Bitcoin Forum

 http://www.ahametals.com/bitcoins-future-depends-public-acceptance/  (http://www.ahametals.com/bitcoins-future-depends-public-acceptance/)

The original artcle is here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/02/baverman-bitcoin/14728425/

It is true, bitcoin does need to be accepted by more for it to go further however I fear that the bad press it can sometimes get can lower people's trust in bitcoin therefore lowering the public acceptance which is a shame. It's something I feel we have to over ride though and try and get the word out there that bitcoin is not as bad as many make it out to be.

Bitcoin is not ready for mainstream yet. It is common that emerging technologies are adopted by entrepreneurs and so-called "geeks" first. These are the ones that provide the necessary tools and features that the mainstream needs to join the new technology.

There is no need to worry. We are simply in the earliest stages of adoption.

ya.ya.yo!

Expectations for adoption speed are just unrealistically high
We are a good 5 to 10 years away from large scale, ubiquitous adoption

still bitcoin is not yet accepted by mainstream and more work needs to be done for that

Of course. Bitcoin can't survive being a speculative instrument alone.

But higher merchant adaptation doesn't mean the price will go up automatically.

it will need to be used by more people, merchants accepting it wont raelly make much of a difference at this point.

but places like newegg that put stuff on sale for 30% off when you pay with bitcoin that will get normal people into it :)

of course it does, because they are the one's who will be using it...

Bitcoin cannot really succeed without the public acceptance.   We are getting there little by little, but everything rides on the bitcoin economy continuing to grow.   It is pretty self explanatory why...

We basically want it to be an additional payment option at everywhere that we are spending money...

Of course, this is very obvious. Every currency needs to be accepted by people in order to work properly. If a currency isn't accepted, it effectively loses its value! If people can't expect others to buy their bitcoin after some time has passed, why should the invest in Bitcoin to begin with?

XYZ's future depends on public acceptance

I know the tautological headline is pretty funny, but at the very bottom of the page, the article quotes a finance professor from Duke saying:
"Bitcoin is probably the most secure form of transaction in the history of the world."

ikr, pretty fluffy stuff but not negative and coming from USA Today which means there is at least some editorial support there.

mine too?

"Bitcoin’s future depends on public acceptance," well, to some extent it does. If we want it to  really thrive as a currency we need merchants and the public behind it, but it will also do ok without them and may forever be a semi-niche system, but I'd prefer for it to be a fully fledged world-wide currency.

Yeah, but it does not depend on 100% acceptance. It had as much acceptance as it needed to survive back in the silkroad v1 days.
Everything past that is gravy

Tautology headline is tautological.

Yes, because the public is so accepting of linux.

"People purchase bitcoins and manage their accounts in privately-run online exchanges."

MSM coverage slowly improving, but still can't quite get it right.

Yes it does, thats why we need to teach people to use it and so on, and an official lightweight wallet.

The problem is you've got people like Peter Todd taking that exact quote and calling it an abhorration to the Bitcoin mentality.   He doesn't want mainstream.

Thats the problem.  Core developers don't want mainstream.   He said he was perfectly happy if only 10% of the world ever used Bitcoin.   And that the other 90% can keep using PayPal.  ]

This is why they are pushing off important enhancements like transaction times and micropayments and other things which would transform consumer adoption and innovation.

They dont want it.

And I will say it again:   This is why developers should not be making product development decisions.  

I get that they want to stay true to Bitcoins principles.  I do as well.  But its a little scary when one of the main developers for Bitcoin says he doesn't give a shit if mainstream ever uses it.

Simply put:  Bitcoin development priorities should be decentralized.  Everyone should have a voice.  There should be a voting mechanism whereby the *community* decides what is top priority, and what goes into the protocol next.  Obviously developers will have a say in whether its technologically feasible.  But developers should not be making decisions on enhancements and the direction of the product.  They have zero involvement "out in the field".  They have no idea what the company in Africa doing SMS bitcoin needs.  It could be something tiny, and harmless, and it will never get done because Peter Todd doesn't know about it, or doesn't agree with it.  

In my opinion this is the biggest hindrance to public acceptance.

-B-

Forks are bad idea, because they fragment the system. If you have 50% of Bitcoin users accept the fork and 50% using the pre-fork version, then the number of users are reduced in half.

We need to reach a consensus somehow. If the most popular branch wins, then that's comparable to voting (which I don't think it's wrong at all).

The rate of Bitcoin adoption could also be increased if the wallets were made more interactive.  Streaming transactions inspired by http://blockchain.info/ and charts that show the amount of Bitcoin transactions over the previous day or week.  And of course some links to a few purchase options.

Get the wallets on their computers.  Encourage people to think and dream.

The problem with a fork is that it is a defacto way of voting, but instead of each person having one vote, each dollar (or other unit of wealth) has one vote. The success of a potential fork is essentially determined by the miners, if the miners accept the fork then they will adopt it and secure the new, forked network, while the old one will be left much less secure and likely unusable.

Either that or "only the black market matters", one of those two possibilities...

If the public doesn't participate in black markets, then who does?

And that's what we are gonna make.Make more and more people know bitcoin and adopt it in their daily life

Nothing new here. For me it's obvious that Bitcoin’s future depends on public acceptance. Can't understand why you people need an extra article for that.

