Bitcoin Forum

I believe that new bitcoin investors are facing problems that needs a fix.

First, everyone hears about btc by either social media, tv, internet articles, googling digital currency alternatives, etc.

Problem 1:  They either play it off because they did not take the time out to research the utility or do not understand the concept.  (solves double spending etc).

Problem 2:  They do not have the capital to invest a decent amount in bitcoin, so they blow it off.

I believe many people would get involved in bitcoin, if they were in the right circumstances.  
To be invested in something, you have to get the utility of it (in this case, bitcoin).  This takes time and research (and over 5+ months) - I still am learning about bitcoin.  There needs to be an easier way to teach people about bitcoin.  

I think the MIT free coin giveaway is a step in the right direction because now the people can actually use bitcoin.  It would be nice if there were like worthless practice coins we could use for newbs like me.

Next a newb needs to have capital to invest.  I am sure many who heard about bitcoin probably brush it off, because they are cash strapped.  I do not think Joe blow would put 100 dollars into bitcoin for a fraction of a bitcoin.  Maybe a sub unit would make 100 dollars seem like much more.

But I think as time evolves, more and more might (or might not) get into bitcoin because it could pop up in familiar places (social media, press etc).

Thoughts or solutions on my theories?

I believe that altcoins are an important part of the solution to these problems, especially Dogecoin because of how you can have a huge amount for less than 100$, and the easygoing and friendly image of it that the medias and its community portrays, and also because of how easy it is for a noob to practice with it by tipping on Reddit or whatever.

This, imho, acts like a "gateway coin" to make it easier to use and understand Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general.

I think you make a good point about how joe blow doesn't want to put a large some of money for him into something where he will only get a piece.  People don't want to feel like they own a fraction of something.  I think the move to mbtc would help this a lot. 

Problem 3:   It doesn't actually offer anything they want.

problem 4: bitcoin is still beta, and too many scammers and hackers around


problem 5: Mt Gox won't be easily forgotten

New Bitcoin adopters will come as the infrastructure grows. Bitcoin is not just an investment.

Every day more businesses begin to accept it as payment and more BTC ATMs are assembled and installed.

Yes, the value of bitcoins is largely speculative at this time, but Bitcoin's long-term worth as a transfer protocol is what gives it its  current value.

Worrying about new speculative adopters is a short-term concern.

People count numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4 ... nobody feels good (psychologically) buying 0,00001234 bitcoin ...

And yet they seem happy buying shares of companies. They don't seem to feel they have to buy whole companies.

Maybe they should think of satoshis as shares of bitcoins. Wow. You can currently get a million shares for less than five bucks.

I agree very much with problem 4....

Too much bad boys trying to scam others give a very bad light to btc, and this bad fame, keep new investors away, no investors, no money.

Adoption will accelerate when insolvent banks will start to be bailed-in at the expense of their depositors. Then crypto currencies adoption rates will spring by leaps and bounds, won't be long now, as people will rush to rescue their savings into something that can hold value and cannot be confiscated. The credit bubble can pop any day now and will trigger this bail-in process. Cyprus was just the early bird, watch for more cypruses soon. People still tend to think that money they deposit in the bank is theirs, well, there is a surprise waiting for them.

<sarcasm>
In view of all of the above, the problems set in the OP are miniscule.
</sarcasm>

Of course, those people who only have money to pay their debts and put food on the table can't invest in anything, bitcoin or not.

So the idea then is that bitcoin is not digital money, is not payment system ... it's kind of stock generated by bitcoin community ? I personally like that idea ... but I don't know if the general public sees bitcoin like that ..

Problem 6:  Even people in favour of Bitcoin don't really know what it is.

Bitcoin doesn't solve double spending. In fact, it's the only thing that can be double spent, and is a large part of the need for grossly inefficient mining. Some things that it does "solve" are charge backs and counterfeiting.

Explain that one. The part about inefficient mining. While you are at it, suggest a better alternative. Something more than "PoS" (at least elaborate if that is your answer).

Most americy have thousands in credit card debt.  They aren't going to buy bitcoins to spend em IMO.  They can only keep racking up debt.

Problem 5 is getting worst: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=590970.0

Dumb people throwing their money away is not a problem. Gox is done. They took the money and ran, no more harm can be done by them.

If that piece of shit exchange re-materializes, it will be a sad day indeed.

Fuck you Mark.

No Mark "I will be somebodys FatBoy Chubby Lover in Jail" Karples involvement

People with half a clue will be running the show Gox 2.0 ...its a good news story ..we need a new western bastion of power for an exchange instead of being dogs to our chinese overlords

Can't see GOX 2.0 coming back IMO.

The brand has been dragged through the mud (rightly so). The guys proposing to take over have no previous financial experience (a la Mark K). The only value in the company is the 500k verified accounts, but even that isn't worth the 600k coins they're gonna have to pay back. Not to mention, who in their right mind would trade there?

Never ever ever wanna see that shithole back online regardless of who's running it. We've got decent exchanges now, another clusterfuck is not required. Cannot wait to see Mark behind bars. I hope he realizes how many lives he's destroyed.

I've been told my numerous people that 'the bitcoin' was hacked because of the Mt Gox saga. We need more media positivity.

Hopefully this fear and caution about getting scammed recedes when (if) big, trusted companies enter the space. Like how people were cautious of the early internet and using their credit card online; once big firms got into it and offered online stores, most resistance slowly faded in the face of convenience.

Hey, I don't know a better alternative (PoS is exactly that, a Piece of Shit) but you you can't tell me that mining is an efficient use of resources. I don't know the exact numbers these days, but I know in 2011 it was something like $45k/hour in electricity costs, and has only gone up since. I realize that on a Gh/s/KwH basis, mining has gotten more efficient, but it's far from ideal. So sit down, shut up and take your Ritalin, because I wasn't attacking your precious Bitcoin.  ::)

Two cell phones could run the network. That's not the point. The point of the mining setup is to make it very expensive for someone to fuck with the network. And it does so rather efficiently.

I agree with you a massive adoption as a form of money (that is what bitcoin was designed for...) can reduce this problem, and make benefit to mining too, as most of the mining cost will, in the future, be pay directly in btc instead of convert to fiat, so more reduction in exchange volatily...

I'd say need to find new ways to educate and attract people to Bitcoin.  I think people don't see all the advantages because they are thinking small time and we need to make advantageous of using crypto extremely  obvious.