What was the turning point?

[cafucafucafu]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

[louise123]

I would say the price spike in December 2013 is what sparked the interest of many of the newcomers.
I don't think many people knew about it before then

[Beliathon]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience?

Yes, but it's in the future not the past.

[onlyu]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

This was when China audience become aware and btc news were all over the place in Asia.

[teukon]

Maybe the first Slashdot story (11th July, 2010).

The price rose tenfold in five days and the following difficulty round was the shortest in Bitcoin's history, the only time the fourfold maximum difficulty increase was achieved.

[Amph]

probably in the 2011, where the price jumped x25 if i recall correctly, and also the advent of the gpu mining, after the first software released by artfroz

[banklunjo]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

Economic problems will help the use of Bitcoin and I think it will take a decade for large number of user to feel confortable using Bitcoin.

[dothebeats]

I would say the price spike in December 2013 is what sparked the interest of many of the newcomers.
I don't think many people knew about it before then

^^^^^
+1
I think I wil agree with this

Nah, the spike didn't happen in Dec. 2013, but on November 2013 (29th of November 2013 to be exact)

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/11/29/bitcoin-hits-record-1242-as-it-nears-value-of-ounce-of-gold/


The ath could probably caused massive interest from the general public, probably due to the amount of bitcoin per US Dollar. Also, the different news about bitcoin probably raised awareness from the masses, too.

[nizamcc]

I don't think it has actually reached any wider audience, there are still places where even country-wise, people can't sell their Bitcoins locally because there are just 10-15 buyers and they just try to break the price of BTC to 10-20% by taking advantage of limited numbers. Unless Bitcoin becomes mainstream, we should not consider it to be an exposed market.

[MicroGuy]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

In the area where I live most people in the general public relate bitcoin to crime. Most of the bitcoin news in the major media relates to cyber crime, exchange fraud, silk road trial, etc., etc. So yes, there is attention from non-enthusiasts but it's generally a negative impression.

To make matters worse, try to logically explain to your dear neighbor why he should run out and buy bitcoin so he can make purchases with it. When he asks why he should take the additional step of buying bitcoins so he can then buy something that he could have bought anyway without the additional step, tell him because it's fun and easy.

[Kprawn]

I know for me it was, when I was searching for a more secure payment method. I got sick of credit card fraud with online payments.

I just watched a documentary on TV, where the US Customs confiscated a box with 2000 blank credit cards. It is VERY easy for people to duplicate credit/debit cards and it's growing to epidemic proportions online.

I think, when people become victims of online fraud, they will start to look elsewhere and they will find Bitcoin too. 

[jjacob]

Would the setting up of Silk Road be such an event?
The target audience of SR would definitely not have been just crypto enthusiasts.
Further down the line, media coverage would have increased awareness about Bitcoin.

[coinableS]

The first ASICs were shipped out from Avalon in early 2013, and that was one crazy year. Could it be that making mining easier with just a USB plugin led to a wider adoption and the huge price increase? Also I absolutely believed that SR had a big influence on adoption.

[virtualx]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

I think when mass media started reported on bitcoin or slightly before that. There have been several big news items on bitcoin. We could say that this time is in the future because some big things will happen in bitcoin space.

[Meuh6879]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience?

empty bank account.
convert to bitcoin.

wide audience.

simple ... like gold.

[boraf]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

The day Silk Road makes bitcoin worth something.

[crazyearner]

Well few events I can think of was the price increase and also the massive price spike due to many problems that happened over the last few years starting from mtgox falling apart from raids and other exchanges getting closed down or business cashing out. wonder where the bottom price is going to be as it goes up then levels then tanks back down again so am  guessing some people are holding prices down and do not want it to go up right now.

[hodap]

The day the Chinese start paying attention and use it to laundry money out of their country.

[randy8777]

definitely china's interest in bitcoin and the spike to +$1000 these happening got a lot news coverage here at that time. nowadays there isn't really worthy news being covered regarding bitcoin.

[Chef Ramsay]

Is there any one event which made Bitcoin reach a wider audience? There was probably a time when only crypto enthusiasts were aware of it - what caused the non-enthusiasts to take interest?

In the area where I live most people in the general public relate bitcoin to crime. Most of the bitcoin news in the major media relates to cyber crime, exchange fraud, silk road trial, etc., etc. So yes, there is attention from non-enthusiasts but it's generally a negative impression.

To make matters worse, try to logically explain to your dear neighbor why he should run out and buy bitcoin so he can make purchases with it. When he asks why he should take the additional step of buying bitcoins so he can then buy something that he could have bought anyway without the additional step, tell him because it's fun and easy.

The average person has no incentive to use Bitcoin until certain places offer discounts for doing so. Businesses should know that as they expand their sales in Bitcoin then they have the benefits of no charge backs and lower transaction costs so they should be looking to incentivize Bitcoin use by offering a break on their prices for it. W/o more of that happening or being able to only get a certain thing by paying w/ Bitcoin, then there is no use for the general public to use it. Most upwardly mobile people that are natives of a country don't have relatives in other parts of the world where they'd use Bitcoin for remittance. Aside from that, they only way folks will want Bitcoin is if they know of the deflationary effect and that by holding it, they'll become wealthier over time. Sorry to say, that is what will turn heads, not the technology at this point.