Your so-called bank would only be trusted if first, you handle KYC details securely, and next is if we get assurance that if someone stole/hacked their way to our wallets, you have some insurance since you handle our bitcoins and therefore, must provide us our money back. If you're up to that risk, or you think you can prove us hodlers that you have the capability to do so, then why not? But until then, no one would trust their funds to anyone just like that.

I don't think Africa would benefit from having crypto as payment. However, I do believe that they can use the blockchain technology in different use cases such as storage of documents, ledger for government transactions, etc. This would minimize corruption on the officials since all transactions are transparent and can be monitored that will discourage corrupt politicians from stealing people's money. Not only in currency, but can also be used in their statements of their assets, making their profiles open for the public

Even if you cannot use bitcoin as of now, its great to see businesses want to adopt the technology and by making it an inspiration/theme to their business. This, in turn, would make more people curious about crypto in general and may attract several investors to make the market healthier. Other people here saying that it's ironic may be true, but its better to spread awareness than do nothing to make bitcoin more relevant. It's not legal to their country to accept it as currency so the owners abide by the law or they may face punishments

This should introduce cryptocurrency to more people, which is good. It will affect how bitcoin and other altcoins are portrayed to the public and seen it as not only a scam but a real technology with potential. This will also introduce the blockchain and its possible applications not only for payments but also to other purposes.

This is what I'm also telling to others that want to replace fiat totally. This would be a problem to regular day to day trade of goods and services since Bitcoins and other altcoins price is so volatile, people would adjust prices too often. Making bitcoin fiat/paper would be just a waste of resources, it breaks the idea of it being a digital mode of payment. What we need is for it to grow but not totally replace existing currencies.

Having KYC, some of its advantages are that thefts can have someone responsible since public keys would be connected to a person and can be punished under laws. The ledger is also transparent, thus the transaction can be backtracked.

It really depends on who implements it. You need to be wary of the company's credibility and reputation before giving personal details and legal documents. Identity theft is really dangerous as your name is at stake and is held by these companies.

If serious regulations, massive sell-offs, negative portray of media and etc would happen, then it's possible to happen. But I don't think that is likely to happen. In its core, blockchain technology is pretty much like the internet. It's created by a mesh of networks that won't shut down unless every device connected to it would be corrupted or shut down. Altcoins may shut down much easier but the whole crypto won't go away as of now.

I don't think it would be much of a burden when cryptobanks are established. Instead of fully controlling the market, I think it would be more beneficial if instead of cryptobanks, regulatory boards were made instead, who would foresee new altcoins and ICOs, etc and impose policies and possible sanctions if promises were not met. Cryptobanks would do KYC and provide insurance, but when a regulatory board was made, anonimity is preserved while maintaining policies.

Having someone responsible to handle thefts and scams will no longer be different to centralized systems such as banks. There's not much you can do since no regulations are imposed in cryptocurrencies, therefore no action could be made in case of thefts/scams since no one would enforce it.

Make a governing body, but agree to terms like KYC policy, etc. Have a system where ICO's and other crypto related projects undergo contract signings to ensure consumer protection. All of which would change the idea of it being decentralized.

I don't think so. Even several altcoins failed to survive the market, still some of them proves to be worthy. And we must note that currently, innovations to altcoins progress faster than that of bitcoin. Ideas like ETH's smart contracts and other altcoins innovative ideas is what makes altcoins still relevant. But that doesn't mean bitcoin does not evolve either. Bitcoin has adopted the smart contract capabilities too, suggesting that it improves but on a slow and secure pace that won't make it suddenly disappear.

It's like altcoins more of experimentals but when they gain traction/support, they survive long enough or might even stay. One thing's for sure is that we can't tell their futures.

The government doesn't want anything that is out of their control. It's decentralized nature is what the government doesn't want. They want us to use their monetary system which they said that their currency is worth something.

If you think about it at first, you'll think that what they're doing isn't good. But imagine a country with only bitcoin as currency, no banks, no taxes, no institution for regulation of price, inflation, etc. There would be no funds to keep the country going. Who would pay those government officials, law enforcers to do their jobs?

