Bitcoin Forum

Hi Guys,

I have been wondering lately about bitcoin and what could drive adoption. To me the problem with bitcoin from an end user perspective is that there is no reason for anyone to use it really.

I am a huge fan of BTC and i have invested a big chunk of my cash into it. I have also played with it and payed with it, switched buying on amazon to overstock etc. However the key issue is that from an end user perspective there is really no reason to use it just yet. It seems everything is a bit more complicated, technical and risky with bitcoin.

I believe that in order for bitcoin to be adopted we need an app or functionality that really is new and satisfies a need of a large amounts of people and value.

The internet has many examples (email, chat, IM, twitter, facebook etc) that from the beginning provided some key innovations that could only be done with the internet and there is no technology that can substitute. Bitcoin has a bit of an issue with coming up with similar examples. Now a killer app does not need to be completely new, but radically improve. I.e. chat is possible over the phone or on the street, but to do it over the internet is a major improvement.

I believe one of the killer apps has just been launched: betting. I know most people think this is not significant but let me explain why betting could be truly huge and how it is different from the gambling that we know.

As an example take sportsbetting. Currently via counterparty you can bet on the world cup peer to peer. Why is this huge? Why should you care and even place a bet if u care about bitcoin and want to support.

1. Sportbetting is big business. It is estimated to be a $1 Trillion market. If bitcoin will take over this market that means $1 trillion USD needs to flow into bitcoin. that would roughly increase the price 1000 fold. However it could be much larger because of 2. Think a factor of 2-5 times as big as it is today because of bitcoin (my guess).

2. Sportsbetting today is practically unbeatable. The reason is players are always betting against a sportsbook or bookmaker. In order for that 3rd party to make a profit they need to give players bad odds. They change the odds usually by 10%. This fee is so high that only very few players can actually beat the game, due to variance/luck involved.  think about it if it were easy to beat the house some corp would simply take a bunch of money and break the sports book. Since you can't beat the house most sane people will either bet small amounts or simply not bet on sports. However if the vig (name of the fee) is removed the game becomes profitable or break even for a large amount of players. It now becomes a good bet for many players and an actual skill game.

In essence sportsbetting and other forms of betting are naturally good things and markets that find its balance naturally but are highly distorted by a 3rd party that needs to make a profit and charge for risk and running the system.

So there is one potential app in the western world to pick this up rather quickly. Because it is $1 trillion I think it is the first potential killer app out there that could solve a real problem for people that like sports and want to wager on it.

This is different from gambling because it does not really matter if you make a game with negative expectation (i.e. roulette ) into a game that is just a bit cheaper (i.e. dice) the end game is the same: you make a bet and lose a tiny bit of it every time to make it for the chance to win sometimes when luck is on your side. This is why gambling ans satoshi dice is not a killer app.

If you agree with me go over to xbet.io or counterparty.io and support these guys by making a bet or tell ur friends that bet on sports about it. You can even go to a sportsbook and lay the exact same odds as the casino and hope some idiot takes your bet.

Also I would like to know from you, what do you think is the next, or first killer app for bitcoin. What else can you image that would truly make people have to buy and use bitcoin?

okey, I will try it

Seamless remittance across borders would be such a killer app
Which is what Circle and Ripple aspire to be in some sense

An addicting game (like candy crush or angry birds) where you pay like a 2,000 bits to play, but can win much if you have the skills.

People would be all over such a thing. Especially if the "house" only took <1% in the end.

this will be how bitcoin goes viral

There is no need for killer app,  but it will appear anyay sooner or later. Adoption of Bitcoin growing and growing on steady perfect pace.
Too fast would be bad, too slow would also be bad.

Well I would think more people would be interested in sending money via email, without a link to a website or exchange. And that you can send it to anyone without them having to have a Paypal account.
Maybe an app that could adapt to that would make bitcoin greatly desired. It would be the same as putting money in a letter.

This could be taken another step, and electronic greeting cards could be sent with bitcoin inside. That would be huge for birthdays.

Heck - I'm giving myself ideas!! I could get rich on this!

maybe the bunch of stuff you can do with btc is the killer-app.

The best app is yet to come out.

I'm fascinated with Bitcoin's potential for microtransactions. So I built a website that could only be possible with Bitcoin - a public pay-per-character anonymous blog.

People are posting and tipping - and some interesting dynamics are developing.

Check it out and let me know what you think!
http://bitcoinmegaphone.com

Ease of use is still needed. I think targeting those without access to the ease of credit cards is a good place to start. Once it is as easy to use as mPesa I think we'll hit the tipping point of mass adoption. B-pesa is leading the way but there is a lot of work to do.

hiring a hitman

I disagree.

First off there is no steady growth. it just does not exist and bitcoin certainly has not been steady.

Secondly there is no reason to use bitcoin if there is not something that can only be done with bitcoin, hence there will also be no adoption without a true killer app.

yes i agree, other than coinbase working with bitcoin has mostly been bad from an end user perspective so far.

Blockhain.info mobile app seems very easy and safe to use. I'm sure there'll be even better ones that come out in the future, but It would take a lot for me to trust them.

buy drugs with it would be cool... or socks.

the bitcoin protocol is killer in itself, integration takes time, especially on a global scale.

what the south african electric company did recently was cool.  integration of a bitcoin address into a smart pay by usage electricity meter.

FTFY

Also, there isn't any serious e-wallet program. All of the wallet programs look like they are in alpha stage, and coded in an unproffesional way.I am not a coder, but I anything I tried is beyond any average user capabilities.  :(
But I have still have hope that one day bitcoin will go mainstream.

A neurologically implanted deterministic wallet/ID chip.

That is why we started http://www.fairlay.com

We think right now we have the best odds on the internet for world cup games an we only take 2% of the net winnings. In average that is only 1% on all bets.


The next big thing will be to completely decentralize the holding of the funds with technology like this: https://earlytemple.com:8181/ and decentralize the resolve process with something like this: https://www.realitykeys.com or a reputation based system.

However - because of peer to peer betting, and low transaction cost you ALREADY FIND THE BEST ODDS on fairlay.com. Wagering $100 costs you on average way less than a bag of popcorn...