Not necessarily. Bitcoin could simply be a tool of the banks and large institutions, and it would still be massively valuable and successful.

Yes but payment and merchant are just our tools to get on mainstream. The real uses of cryptocurrency have yet to be discovered

Of course, who else will accept bitcoin? If public doesnt accept bitcoin who would?

How can the public accept bitcoin? They dont even know what it is!

The public does not need to accept it yet, firstly we must be accepted by every major business and/or government

The application that will fuel the next wave of the public acceptance of Bitcoin is sports betting.  The Bitcoin versions may become more popular than using "bookies" or government sponsored betting.  Even people who do not bet on sports will become aware of its advantages.

It is true. Market value of any product or any service depend on public demand. Same to Bitcoin. If the demand of Bitcoin rise, the price will rise too.

How can we reach worldwide recognition?

Indeed. We need all these clueless people to start using Btc, the right reasons are there, we just need them to use it anyway.

Every product that involves money always dpends on public's acceptance.

Thats the problem of the bitcoin peeps. They should know how to solve this.

I agree with you, but I think that existing casinos will likely expand into sports betting, rather then new sports books start to pop up. People tend to bet a lot on sporting events and they would likely not want to trust new, unknown bitcoin sites with large amounts of money

Even we have wide range of merchants accepting bitcoins, we need public to accept it in order to create a supply and demand balance. can we imagine? we got tons of merchant cashing out their btc on and off but the people purchasing is just so limited ? i'm not sure if i put it in a way that is understandable. heh

sad but true :(

A little obvious but this is an important point. Bitcoin users have to value educating newbies and pushing for adoption if Bitcoin is going to survive.

Did people really need to know much about credit card processing to successfully use a credit card? In fact, I think it is the ignorance about the USD (FRN) and credit cards that has allowed them to be adopted quicker. I didn't understand how websites worked, or how email worked, but I could surf and send porn, and you didn't have to show me twice.
Why is it always a "future depends" nuclear option? Like if it doesn't go to the moon tomorrow, it's all over.

Most people dont see the reason why they should invest in btc because they are clueless about the incoming fiat crisis.

bitcoin could just be bought by longterm wealth investors and be completely hated/ignored by the general populous and it would still succeed..
we are talking about a savings asset that is better than gold in every way.

I think in this context "the public" implies mainstream adoption, no?

people acceptance is the fundamental significance, so it's obvious, isn't it?

They'll know what it is eventually. Just keep telling people about it and promoting it and they'll get it eventually.

Yes, that's what makes it ridiculous.
To rephrase the headline "Bitcoin's popularity depends on its popularity"

Every brand/product depends on public acceptance.

That's the definition of the network effect, isn't it?

Let me see if I understand, Bitcoin needs people using it for it to work. That's genius! Wow, I learned two things this week. I also learned that in order for it to be really bright outside the sun needs to be up. Doesn't that just blow your mind?

http://www.picgifs.com/reaction-gifs/reaction-gifs/mind-blown/picgifs-mind-blown-774951.gif

Yea, I am not so sure about this. People don't invest in bitcoin because it is still very new and it's future is uncertain, and there is not an "incoming" fiat crisis.

The public does need to use and spend bitcoin in order for the network to survive over the long term

Um.. the supermoon was really bright the other night. Sun wasn't up. :) xx

I mean really, really bright. LOL

Sadly I think bitcoin is going to remain a bit of a niche product among a select few for quite some time as opposed to a truly mainstream product. Most people just wont see the point in using it sadly.

But we have all these companies that accept Bitcoin! Who's ever heard of a company going out of business because they don't have any customers. Pfft, never happens! LOL

A cryptocurrency's worth is:

50% Technology (solid, long lasting)
50% Public acceptance (merchant adoption, network effect)

The rest is just shitty gimmicks.

Ooh, don't discount the value of shitty gimmicks!

http://cdn.potatopro.com/cdn/farfuture/nABAjuFSo0S3Ti8xhExE3PM_n-1Gfz0HGeK8zokqiZg/mtime:1386342770/sites/default/files/field/image/the_king.png

It needs more time.

It will widely get accepted soon.

I hope it does.
But I think until it goes up significantly, people will still disregard it as a potential flop or whatever. Non-early adopters and wet blankets everywhere, sadly.

Yes..
How much more time are you talking about?

There's probably not too many people that can answer that question, but Paypal has plans to accept bitcoin in the near future. It's likely that more businesses will continue this trend of accepting bitcoin. Acceptance is spreading.

Have PP actually definitlye laid out their plans to accept it or the time frame? The mentions they've given it so far seem kinda ominious and I haven't seen anything concrete from them at all.

They have now :P
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/PayPal-Forward/PayPal-and-Virtual-Currency/ba-p/828230

Bitcoin adoption is growing at an increasing rate of speed. This is being fueled by greater merchant adoption, which is fueling even more consumer adoption. It is a positive feedback loop.

Over time this will cause the amount of TX fees to increase (to enable bitcoin to have long term success) and will cause the price of bitcoin to increase

Public acceptance is a must for a certain product to succeed. Not just bitcoin, but everything within it.

Maybe 10 years? Need a strategy to make bitcoin reach each and everyone in the world.

Id say lesser time than that...! Probably around 5 years.!

Apparently there r courses on BTC in some of the Top Universities.!! THE WORD IS SPREADING!!