What I think the right way to say it is that government doesn't want decentralized system of currency took over their own currency. Most of us complain about taxes when in fact, we still rely on the government on maintaining peace and order in our society. No taxes -> no government -> pure chaos.

If there's no centralized institution that will handle regulations of cryptocurrencies, then there's not much we can do. Some of the ways I can see is to educate people here in the forum of some tips and guides to prevent this kinds of unfortunate events. Discussion is healthy for the community, to discuss how to prevent scams, improve security and other tips that may further protect them. If there was to be a regulatory board for cryptocurrency, such as to check for companies launching various projects, to make sure they're held responsible if they won't meet the promises they had given.

We are investing in the technology and it's capability to become a worldwide success as a form of currency. People invest on something they can see some potential to grow. Just like when buying stocks of a company that you know that'll grow, or invest and create your own business because you can foresee something in your idea, or anything that you see that will have profit over time. Not only on bitcoin but also in other altcoins which has some promising features that bitcoin doesn't have.

Well, aside from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are high risk because of its volatility, you could try to invest in you local stock market first. There are also risks but your loss won't be that much and won't happen fast as long as you watch the price everday/every week. You could also buy land since land's value increase over time and is also a great investment. You could also establish a business if your capital can fund it and you have a unique idea that might become popular if planned correctly. Or you could invest it in solid coins such as bitcoin and such.

Trade war is irrelevant to crypto and won't affect both parties. It will only impose stricter regulations for goods and restrict may restrict exchanges even with currencies they have, but crypto is out of the equation.

As mentioned, bitcoin is banned already in China. Rumors suggest that they will release their own cryptocurrency. I also don't know if its exclusive to China, but assessing the current situation where China's population isn't using bitcoin, what effect would it bring even if trade war happens? I don't see any possible effects.

All of what you said is true as of now. There are steps to be done to better improve the platform. What we need is to maintain bitcoin's traction and not be restricted by government to further achieve our goal. There are still hindrances such as those problems you mentioned but I still believe that some bright minds that develops bitcoin core would come up to solve those problems. Or we may have integration to banks and support bitcoin transactions without paying too much service fees. We really don't know what will happen in the future, but we must assure to make steps that won't destroy our goal.

That's good to hear. Bitcoins becoming more popular as time passes by, and this is what bitcoin needs. It's an alternative to e-wallets with the same service and possibly more secure against malicious programs since securities at banks are much reliable than what's installed on your personal computers or gadgets. And having a card definitely feels better and treating it as an asset of yours.

However, the banks would be intermediary and is responsible for your keys and such. The good thing is that you have insurance if somehing happens? Do they impose extra fees? And your personal information isn't anonymous anymore.

One thing to consider is the price of electricity in mining. Mining bitcoins in my country is inefficient and might only generate fewer returns since electricity here is expensive. Another problem is being in tropical country and thus need additional electricity for cooling those mining rigs.

I agree on the part of encountering scams and since ICOs and other projects offer too much promises without credibility, its hard to trust your funds to these and might be even scams at the end.

Your view is not applicable to all of us. If you're an investor for long term returns, then not spending bitcoin is what you must do. If all of us stopped using bitcoin and instead hodl, bitcoin wouldn't grow. Spread of awareness would stop since no one would talk about it, transactions would be lessen and progress would halt.

What we need is for more people to know the potential of not only bitcoin, but the blockchain technology, in the society we live in. If blockchain would be known, then bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would also gain traction, as well as other means using blockchain. It would grow into a more trusted platform for people to use, demands would increase and by only then it would be referred to as your asset.

A thing of the future if you look at it that way, should be something you must invest on. If you know its potential and foresee its great future, then demand would rise and the next thing you'll see is prices going up. Every new technology that has potential to be used as a revolutionary tech will surely give you profits. I also believe in bitcoins/altcoins future and its capacity to transform modern payment systems.