcoin payments.

But the government of my country forbids using Bitcoin as payment, this prevents me from being able to feel benefit from
using Bitcoin payments. Therefore, I can only use Bitcoin as a digital asset for the time being.

1. For privacy: Not like I'm buying dragon dildos or something similar, but I feel more comfortable buying stuff peer-to-peer; without(or with less) centralized entities knowing what I'm buying. Unfortunately of course, what you can buy with bitcoin online is very limited.

There are a lot of various advantages of Bitcoin in general, but it's mostly:
2. Having self custody: not necessarily concerning payments, but it feels great having total ownership of the money(bitcoin) I have; especially right now whereas the whole world is going bonkers.

3. Because fuck PayPal. Seriously. So much problems with it throughout the years that it's unfortunate that my options mostly are pretty much either use PayPal, or use my debit card.